O’Ward Doubles Up in Milwaukee

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Just as David Malukas lit the torch to burn the broom, Pato O’Ward snuffed out the flame and drove past Malukas on the final restart to win both races at the Milwaukee Mile on Sunday.

I just watched the replay of Race 1 (second race of the day). here are some quick thoughts.

The history books had a huge rewrite after the race.

The sense of urgency to complete the race, enhanced by sprinkles of rain at the beginning, made for some great moves and some exciting passing.

The completion oof Race 1 from Saturday quickly became an event dominated by Malukas, who clearly had the fastest car. But on the restart with 24 laps to go, an engine hiccup in the Verizon car allowed O’Ward to get past him and win by more than a second.

Malukas now has six second place finishes in his career without a victory. The consensus going into 2026 was that Malukas would surely win a race in his first year with Team Penske. I hope he takes solace in the fact that Simon Pagenaud did not win a race in his first year with Penske either. Pagenaud turned out to be oretty good.

O’Ward is the seventh driver to win two races in one day, and the first since Rick Mears, who won twice at Atlanta in 1981. Other drivers who have achieved this rare feat are Johnny Rutherford, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Mario Andretti, and Dan Gurney. That is not a bad club to be as member of.

More history came at the end of the final race of the day as Alex Palou won his fifth IndyCar title in six years and his fourth in a row. Palou joins Serbastien Bourdais as the only driver to win four consecutive championships. Only A. J. Foyt (7) and Scott Dixon (6) have more titles than Palou, But the Spaniard is just 29 years old, three years younger than Foyt was when he won his fifth title.

A third bit of history which FOX gave just a scant whiff of notice to was Rinus VeeKay finishing third for Juncos Hollinger Racing. I believe this is the first podium for the team, and deserved more than showing the team celebrating as they went off the air.

VeeKay was one of Sunday’s best drivers. He fell out of contention in the afternoon race after a slow pit stop. VeeKay had been in the top five most of that race. In the nightcap the driver from the Netherlands took third place from Scott McLaughlin with a brilliant move just three laps from the checkered flag.

FOX- A Tired Crew?

I don’t know, but I can assume that the FOX crew was just as tired as everyone else was by the end of the day Sunday. I though the telecast of the suspended race was one of their worst of the season.

The pit stop timer was an on again, off again thing, missing at the crucial stops of the le4aders. Many teams did a remarkable job of completing stops with no time elapsed.

I didn’t understand their obsession with Josef Newgarden, lingering in the bottom half of the top 10. We didn’t need to see his onboard camera for several laps. There was also an inset of 15th place Kyle Kirkwood which was unnecessary.

I look for an improved show from a refreshed broadcast team next Sunday.

I will have a full weekend wrap up tomorrow.

Quick Thoughts- Milwaukee Race 2

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Pato O’Ward le the race comeback to him after a pit stop bobble and won the Milwaukee Snap-On 250. This race was the one scheduled for today. At 5pm Central Time the conclusion of yesterday’s race will begin. O’Ward was leading when the red flagged.

It was a very entertaining race which featured a lot of passing-333 passes for position out of 728 total, including several for the lead. Several drivers had a shot at the win.

“This is the first time I ever won a race while leading another one at the same time,” Pato joked in the media availability after the race.

Who says Christian Lundgaard isn’t good on ovals? he was a threat all day and worked through traffic very well. I still wonder why McLaren thinks they could not win an Indianapolis 500 with Lundgaard.

Will Power’s frustration continues. He played the pit strategy correctly and was the effective leader waiting for Scott McLaughlin and Scott Dixon to pit. Unfortunately, his chances suffered a fatal blow when Race control caught =him speeding on pit lane. The drive through penalty put Power in 14th at the end of the race.

Kyle Kirkwood looked to n=be in good shape for a run near the end, but his car was not as good after his last stop. he finished sixth, and Kirkwood is now 97 points behind Alex Palou-one point short of the title being out nof reach.

Great run- Rinus VeeKay arguably had the fastest car in nthe first stint. He blasted to the front from the 12th starting spot and passed Palou on lap 100, but a slow pit stop took him out of the fight for the win. His seventh place finish puts him back into the top 10 after not finishing lkast weekend.

Scott McLaughlin drove a very long stint,but ended up finishing second. He made one less pit stop, but it didn’t work out. McLaughlin is in good shape for the next race as he pitted just before the red flag.

This will do it for me. I need to start the drive home in a few minutes. Thanks for following along this weekend. I will have more thoughts on the weekend and a review of the completed race 1 tomorrow.

Results

Race Day Times 2

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Today’s schedule: Times are Eastern.

Note that the running of Race 1 will end at 10:25 Eastern to prepare for the IndyNXT race. The field should easily get past the 126 lap mark to make the race official. However, according to information I received last night, IndyCar will not be satisfied with just an official race. Three hours after race 2, the series will run any remaining laps of race 1

I don’t understand the insistence of running every lap in a suspended race. If they’re doing it for the fans, I doubt many will be left by 5:39 local time to watch. They are certainly not doing the teams who need to leave for California any favors.

The IndyNXT race should be moved to after Race 2, and race 1 run to its conclusion. Push Rac 2 back a bit.

Saturday tickets are valid today. If the ticket is Saturday only for a reserved seat, the ticket is good for a general admission seat for Race 2.

There was a rainstorm overnight, but the forecast shows only slight chances for the rest of the day.

I will post updates as the schedule evolves. Let’s get theses rtaces in.

See You in the Morning

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IndyCar tried, but the track did not get dry in time. Today’s race will run to its conclusion Sunday morning at 8 am Central time on FS1.

Race 2 will start at its scheduled time, 12:30 Central time on FOX.

Today has been exhausting, with all the false hope of restarting followed by disappointment. It’s a shame, because there was quite a good race going on and it was about to get even better. There is some intriguing strategy that I hope continues to play out.

Pato O’Ward leads after 91 laps.

Thanks for following along today. see you in the morning.

Mclaughlin, Palou Earn Poles

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Scott McLaughlin won the pole for Race 1 at Milwaukee and Alex Palou willstart on the point in tomorrow’s race. For race 1 McLaughlin, second place Palou, and third place David Malukas will serve nine place grid penalties.

Qualifying started under overcast skies, but as the session went on skies got a bit brighter although never sunny.

Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden will star on the front row in today’s 250 mile race.

Dennis Hauger held the pole for a long time. He finished seventh and he will start fourth.

In Sunday’s race. Palou will start on pole alongside O’Ward. Newgarden will start third and Mick Schumacher fourth. Like Hauger for race 1, Schumacher hung onto the pole for race 2 for quite a bit of time.

The speed differentials for both contests is huge. The leaders should encounter slower traffic very quickly.

Kyle Kirkwood, second in the standings, qualified 22nd and 24th, the slowest of the Andretti cars. It might be difficult for him to prevent Palou from clinching t5he title today.

I will post the official starting lineup when it is available..