It was a protracted weekend for the followers and everybody within the paddock with Mom Nature pushing the vast majority of the motion at The Milwaukee Mile to Sunday.
The primary of two races on the 1.015-mile oval was interrupted by rain after 90 of 250 laps on Saturday and initially rescheduled to conclude early Sunday morning forward of Race 2. Nevertheless, the rain continued to play its annoying half, leaving Race 2 to maintain its authentic begin time and break up with the start and conclusion of Race 1.
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Ultimately, the climate solely delayed Pato O’Ward turning ‘The Mile’ in his private playground, delivering a sweep and changing into the primary particular person since Rick Mears at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1981 to win two IndyCar races on the identical day.
Talking of inevitable, Alex Palou bounced again from a tough earlier spherical in Washington, D.C., and formally clinched his fifth – fourth consecutive – IndyCar Collection title in six seasons.
The Race 1 two-part exhibiting featured 696 complete passes, with 372 of these for place. There have been additionally 12 lead adjustments amongst eight totally different drivers, together with 4 cautions for 70 laps. The extra simple Race 2 had 661 complete passes and 333 of these for place, together with 10 lead adjustments amongst eight drivers. Moreover, the second race underwent three warning durations for 37 laps.
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Listed here are the winners and losers from the sixteenth and seventeenth rounds of the season.
Winner: Pato O’Ward
O’Ward’s exceptional double-win Sunday noticed him deny Crew Penske drivers in each races. Within the first race, he made essentially the most of a tough closing restart for David Malukas to tug off an inside cross into Flip 1 with 19 laps to go. From there, he set sail for his second win of the day – and third on the monitor.
The Arrow McLaren driver needed to fend off a speedy Scott McLaughlin on the finish of Race 2, and did so with ease after navigating via backmarker site visitors. Throughout the five hundred complete laps, O’Ward led 174 laps, together with a race-high 119 within the first race.
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It was as excellent a day as a driver within the IndyCar Collection has ever loved, and O’Ward’s double-win additionally got here on founder Bruce McLaren’s birthday.
Loser: Josef Newgarden
Josef Newgarden arrived in Wisconsin needing a dominant weekend to salvage a difficult 2026 championship marketing campaign, however Race 1 supplied solely frustration. Whereas the rain delay gave Crew Penske further time to navigate via any enhancements, Newgarden lacked the tempo required to battle for the rostrum in comparison with his teammates. Ultimately, he completed seventh.
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Race 2 spiraled from disappointing to catastrophic. Pushing to make up misplaced floor, Newgarden misplaced management of his #2 Chevrolet and slammed the Flip 4 wall after 150 laps, leaving him with a painful DNF. Collectively, it was removed from the expectation for a driver that’s considered the oval maestro of the sequence.
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Winner: Alex Palou
It wasn’t Palou’s greatest efficiency in Race 1, however the Tenth-place outcome (after a high 5 in Race 2) was sufficient to safe his aforementioned fifth IndyCar Collection title – and with one spherical to spare within the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Moreover, Palou’s string of 4 consecutive championships tied a mark set by Sebastien Bourdais, who claimed 4 Champ Automotive titles from 2003-07.
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Race 2 was the crowning achievement of a unprecedented season. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver began on pole and led a race-high 115 laps en path to crossing the road fifth. If not for fighting backmarker site visitors, a podium may have been in play, and that is the one unfavourable factor mark on an in any other case clear day for the Spaniard.
Loser: Will Energy
Will Energy’s run of three consecutive third-place finishes got here to a halt in merciless vogue. In Race 1, he retired after 199 laps after being pushed right into a compromising three-wide scenario – and with site visitors immediately forward that took air of the nostril of his #26 Andretti International Honda – that pushed him into the marbles and finally the wall. He completed twenty fifth after additionally main three laps.
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The Aussie was in play for a win late in Race 2, however was hit with a pit highway rushing penalty and left questioning what may have been en path to a 14th-place end. The dual sub-par outcomes knocked him right down to Eleventh within the championship, marking a deeply disappointing outing for a veteran on the flat oval.
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, Scott McLaughlin, Crew Penske
Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, Scott McLaughlin, Crew Penske
Winner: Christian Lundgaard
Christian Lundgaard helped silence any doubters of his skill on ovals.
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The Dane led one lap and completed sixth in Race 1, which equalled his career-best outcome on an oval. Then, he did even higher in Race 2 by changing an Eleventh-place begin to reset his career-best oval end to 3rd. The lead to Race 2 gave Arrow McLaren a double podium.
The pair of robust performances additionally elevated Lundgaard again into second within the championship standings with 507 factors, narrowly forward of Kyle Kirkwood (505), Pato O’Ward (503), and David Malukas (484).
Loser: Caio Collet
Race 1 was a whole catastrophe for Caio Collet, as persistent mechanical gremlins plagued his A.J. Foyt Racing entry earlier than he in the end misplaced management, bounced off Newgarden and crashed into the outer wall for a Twenty fourth-place DNF. Milwaukee’s unforgiving floor punished his lack of unpolluted monitor time, leaving him scrambling for solutions.
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Race 2 introduced no reduction, both. The Brazilian lacked uncooked tempo and was compelled to start out close to the again. He remained trapped in midfield site visitors with no probability to maneuver ahead, ending 4 laps down in twenty third.
In a paddock the place each weekend serves as an audition for the long run, this messy, mistake-laden efficiency was a heavy blow to any momentum.
Winner: Chevrolet
On a weekend that noticed rival Honda clinch the 2026 Producers’ Championship, Chevrolet spoiled the celebration with a exceptional exhibiting.
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Not solely did Chevrolet-powered O’Ward sweep the weekend, however the bow-tie model additionally cleaned home and swept the rostrum in each races. The primary race noticed Chevrolet entries end 1-7, and 1-4 in Race 2.
Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing
Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing
Loser: Romain Grosjean
Romain Grosjean’s weekend was outlined by agonizing mediocrity. In Race 1, he struggled immensely with chassis stability and setup decisions on the low-grip monitor, sliding again via the sector and even making contact that led to rookie Mick Schumacher spinning – and confronting him after the race. Grosjean was left with a disappointing nineteenth.
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Race 2 supplied up a good worse outcome for Grosjean. After beginning twentieth within the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, he was unable to make up any floor earlier than crashing out on a restart on Lap 155, ending Twenty fourth.
Learn Additionally:
VeeKay costs from Twenty fourth to podium at Milwaukee as Juncos Hollinger eyes historic season end
Honda topped 2026 IndyCar producers’ champions
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