Looking Back At IndyCar's Chaotic Milwaukee Mile Double

Pato O'Ward en route to victory at the Milwaukee Mile. (James Black/Penske Entertainment photo)

By Thomas Hughes, SWN Open-Wheel Correspondent

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (Aug. 30, 2026) – The way the NTT IndyCar Series races worked this past weekend is interesting, so stay with me.

The start of Race 1 of the series doubleheader at The Milwaukee Mile — originally scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 29, at 2:30 p.m. ET — was pushed back an hour due to rain. Once the race got underway, it went under caution on lap 65 and was ultimately red-flagged after 90 laps.

The initial plan was to resume the race later that night. Then, it became 9 a.m. ET on Sunday, ahead of the second race of the weekend at 1 p.m. ET. 

Then, the order flipped.

The scheduled second race still took place at 1 p.m. ET, but the unfinished opener did not resume until 6 p.m. ET. Confused yet? 

Oh, and IndyCar crowned its champion amid all the chaos. Alex Palou clinched his fourth consecutive championship and fifth title across the past six seasons, while Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward vaulted himself to fourth in the standings with a sweep of the weekend.

We’ll start with Race 2 since that was the race that actually finished first.

Race 2 (Sunday afternoon)

O’Ward entered Sunday with just one podium finish on the season, but it was a victory. He left Milwaukee with two more of them — both victories. The Mexican used a rapid final pit stop and a strong closing stint through lapped traffic to win the first completed race of the day, beating Scott McLaughlin to the checkered flag by 0.7916 seconds.

The victory was O’Ward’s second of the season and the 11th of his IndyCar career. Christian Lundgaard joined his Arrow McLaren teammate on the podium with a third-place finish, the best result of the Dane’s career on an oval.

Team Penske’s David Malukas placed fourth, while Palou rounded out the top five and moved within touching distance of another championship. Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood followed Palou home in sixth, enough to keep the fight alive to the yet-to-be-resumed Race 1.

Palou controlled much of the race and led a race-high 115 laps, but did not possess the pace needed to remain at the front during the final stint.

The last round of pit stops ultimately decided the race. O’Ward and McLaughlin came in together on lap 192, with Arrow McLaren completing a 6.6-second stop that sent O’Ward back onto the track ahead of the Team Penske driver.

Lundgaard and Andretti Global’s Will Power stopped one lap later, but neither emerged unscathed. Power received a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit entry, while trouble changing two tires extended Lundgaard’s stop to 11.3 seconds.

O’Ward inherited the lead for good when A.J. Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci pitted on Lap 196. McLaughlin closed within half a second while O’Ward navigated traffic, but O’Ward cleared Power on lap 235 and rebuilt his advantage over the closing laps en route to victory No. 2 of the season.

Race 1 (Saturday start, Sunday evening finish)

A few hours later, O’Ward climbed back into his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet with the opportunity to complete a historic sweep.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist had emerged as the early leader Saturday, passing O’Ward on lap 22 and stretching his advantage beyond seven seconds. Rosenqvist led 30 laps before the weather interruption scrambled the race and brought the field back Sunday evening.

From there, O’Ward and Malukas took control.

The pair combined to lead 212 of the race’s 250 laps, with O’Ward pacing the field for 119 laps and Malukas leading 93. Their duel came down to one final restart on Lap 226.

Malukas led the field back to green but struggled to accelerate; O’Ward dove to the inside as McLaughlin went high, sending the three drivers toward turn one side by side by side.

O’Ward emerged with the lead and stayed there, beating Malukas by 1.7535 seconds for his third victory of the season. Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay finished third to record his first podium of the season, followed by McLaughlin and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen.

The sweep made O’Ward the first IndyCar driver to win two races on the same day since Rick Mears accomplished the feat at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1981.

Further back, Palou prioritized survival. He battled handling problems throughout the race and finished 10th, but that was more than enough to clinch the championship in a race where he simply needed to finish 20th or better.

Palou became the youngest five-time champion in series history. His fourth consecutive title also tied Sebastien Bourdais’ record of four straight championships from 2004 through 2007. Only A.J. Foyt (seven titles) and Scott Dixon (six) remain ahead of him.

Although first place is settled, the fight for second remains wide open entering the season finale at Laguna Seca. Lundgaard holds the position with 507 points, two ahead of Kirkwood.

O’Ward’s Milwaukee sweep lifted him to 503 points, leaving him just four points behind his teammate Lundgaard.

The IndyCar Series will wrap up on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 2:30 p.m. with the Mission Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. The race will air live on FOX, the IndyCar Radio Network and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation, channel 218.