Pato O’Ward won the Saturday race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250’s at the Milwaukee Mile. The McLaren driver took the lead during the first round of pit stops and managed to withstand pressure from Will Power at the end of the race. Power finished second, while Conor Daly secured a third place, marking the first podium finish for Juncos Hollinger Racing. Rinus VeeKay crossed the line in fourteenth.

At the start of the race, polesitter Scott McLaughlin managed to maintain the lead, while Linus Lundqvist successfully overtook David Malukas for second place. McLaughlin then built a lead of up to three seconds over the rookie.

Halfway through the first stint, traffic began to play a bigger role, quickly diminishing McLaughlin’s lead. In the 48th lap, Lundqvist attempted an overtake on McLaughlin, but McLaughlin skillfully defended his position. Shortly thereafter, Lundqvist managed to pass McLaughlin, partly with help from teammate and backmarker Kyffin Simpson.

Tire wear played a significant role during the race. As the drivers continued to push, lap times slowed down considerably, making slightly earlier pit stops more appealing. O’Ward made his first pit stop on lap 61, moving up from fifth place.

Lundqvist and McLaughlin waited until lap 66 to make their stops, allowing O’Ward on fresher tires to move into the lead, with Colton Herta taking second. Lundqvist and McLaughlin fell back to third and fourth positions, respectively. However, O’Ward wouldn’t stay in the lead for long; ten laps after taking first place, he was overtaken by Herta.

The first caution of the race occurred on lap 78 when Katherine Legge spun in Turn 2. The Dale Coyne Racing driver didn’t hit the wall and was able to continue, but the track needed to be inspected.

During this caution, almost all of the top ten drivers pitted, except for McLaughlin, who regained the lead. Despite his worn tires, McLaughlin held off Herta for a significant period. However, in lap 114, Herta was passed by O’Ward, and five laps later, McLaughlin also lost his position, allowing O’Ward to retake the lead.

The only major incident of the race happened on lap 147. Early third pit stops had placed Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson in second and third positions. Ericsson attempted an overtake on Newgarden in Turn 1, but the two collided, causing Ericsson to spin and take Newgarden into the crash with him. Palou narrowly avoided the incident.

O’Ward managed to hold the lead after the green flag, with Alex Palou and Will Power running in second and third positions.

The final caution occurred during the last round of pit stops when Herta’s left front wheel came off following a botched pit stop. O’Ward and Palou had made their stops just before the yellow flag, while Power still needed to pit. Pitting under caution, Power dropped behind O’Ward and Santino Ferrucci, who had driven a strong recovery race.

In the final stint, Power overtook Ferrucci on lap 223. During this move, Ferrucci lost enough speed to allow Daly and, two laps later, Palou to pass him. Ferrucci quickly recovered and repassed Palou two laps later for fourth position.

Up front, Power closed the gap to O’Ward to less than a second, but he never got close enough for a genuine overtaking attempt. Thus, O’Ward secured his third win of the season, while Power’s second-place finish allowed him to cut 11 points from Palou’s championship lead.