Scott McLaughlin took victory in the Sunday race at the Milwaukee Mile. In a race full of action and strategy, the Penske driver led the most laps. Scott Dixon finished second, ahead of Colton Herta in third place. Rinus VeeKay had a strong race and crossed the line in seventh.

Dramatic Start to the Race

Even before the race started, there were major consequences for the championship: during the warm-up laps, championship leader Alex Palou suddenly came to a halt with an electronic issue, causing a delay to the start. Ultimately, he would fall far behind.

The race finally got underway after five laps, but things immediately went wrong. Race control disapproved of the formation and waved the yellow flag as the drivers were already accelerating. Newgarden slowed down immediately, but the message reached Linus Lundqvist later, causing him to collide with teammate Marcus Armstrong. Armstrong then tapped polesitter Newgarden, who spun into the wall.

Meanwhile, Palou managed to get back on track but immediately stalled again. His car was returned to the paddock, where the technical issue was fixed. The Spaniard eventually started the race with a 28-lap deficit.

Power in a Strong Position in the Championship Battle

At the restart, McLaughlin led the race, followed by Will Power. The Penske duo pulled away from the rest of the field, building a maximum lead of six seconds. Backmarkers brought the field back together, giving Power the chance to pass McLaughlin on lap 45, taking the virtual lead in the championship from the struggling Palou.

The first part of the race was marked by retirements, with many drivers experiencing technical problems. Nolan Siegel parked his car in the pits, while Conor Daly managed to continue after lengthy repairs. On lap 63, David Malukas stopped with a mechanical issue, triggering the race’s second caution. Shortly afterward, Pato O’Ward also retired due to a broken gearbox.

Besides technical issues, some drivers struggled to keep their cars on track. On lap 114, Sting Ray Robb lost control exiting Turn 4 and spun onto the infield grass. Robb was able to continue, but the yellow flag was already waved. Many drivers in the top ten took advantage of this caution, with McLaughlin overtaking Power. Only Alexander Rossi and Scott Dixon did not pit, moving into the first two positions.

At the restart, Power was passed by Marcus Ericsson and Santino Ferrucci, who took fourth and fifth positions, respectively. A lap and a half later, deeper in the field, Christian Rasmussen collided with the rear of Graham Rahal. Rahal then crashed heavily into the Turn 4 wall, causing significant frustration for the driver.

Power Squanders His Golden Opportunity

After falling back to sixth place, Power tried to regain positions to secure a better shot at the title in Nashville. However, at the restart, he took a bit too much risk and spun in Turn 4. Miraculously, Power managed to keep his car out of the wall and continued his race with only a minor scrape.

While Power squandered his chances, McLaughlin made up ground by passing Dixon for second place on lap 157. He soon took the lead when Rossi had to pit. McLaughlin mirrored this strategy and rejoined the track ahead of Rossi after his pit stop.

Nearly all top ten drivers chose the same strategy, except for Colton Herta, Rinus VeeKay, and Romain Grosjean, who continued until around lap 185, allowing them to make one fewer pit stop.

This strategy seemed to favor Herta significantly: after McLaughlin’s final planned pit stop, Herta led the field with a seven-second advantage, despite being on tires just 12 laps older. McLaughlin quickly closed the gap, and after a few laps of intense battling, he took the lead on lap 214.

Late Caution Brings the Field Back Together

With 22 laps remaining, the yellow flag waved once more when Robb spun again, this time hitting the wall. The entire top ten pitted one last time for fresh tires.

After the restart, McLaughlin held onto the lead. Fellow New Zealander Dixon closed in but could not mount a serious challenge. McLaughlin was flagged as the winner of the second race at the Milwaukee Mile, keeping his theoretical chance at the championship alive.

Championship Implications

Will Power fought back from being a lap down to rejoin the lead lap but couldn’t gain any more positions in the final stages of the race, finishing tenth. He gained ten points on championship leader Palou, who managed to finish 19th despite many retirements.

Full results of the race on Milwaukee Mile