Scott McLaughlin may be out of the championship battle but the driver of the No. 3 Team Penske entry did not let that deter him on Sunday claiming the win in the second of two IndyCar Series races at the famed Milwaukee Mile.
The initial start of the race was waived off after championship leader Alex Palou’s car stalled on the track. He would lose six laps but the second start of the race was also waived off but the Ganassi cars of Linus Linqvist and Marcus Armstrong would make contact crashing out pole sitter Josef Newgaden.
Palou’s car would again stall on the track before being taken back to the hauler but by lap 25 the team began pushing the car back to pitlane to rejoin the race. Meanwhile Armstrong remained in the pits losing laps while Nolan Siegel also reported to the pits for a problem.
Alexander Rossi would pit on lap 53 setting off a chain reaction with Power remaining ahead of Scott McLaughlin, who he caught prior to pitstops. Connor Daly would remain on pit road with a problem while David Malukas brought out a caution on lap 64.
On lap 88 Pato O’Ward would go to the pits with an issue with his day ending while Palou continued to click off laps and move up to 22nd. Sting Ray Robb would bring out the next yellow after he came to a stop on the back stretch after spinning out. McLaughlin would beat Power off of pit road on the ensuing pit stops.
Graham Rahal would get spun on the restart by Christian Rasmussen. Moments later on the next restart Power would go around seeing his gains on Palou and the title disappear in a matter of laps. Power would lose a lap getting a wing replacement.
As pit stops cycled though Colton Herta would go to the front before McLaughlin retook the lead. With 22 laps to go Robb would crash into the outside wall bringing out a caution. All the lead lap cars would choose to pit allowing Power to get back on the lead lap but also setting up a battle on drivers on used tires.
During the caution, Lunqvist would drop out of the race giving Palou another championship point. McLaughlin, Rossi, Dixon, Herta and Ferrucci would lead the field back to green.
McLaughlin would hold off Dixon in the closing laps to claim his second career oval win. Power would finish 10th while Palou came home 19th. Palou will have a 33 point lead over Power heading to Nashville in two weeks.
IndyCar Series Milwaukee Race No. 2 Results
September 1, 2024
