O’Ward sweeps Milwaukee as Palou clinches a fifth IndyCar title

Pato O’Ward has done something no IndyCar driver has managed in forty-five years. The Mexican won both races at the Milwaukee Mile on Sunday, taking the completion of Saturday’s rain-suspended Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 only a few hours after winning the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250, and becoming the first driver to win two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races on the same day since Rick Mears at Atlanta in June 1981.

And he still was not the biggest story of the afternoon. Alex Palou finished tenth in the completed race and clinched his fifth series championship.

O’Ward wins the race that would not end

The opener had been stopped by rain on Saturday after 90 of its 250 laps, with O’Ward leading in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. It was meant to be completed on Sunday morning, was pushed back again, and finally ran after the second 250 had already been won.

When it restarted, it turned into a two-car race. O’Ward and David Malukas led 212 of the 250 laps between them, 119 for O’Ward and 93 for Malukas, and the pair were rarely more than a second apart.

The decisive moment came on lap 226. Malukas led the field to the green flag on the final restart, but his car was sluggish. O’Ward went low, Scott McLaughlin went high, and the three of them arrived at Turn 1 abreast. O’Ward came out in front and never gave the lead back, winning by 1.7535 seconds. It was one of a track-record 372 on-track passes for position.

“I’ve dreamed of weekends like this before, having doubleheaders just a couple of times in my career, wishing I wanted to win both of them in a weekend,” O’Ward said. “We got to win both in a day. That’s definitely a dream come true for myself and the team.”

Rinus VeeKay took his first podium of a strong season in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, McLaughlin was fourth for Team Penske and Christian Rasmussen fifth for ECR. Chevrolet filled the top seven places, on the same day that Honda clinched its twelfth manufacturers’ championship.

Malukas and the second place that keeps happening

For Malukas it was a sixth career runner-up finish, and he is still looking for a first win. Four of those second places have come this season, his first with Team Penske.

“I’m just so frustrated,” Malukas said. “We had the car; we did everything right. We’re just cursed. I literally believe I have some sort of curse. Everything was in our favor there.”

“This weekend, both races we were having issues with the engine on restarts and coming out of the pits, needing to lift and having these events where we just lose power. That really let us down.”

Palou clinches a fifth title from tenth place

Palou’s afternoon was the opposite of O’Ward’s, and it was exactly what he needed it to be. He came into the completed race 97 points clear and only had to leave it 54 points clear, so he drove accordingly, backing out of fights and letting rivals through while the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda refused to handle.

“Today was a really bad race for us,” Palou said. “We were suffering all the time. But just keep focused, keep on going.”

Tenth was enough. It is his fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES title and his fourth in a row, which equals the record Sébastien Bourdais set between 2004 and 2007. At 29 he is the youngest driver in series history to reach five championships: A.J. Foyt was 32 when he took his fifth in 1967. Only Foyt, with seven, and Scott Dixon, with six, have won more.

“Incredible,” Palou said. “I owe everything to this team. So proud of this team. It is great to have another championship and ready for the next one.”

What happens at Laguna Seca

The season ends this coming weekend with the Mission Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, a circuit Palou has won at three times in the last four years, including the last two.

He will run a special livery there honouring Alex Zanardi, the two-time series champion and Chip Ganassi Racing great who died on 1 May.

“I’m very excited for next weekend,” Palou said. “My favorite racetrack of the year, repping that beautiful livery in honor of Alex Zanardi.”

Completed Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250, top five

1. Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
2. David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, +1.7535s
3. Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet
4. Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Clarience Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet
5. Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet, ECR

Our earlier report on how the weekend came apart, and on the engine penalties that shaped it, is in Milwaukee Mile rain delay leaves 410 laps to run on Sunday and Palou grid penalty Milwaukee shakes up IndyCar title fight.

Photo: IndyCar / Chris Owens