Pato O'Ward wins Milwaukee IndyCar Race 2 as Alex Palou denied title clinch

Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward was victorious in the second race of IndyCar's Milwaukee Mile doubleheader. 

The 27-year-old Mexican recovered from an early pit-stop problem before a rapid final stop vaulted him into the lead with 54 laps remaining. From there, he held firm en route to a 0.7916s win over Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin. It marked O'Ward's 11th career IndyCar victory, his second at Milwaukee and second of the 2026 season. His previous win at the track came in 2024. 

O'Ward's teammate, Christian Lundgaard, finished third to give Chevrolet a sweep of the podium. 

"We were feeling really good yesterday," O'Ward said, of the first race that will be run later this afternoon following a rain delay.  "This, I believe it's an all-Team Chevy podium. That's amazing. We like Milwaukee. Yesterday the car, like I said, was feeling really good. I can't say I wasn't struggling a little bit in the race. I definitely was. It took me a little bit to kind of find a rhythm. The track temp is a little bit hotter today. It definitely makes these things a little bit more on the edge, but I used it up when we needed. We had the car to do it. We had the power to do it. And super proud of everybody. We had a little bit of a bad first pit stop, but I was confident with what was under me that I could kind of find my way forward and keep making it better. It's a long race."

Team Penske's David Malukas finished fourth, ahead of pole-sitter Alex Palou's #10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in fifth. Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood charged from 24th to finish sixth, preventing Palou from locking up the championship. 

RACE 2 AT MILWAUKEE IS GREEN! 🟢🟢

Alex Palou leads to start the 250-lap event! pic.twitter.com/0WiXhf2Hrw

Palou led the field to the green flag, as the field scattered behind. Josef Newgarden immediately moved past fellow front-row starter O'Ward for second.

The early mover was Dale Coyne Racing's Romain Grosjean, leaning on the high-line to advance 10 spots to 10th after the opening five laps. Palou's lead was 1.7678s over Newgarden by lap 5. 

The field began to spread out by lap 15, with Palou extending his lead to 3.9971s over Newgarden. O'Ward sat third, followed by rookie Mick Schumacher (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing) in fourth, and teammate Louis Foster in fifth. 

By lap 25, Palou's lead was 1.9047s over Newgarden. At the same time, Andretti Global's Kyle Kirkwood, who progressed eight spots to 16th after starting 24th, was reporting that his cool suit had failed over the radio. 

Newgarden caught Palou as the two battled for the lead on lap 30. Newgarden attempted an outside pass in turn 1, but Palou was able to fend him off. 

Newgarden got by Palou with an inside pass into turn 3 on lap 34 to take the lead. 

The yellow flag came out on lap 35 after Grosjean half-spun off turn 2. He didn't make any contact and was able to continue on.

The pits opened up a couple of laps later. Palou came out with the lead, while Newgarden nearly made contact with Arrow McLaren's Nolan Siegel exiting his stall. O'Ward also lost time when his right-rear wheel was not immediately secured, dropping him to 15th. O'Ward fell to 15th as a result. 

The top five after the first cycle of pit stops were Palou, Newgarden, Schumacher, Scott McLaughlin, and Foster. 

Palou led the field to the restart on lap 46 and immediately put a gap on Newgarden. Meanwhile, VeeKay was the one making moves on the restart, taking it three-wide on Schumacher and Foster to move into fourth. VeeKay then moved up to third the next lap after getting around McLaughlin. 

Meanwhile, Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard was also on the charge, pushing past Foster and McLaughlin to move into fourth on lap 55. Kirkwood was also on the move, up to seventh and pressuring McLaughlin for sixth - the two made slight contact on lap 60. 

Palou managed to build a 2s lead over Newgarden by lap 62, but was already hitting backmarker traffic. 

Through 75 laps, Palou widened his advantage to 3.5s over Newgarden, with VeeKay still in third and on his rear wing. Newgarden began to slide a few laps later, falling to fourth as VeeKay and Lundgaard got around. 

The first driver to hit pit lane with a roll of the dice was Newgarden, who dove in for service on lap 84.

VeeKay pulled to within 1.0453s of Palou by lap 85, but dove to pit lane two laps later, along with Lundgaard, Foster, Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist. Kirkwood and others also took to pit lane by lap 88. Palou finally came in on lap 89, and cycled back to the lead despite Newgarden's undercut attempt. 

Newgarden quickly lost second to VeeKay, who pulled an outside pass on lap 95. 

Palou continued to struggle with backmarker traffic, which brought VeeKay alongside him in a side-by-side battle for the lead. Ultimately, VeeKay pulled off the pass off turn 4 on lap 100. 

After 110 laps, the top five were VeeKay, Palou, Kirkwood, Newgarden and Lundgaard.

By lap 115, VeeKay held a 0.6372s lead over Palou, with Kirkwood 1.8s behind and closing. 

The next cycle of pit stops came on lap 122, with Will Power, Newgarden, and David Malukas among those to come in. Meanwhile, Palou took the fight to VeeKay and retook the lead before pitting on lap 126. Kirkwood pitted the lap prior. 

Through the cycle, Palou returned to the top spot, with Power now second, with Newgarden third. VeeKay dropped to seventh, directly behind Kirkwood. Palou's lead was 3.6050s over Power on lap 131 following the completion of pit stops. 

Malukas got by teammate Newgarden to take third by lap 137. McLaughlin was running fifth, giving Team Penske third, fourth and fifth.

It didn't take long for Malukas to continue progressing, passing Power with an inside pass on lap 139 to take second. Palou led Malukas by 2.4190s by lap 140.

The caution came out a lap later after Newgarden, running fifth, spun off turn 4, with the front wing hitting the outside wall before his #2 Team Penske Chevrolet drifted down the track into the water barrels at pit entry. The damage was severe enough that Newgarden exited the car. 

With the pit stops open, most of the field came in with the exception of McLaughlin and Dixon. Power won the race off pit lane, followed by Palou, Malukas, and Kirkwood. 

The top 10 coming to the restart were McLaughlin, Dixon, Power, Palou, Malukas, Kirkwood, Lundgaard, Christian Rasmussen, O'Ward, and VeeKay.

McLaughlin led the field to the restart on lap 157, but the caution came out seconds later after Grosjean spun off turn 4 and clobbered the outside wall. 

The restart happened on lap 168, with McLaughlin pulling a gap on Power. While the field was frantic behind, with several competitors moving around lapped cars on the restart, Kirkwood dropped to 10th as a result as Lundgaard made a bold three-wide move to jump to third. Dixon fell down to 14th. 

Meanwhile, Power caught and passed McLaughlin for the lead on lap 175. 

Dixon gave up on the alternate strategy and dove to pit lane on lap 180. 

Lundgaard moved by McLaughlin to take second, running 0.6850s behind Power by lap 190. Kirkwood dove to pit lane from 10th. McLaughlin and Palou came in two laps later, with Power and Lundgaard stopping the following lap. 

It was a slow stop for Lundgaard, while Power was hit with a drive-through penalty for speeding in pitlane. 

O'Ward vaulted to the lead on lap 196. By lap 200, O'Ward held a 1.8146s lead over McLaughlin, with Lundgaard third, Palou fourth and Malukas running fifth. 

With 40 laps to go, O'Ward's lead was 1.0351s over McLaughlin. 

O'Ward's lead widened to 2s with 30 laps to go, with McLaughlin in second but only 0.7s ahead of Lundgaard. 

The biggest battle on track was for fourth, with Malukas pulling off an outside pass on Palou with 23 laps to go. 

O'Ward caught the backmarker of Power, who fell to 13th after the pit lane violation, which allowed McLaughlin to reel in the leader. 

O'Ward was finally able to get by Power with 15 laps to go. 

With 10 laps to go, O'Ward's gap to McLaughlin stood at 2.1650s as the leader lapped the 11th-place car of Alexander Rossi. 

O'Ward was uncontested through the checkered, taking it over McLaughlin and Lundgaard.

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