Absolutely wild. The first Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheader on Saturday night was great, and with the bar set high for Sunday afternoonโs second race, there was almost no chance of it offering more entertainment, but the closer to the NTT IndyCar Seriesโ return to the Milwaukee Mile was 250 laps of pure shocks and thrills.
The winner of the contest who survived six cautions, 13 lead changes, and 57 laps of caution was Team Penskeโs Scott McLaughlin, who took his second oval victory in just over a month. The New Zealander led a Kiwi 1-2 as Chip Ganassi Racingโs Scott Dixon chased and tried his best to catch the No. 3 Chevy, but came up 0.4s short at the checkered flag in the No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Colton Hertaโs No. 26 Andretti Global Honda team rolled the strategy dice to try and win by carving one pit stop out of his day, and it almost worked, but McLaughlin and Dixon tore by on fresher tires and he came up 5.1s short in third.
โIt was awesome,โ McLaughlin said. โI was able to do what I wanted in traffic. Big props to the crew. Just unreal. Once I got confidence with the car… The first step was quite tough for me, but once I got the confidence in the car and where I wanted to run the car, I thought the track was really cool. I thought it was a really fun race.โ
Three more drivers starred as Santino Ferrucci passed drivers with total abandon, leaving a few marks and stripes behind in the transactions, and was able to claim fourth in the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevy. Marcus Ericsson, rebounding from a crash in race one, passed Arrow McLarenโs Alexander Rossi for fifth in the final laps in the No. 28 Honda and Rossi, who was especially strong all afternoon, came home sixth in the No. 7 Chevy.
And that was the most boring part of the contest.
HERE WE GO AGAIN!
Get to USA and Peacock for the finish from @TheMKEMile! pic.twitter.com/O7eng7gPz9
โ NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) September 1, 2024
Ganassiโs Alex Palou had something close to an insurmountable lead in the championship entering the penultimate race of the season, but in this most unpredictable year, Palouโs 43-point lead was in jeopardy before the green flag waved over the final race of the weekend. By the time his electrical issues were fixed, Palou was 29 laps down and prone to being overtaken in the standings by his main title rival Will Power.
As Palouโs dead-in-the-water No. 10 Honda was towed to pit lane, the race went green, or rather, the start was waved off due to cars at the back being in disarray, but Ganassiโs Linus Lundqvist didnโt realize the race was under caution, hit teammate Marcus Armstrong who was slowing, and Armstrong tagged polesitter Josef Newgarden who was turned and crashed backward into the pit wall.
Palouโs car started, but then died, and was lifted and towed to the paddock while McLaughlin led the first proper start, and before long, Power was by and leadingโjust what he needed to capitalize on Palouโs electrical issues. On another restart just passed the halfway point of the 250-lap race, Power spun on his own coming to green and pitted twice afterwards to get fresher tires and replace the damaged nose and wings that touched the wall in his error.
Temporarily holding the championship lead as he was first earlier in the race while Palou was buried 20-plus laps down in the mid-20s, now Power was a lap down and the championship points tipped back in Palouโs favor.
Between these instances, David Malukas had a mechanical issue that stranded his car on track and Sting Ray Robb spun, both of which required cautions. Christian Rasmussen speared Graham Rahal from behind coming out of the Robb yellow, which wrecked Rahalโs car, and coming out of that caution, Power got on the throttle early and looped his No. 12 Chevy.
Robb wasnโt done, though, and triggered his second and final caution after crashing on lap 228, which saw the leaders rocket into the pits and get the freshest tires they had left to make a charge to the finish. The dynamic of drivers on older and new tires being slower and faster at different stages of each stint, coupled with traffic creating passing opportunities, made most laps hard to follow as divebombs and sliding in and out of the groove made for constant excitement.
Ferrucci and Ericsson put on a show over the last 13 laps and, behind them, Power saved his championship hopes by coming home in 10th, but the real surprise was Palou, all 29 laps down, who persevered and was rewarded with 19th. It was a terrible finish by his usual standard, but with Powerโs mistake, the damage was limited to a loss of just 10 points in the standings.
Palou went into Sunday with 43 points over Power and left with an advantage of 33 with only Nashville to run. Even when he loses, and loses badly, the Spaniard remains one of the luckiest drivers in history.
It was a stellar event in Milwaukee as an enthusiastic crowd brought an incredible atmosphere to IndyCarโs return. Intense racing, under perfect skies, has set the series up nicely for its race next August, a single-day affair. This was a win for IndyCar in every way.
The second Milwaukee race had yet to start and high drama was already in play as championship leader Palou sat stalled on the track during the pace laps with some form of hybrid or electrical problem. The first four laps were run under caution, with the field charging to the green on lap five, and there was mayhem as polesitter Newgarden was crashed out as the start was waved off. Behind him, Lundqvist hit teammate Armstrong while trying to make a passโunder the yellowโand turned Armstrong into Newgarden, who spun and crashed into the outer pit wall.
Lap six and Palou, as the field drove away from the wave-off, joined them at the back of the field. Armstrong pitted for repairs.
Circulating under caution again, the leaders were McLaughlin, Power, Lundqvistโwho was likely to receive a penalty, Rossi, OโWard, and Felix Rosenqvist.
Lap 13 and Palou was seemingly out of the race, his car being returned to the paddock on a tow truck, the team set to try to fix it and get him back and running to earn however points heโs able to earn. The race restarted on lap 16.
Lundqvist came in for a drive-through for avoidable contact on lap 22.
By lap 30, Mclaughlin led by 0.8s over Power and 5.9s over Rossi.
Palou was running again at lap 36, 29 laps down. Heโd moved to P25 ahead of the retired cars of Newgarden and Armstrong.
Power took the lead from McLaughlin on lap 43. Rossi pitted 10 laps later, triggering a round of stops, with Power and McLaughlin coming in on lap 54.
Lap 60 and Power led Rossi by 1.9s, with McLaughlin 2.2s down.
Caution flew on lap 62 for a slow Malukas, whose team was asking him to go into emergency mode. Conor Daly was on pit lane at the time, the JHR team working inside the cockpit while rotating the rear tires. He’d end up losing a handful of laps.
A restart came at lap 71. Within four laps, Power led McLaughlin by 0.8s, Rossi by 1.7s, and Ferrucci by 4.2s.
Pato OโWard pitted with a problem from P4 on lap 87.
Rossi ducked in on lap 89. Power and McLaughlin pit in tandem on lap 96.
Caution flew again for the spun car of Sting Ray Robb in Turn 2 on lap 112. Power, Mclaughlin, and Ferrucci pit, and McLaughlin jumps Power when they leave. Ferrucci was ahead of Power on pit lane, while McLaughlin had a clean box in front of him to launch hard, and that was enough to trade positions. Rossi stayed out.
Lap 124 and the restart had Rossi up front ahead of Dixon, who also stayed out, then McLaughlin, Ericsson, Ferrucci, and Power. Quickly we were back to yellow after Christian Rasmussen hit Graham Rahal, who crashed in Turn 3.
Restart time again at lap 131 and Power spun and lightly touched the wall with his right-front wheel. He pitted for a set of used tires and a front wing inspection. On lap 135, he pitted to have his nose and wings replaced and went down a lap.
Another restart at lap 136 with Rossi leading, Dixon, McLaughlin, Ericsson, Herta, and Ferrucci in tow.
Championship-wise, lap 139 saw Power up to P13 and Palou, P22.
Ferrucci went to P4 ahead of Herta while passing Ericsson on lap 140.
Lap 150 and Rossi needed to make a stop with Dixon 0.7s behind, then McLaughlin 1.0s back, and Ferrucci 2.5s down.
Three laps later, Power was up to P12, Palou in P21.
McLaughlin took P2 from Dixon on lap 156.
Lap 157 and Herta went to P4 ahead of Ferrucci.
Dixon pitted on lap 161 to trigger another round of stops.
Herta led at lap 170, trying to cut a stop from his race, with Rinus VeeKay in P2 and Romain Grosjean in P3 as the three were trying to stretch their tanks. Herta was running 9mph slower than McLaughlin in P4. He eventually pitted from the lead at lap 187.
By lap 190, McLaughlin led with 4.0s over Rossi and 6.1s over Ferrucci before the Fout driver came in after another six laps, Rossi following a lap later.
McLaughlin came in from the lead and Dixon joined on lap 198.
Herta led McLaughlin on lap 200 by 7.4s and Rossi by 14.3s.
Lap 202 and Power had made it up to P11. Palou was stuck 29 laps down in P21 still.
McLaughlin passed Herta into Turn 3 on lap 214, but Herta held on and retook the lead exiting Turn 4.
Lap 217 and McLaughlin finally got by Herta and kept P1.
This is INCREDIBLE!@smclaughlin93 and @ColtonHerta are going at it for the lead at @TheMKEMile!
: #HyVee250s – Race 2 on USA and Peacock pic.twitter.com/TBfmZZT3br
โ NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) September 1, 2024
Lundqvist tapped the wall on lap 218 and pitted to have the right-rear toe link replaced.
By lap 220, McLaughlin led Herta by 1.3s, Rossi by 5.7s, and Dixon by 12.2s. Power made it up to P10 by lap 222 and Palou ran in P20 as the retired car of Pietro Fittipaldi fell behind him.
Robb was in the wall at lap 228 and caution flew again.
Lap 239 and McLaughlin led away as Dixon pounced on Rossi to take P2 and Herta tried to take P2 from Dixon. A few laps later, Power had made it back on the lead lap but was not improving; he was P10.
Dixon was charging, doing 155mph lapsโthe fastest of the raceโand taking McLaughlinโs lead down to 0.7s by lap 243. Ferrucci took P4 from Rossi the next lap, and over the last handful of tours, McLaughlin became a three-time race winner in 2024 as Ericsson got by Rossi for P4.
RESULTS
