McLaughlin concludes Milwaukee doubleheader with win, title fight moves on to Nashville

Scott McLaughlin had an uneventful day, unlike his teammates. (Photo: James Black | Penske Entertainment)

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — On Sunday afternoon at The Milwaukee Mile, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin finished on top, after a challenging and chaotic 250-lap contest, snagging his third NTT IndyCar Series win of the 2024 season, and second career victory on an oval track.

The Kiwi led 85 laps, holding Scott Dixon and Colton Herta off to conclude the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader race weekend after taking Race 2.

“That was like the most fun race I have had in IndyCar, it was a blast,” McLaughlin said. “So happy for everyone on the Gallagher Chevy because we just stuck with it. It wasn’t quite good at the start, but we trimmed it up and it was awesome. Lot better with traffic today which helped a lot. 

“Credit to Colton (Herta) and all the guys we raced with, we had a blast. The 21 car, the crew, they helped me a lot in some exchanges and helped me with getting in the box. Big thanks to Team Chevy, and that teamwork that we have. But yeah, I am pumped.”

The race ultimately came down to a 12-lap shootout for the win, but McLaughlin held strong down the stretch despite the pressure from behind.

“It was a fun race, a lot funner for me than yesterday,” McLaughlin joked. “Proud of everyone. Proud of the turnaround. I thought the racing was a lot better than we all expected, as well. Props to IndyCar, to Firestone, the drivers as well. There were a couple of incidents, but we were mostly pretty good.”

After clinching the engine title for Chevrolet, McLaughlin remains mathematically eligible for the championship, sitting 50 points back. 

In the championship battle, Alex Palou and Will Power had their share of on-track drama. While the two never tangled individually, Power gained ground on Palou’s points lead, bringing the title fight to the season finale in Music City.

On a day when Palou could have clinched his third championship, the odds of picking up his third Astor Cup in Wisconsin ended as chaos began immediately after the command to fire engines. 

During warm-up laps before the green flag, Palou stalled due to electrical issues. His No. 10 DHL Honda was stranded at pit exit, forcing the race to start under yellow flag conditions. 

Palou went behind the wall for his crew to diagnose the problem before they ultimately figured out that it was a faulty battery. It was the worst-case scenario for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver as he looked on helplessly while the race got underway without him. 

Chaos only continued during the race’s initial start. The spread of the field led to race control waving off the start. 

Despite the yellow waving from the stand, it seemed like everyone was not on the same page as Linus Lundqvist got into the back of teammate Marcus Armstrong, who ended up putting polesitter Josef Newgarden into the inside wall. 

Newgarden’s misfortune for the second consecutive day instantly gave the lead to McLaughlin. The driver of the No. 3 Gallagher Chevrolet held the lead until teammate Will Power found his gearbox on Lap 43. 

McLaughlin chose to be the team player and succumbed the spot to Power, who took over the championship points lead at the time. Over 20 laps down, Palau finally joined the race to salvage the disastrous day by picking up extra points when others ran into trouble.

Power had the ability to fully seize on Palou’s troubles, but a mistake of his own ended up limiting how much ground he could make up on his title rival. A restart on Lap 131 saw the driver of the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet lose control and spin while coming up to speed.

Then, Power went into the outside wall, with the front wing barely scraping the barrier before continuing. He had to visit the pitlane twice, once to apply fresh rubber and a second time to replace the front wing. 

This crucial mistake put Power a lap down, demoting him to 13th place. However, he moved forward on track but only managed to finish 10th when the result could have been so much better.

“I saw the (Palou) situation and it was like, looking pretty good,” Power said. “As per usual, something else happens! It’s never straightforward. That’s racing.

“We were trying to win it. I’m not one to look back, but if I would have just got a good restart in the first one, we would have been OK. Yeah we kept it off the wall and that was a good start.”

With Power’s mistake throwing another unexpected twist into this championship battle, Palou received some help as a handful of drivers ran into issues, which brought the Ganassi driver up to 19th place in a race of attrition. 

Classically, the silent Spaniard stayed out of trouble the rest of the way to maintain a 33-point lead over Power, entering the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.

“We’re a bit sad and disappointed,” Palou said. “We had no power. Then, we thought we had it fixed, but it stopped again. The problem we had was not in my control, or the team or HRC. It’s a sport. It is what it is. 

“We changed the battery and then we could get back out. Once we got going, we were happier. We were getting points: One more point, one more point, and so on. So, not a great day, but could’ve been a lot worse.”

On The Podium

Scott Dixon’s most recent podium put him into a league of his own. (Photo: Chris Owens | Penske Entertainment)

Scott Dixon made it a Kiwi 1-2 finish at Milwaukee, with a monumental 142nd career podium in over two decades of IndyCar competition. His result placed him one position ahead of Mario Andretti, making the 44-year-old the all-time leader in podium finishes. 

“Obviously I’m a massive fan of Mario,” Dixon said. “He’s a huge part of our series. Again, I keep saying it, but it’s so cool that him and AJ and many others, whether it’s Rick (Mears), come to a lot of our races, just to be mentioned with any of those guys is very special.”

It was an aggressive drive for the veteran, who clawed his way forward from 17th at the start of the race and pushed hard to keep his No. 9 PNC Bank Honda on the lead lap. On the final restart, he stole second place from Alexander Rossi and held onto it until the checkered flag. 

“For us it was a bit up and down throughout,” Dixon said. “I think we changed everything but the kitchen sink last night after yesterday’s car. It was very positive, it was nice to have a good car today.”

43 laps out front was a breath of fresh air for Colton Herta. The driver of the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda was hoping for solid results after a disappointing Race 1 on Saturday evening. 

In Race 2, Herta turned things around by having consistent wheel-to-wheel battles with Scott McLaughlin for the lead during numerous stages of the race. While he was unable to close the gap to Dixon, the Andretti Global driver was more than happy with his first oval podium.

“You want to do good the whole time,” Herta said, reflecting on his season. “It’s nice when you can finish strong and have good results.”

Outside The Podium

Alexander Rossi faded to sixth place in the closing laps. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)

Alexander Rossi had one of his best performances of the 2024 season. With his Arrow McLaren teammates Race 1 winner Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel retiring from the race, the driver of the No. 7 Chevrolet represented the papaya colors well, leading the field for 46 laps. 

Ahead of the final restart, running out of fresh tires cost Rossi and dropped him to a sixth-place result. Still looking for a new home in 2025, the Indianapolis 500 champion is hoping to end his tenure with Arrow McLaren on a high note at Nashville.

“We were having a great day until the last yellow when we didn’t have any new tires to put on, and that put us in a tough spot in that last stint,” Rossi said. “It’s unfortunate because I think we had a good shot to win that one. That last yellow really created a bad situation for us.”

Santino Ferrucci ended the Milwaukee doubleheader with two strong finishes. (Photo: Chris Jones | Penske Entertainment)

It was another top-10 finish for Santino Ferucci, who leaves Milwaukee with a pair of fourth-place finishes. Like Colton Herta, Ferrucci found comfort in running the outside lane in both races and was often going wheel-to-wheel with Herta for the podium. 

While earning some of his best results in IndyCar, Ferrucci is still hoping for a little more from himself and his AJ Foyt Racing team.

“Can’t complain,” Ferrucci said emotionally. “I want to be on that podium so bad, driving so hard. It’s tough to win in this field. I gave it everything.”

With his 10th top-10 finish of the 2024 season, Ferrucci owns the Foyt team’s season record, beating Robby Gordon’s nine top 10s from 1993.

GRID Ranking

The 2024 GRID Ranking is the eighth year of the world’s premier motorsport ranking and was initially released on Sunday, April 7.

The 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season will conclude on Sunday, Sept. 15 with the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. Coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on NBC.

Results: 2024 Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s Race 2 at The Milwaukee Mile