Pato O’Ward takes Race 1 at Milwaukee in a billboard-worthy performance

Pato O’Ward was fueled by some extra motivation on the way to Victory Lane at Milwaukee. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — In a billboard-worthy performance, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward dominated Race 1 of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader weekend, in the NTT IndyCar Series’ return to The Milwaukee Mile for the first time since 2015.

It was O’Ward’s third win of the 2024 season, which is the first time the 25-year-old Mexican driver has won more than two races in a single season. The native of Monterrey started in sixth place but weaved in and out of the top five throughout Saturday evening’s 250-lap race.

Quick execution on pitlane for the entire No. 5 Arrow McLaren crew, combined with on-edge driving to fend off Will Power led to O’Ward’s seventh career IndyCar win. 

“Super stoked,” O’Ward said while smiling during the post-race press conference, donning a massive sombrero with his signature. “A great bounce back after a tough weekend for me and the whole team. It was nice to bounce back like this after a solid qualifying effort, and then really putting it together in the race. Great pit stops, great strategy. It all came together for us.”

Do not be surprised if O’Ward appears on the billboard just outside the Milwaukee Fairgrounds, in a race where he led 133 of 250 laps.

In a week that saw NASCAR announce a new race weekend in Mexico City for June 2025, IndyCar CEO Mark Miles made some controversial remarks that compared O’Ward’s star power to Mexican racing legend Adrián Fernández.

O’Ward recently expressed his frustrations about IndyCar’s missed opportunity to race in his native country before NASCAR. He clearly heard about Miles’ comments after firing off a post of his own.

Despite any questions about his popularity or abilities to help transcend IndyCar into a new dimension, O’Ward kept his focus on the race itself and had a little fun with it along the way.

Finishing 1.8 seconds behind O’Ward was the driver of the No.12 Verizon Chevrolet, Will Power. Entering Milwaukee hot off a win last weekend at Portland International Raceway, Power only led nine of 250 laps. 

A pit stop during a late-race caution pushed the Aussie back to third, and while he got by the No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet of Santino Ferrucci, he did not have enough to take the fight to O’Ward for the win.

“Very difficult to pass,” Power said. “Not impossible, but the car was all over the place with adjustments as you go through the run. Stoked to get on the podium with the Verizon Chevy. One more was what we needed. Pato was super good and strong and got through that traffic really well. 

“Alex (Palou) is forever consistent, so it’s hard to drop that points gap but we’re doing everything we need to at the moment. We’re executing good starts and strategies. Keep digging, man. Keep digging and try and keep the fight to the end.”

With two more races left in 2024, Power remains in championship contention, 43 points behind Palou. Regardless of Power’s strong finish in Race 1 at Milwaukee, time is running out in his campaign for a third IndyCar title.

 “Another 10 points would have been great,” Power said. “Almost had him (O’Ward) there, but just too good.” 

Daly Dazzles

Conor Daly overachieved at Milwaukee, giving Juncos Hollinger Racing a night to remember. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)

Rounding out the podium was Conor Daly, who passed over 50 cars on the way to clinching his first podium since 2016 and the first-ever podium for Juncos Hollinger Racing in IndyCar.

“It’s really cool to be back on the podium,” Daly said. “The last podium I was on had Juan Pablo Montoya and Sebastien Bourdais. I changed my era of IndyCar drivers.”

Daly’s association with team co-owner Ricardo Juncos spans multiple eras as well, starting with winning the Argentinian team owner his first championship during the 2010 Star Mazda season. In recent years, the Hoosier has filled the role of “super sub.” 

So, Daly is no stranger to helping teams when they need him the most. In 2020, he surprised everyone by taking pole position at Iowa for Carlin Racing.

The driver of the No. 78 Chevrolet praised his team for their efforts en route to the huge result in Wisconsin.

“I think it’s a very underrated group,” Daly said. “They’re so smart, there’s a lot of talented folks there. They deserve this, for sure, because it’s been a very unlucky year for them. Obviously, I felt it the last two weeks.”

Daly’s blockbuster performance put the No. 78 team in 20th place in the Leaders Circle standings as he tries to get JHR in a good position to collect the end-of-the-season bonus. 

Off The Steps

Josef Newgarden’s race ended after making contact with Marcus Ericsson. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)

The biggest incident of the night occurred when Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson made contact on Lap 147. While battling for second, Ericsson and Newgarden got together in Turn 1, ending both of their races.

Trying to stay out of the marbles, Newgarden kept his No. 2 PPG Chevrolet as low as possible, low enough for his sidepod to grab the right-rear tire of Ericsson, but it ended with the two tangling and into the outside wall.

“I think (Marcus) got in a little hot,” Newgarden said. “I gave him the inside, because it’s really tough to hold the inside, and looks like he just kind of washed up a little bit on the entry to middle. 

“The next thing I know I’m getting hit and we run into the wall. It’s tough. Man, I hate getting into a wreck, but it happens. It’s IndyCar. Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”

Once again, championship contender Colton Herta ran into bad luck. One of the strongest Honda drivers of the night led nine laps early on and ran toward the front for most of the race.

His strong night was ruined after his third pit stop of the night, due to a lagging tire change and an early wave out from the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda crew sent Herta’s left-front Firestone tire flying off at pit exit, which brought out the third and final caution of the night on Lap 187.

Coming off of his first pole in Portland, it seemed like a maiden victory was in the cards for Santino Ferrucci. Like Daly, the AJ Foyt Racing driver charged hard to the front and found himself looking down the gearbox of race leader Pato O’Ward on the final restart. 

Some overly defensive driving saw him drop outside of podium running, but a fourth-place finish only adds to what has been a stellar season for Ferrucci and the No. 14 team.

“Honestly, I can’t thank this team enough,” Ferrucci said. “We knew we had a good car. We didn’t it right qualifying, definitely had it right especially in the middle of that race. Man, we were moving around. Honestly, hats off to (Conor) Daly.

“Obviously, we probably aren’t each other’s favorites, but credit is due. Good to see him on the podium and he drove a hell of a race. I felt like there were a couple of us out there on restarts driving all over the place. Honestly, it was dirt racing style. We were sliders into (Turn) 3.”

Right behind Ferrucci was championship leader Alex Palou in fifth place. His No. 10 DHL Honda toyed with the podium, but never reached the front of the field as his main goal was to simply maintain his championship points lead.

Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Linus Lundqvist was also a podium contender throughout the night. The rookie driver, who still has not finished on a podium on an oval yet, led 19 laps while trying to snag his third podium of the 2024 season. 

The caution for Herta’s loose wheel caused Lundqvist to lose third in the pits to Power, before falling back to sixth during the run to the checkered flag.

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 second and final race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader weekend gets underway on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 2:30 p.m. ET on USA Network.

Results: 2024 Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s Race 1 at The Milwaukee Mile