Pato O’Ward swept the weekend at The Milwaukee Mile. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)
WEST ALLIS, Wis. — Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward continued his show of force in the state of Wisconsin after winning the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 at The Milwaukee Mile on a doubleheader weekend for the NTT IndyCar Series.
The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet started the second race in Milwaukee while leading the first race that finished later on Sunday, which ultimately resulted in a weekend sweep for the 27-year-old Mexican driver.
O’Ward started the doubleheader weekend as the lead Arrow McLaren driver, finishing practice in ninth and starting Race 1 in fourth. Then, he started Race 2 in second.
Although O’Ward started on the front row, he had to work to get back to the top. After a long pit stop earlier in the race, the No. 5 pit crew gave the speedy pit stop O’Ward needed to take the win at the 1.015-mile short oval.
In the post-race press conference, O’Ward recounted his hunger to get on to the top step of the podium.
“First time I win a race and I’m leading another one at the same time,” O’Ward said. “That’s a new one.“Today we fought really hard for that one. We were forwards, then backwards, then forwards. Good thing we stayed there.
“Yeah, just fighting hard, determined. I think that was a great showing of just the hunger that we have to turn these ovals around this year. That was second-to-last opportunity. A little bit finish off the last one.”
Keeping his eye on the prize
This win marked O’Ward’s third of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season. The 27-year-old’s three victories are also his only three podiums this year.
Despite being top five in points with only one race weekend remaining, the Mexican driver struggled this season compared to his Arrow McLaren teammate, Christian Lundgaard.
Last year, O’Ward finished second in the standings with two wins and two pole positions. With the 2026 season not playing out as he thought, O’Ward was hungry for a win like this.
When asked how he overcame his season-long struggles, O’Ward talked about how his hunger for success has not gone away.
“Hunger, kind of not taking no for an answer,” O’Ward said. “Putting all our cards on the table, really. Even for me, like, to close out this season, there really isn’t much on my mind. If we try this, is it going to put us in a bad position? It’s like if you don’t try it, you probably will just accept defeat at this point.
“Yeah, I’m open to just finding something because obviously all year it’s been a big struggle. I’ve never struggled in an oval. I’ve always been really strong. Going into an oval weekend for me, even when we have double weekends, it was like we can win both of them. If we don’t win both of them it’s because one of them went a little bit unlucky, maybe get on the podium or something.
“They were always weekends that I had kind of in my pocket as like a savior for my championship to keep on racking up the points. This year it’s been the absolute opposite a lot of places, sadly.”
However, the 27-year-old turned his luck around to fight for position as the season sunsets. After winning Race 2 and leading the paused Race 1, O’Ward hoped to keep that positive momentum for the conclusion of Race 1.
“Yeah, we’ve turned it around – at least for Race 2, while still not finishing Race 1,” O’Ward said. “But we’re leading the other one. I’m confident we’re going to make this car better so we can be a little bit more comfortable to not get my engineer and Tony (Kanaan, Team Principal) over here some more gray hairs.”
Coverage of the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 resumed on FS1 at 6 p.m. ET on Sunday evening to finish Race 1, which was delayed by over 24 hours after inclement weather hit the area on Saturday.
With the Milwaukee doubleheader in the books, the NTT IndyCar Series field prepares for the 2026 season finale next weekend at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Coverage of the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey begins Sunday, Sept. 6 at 2:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
Results: 2026 Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 at The Milwaukee Mile
GRID Ranking
The 2026 GRID Ranking is the 10th year of the world’s premier motorsports ranking system, which was initially released on Sunday, April 5.
The official ranking includes drivers participating in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, WRC, Supercars, MotoGP). Each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.
GRID Ranking Week 22 IndyCar drivers:
| DRIVER | OLD RATING | PREVIOUS RANKING | MOST RECENT FINISH | NEW RATING | NEW RANKING |
| Alex Palou | 15.87 | 2nd | 5th | 14.76 | 2nd |
| Christian Lundgaard | 12.07 | 11th | 3rd | 12.12 | 9th |
| Kyle Kirkwood | 12.20 | 10th | 6th | 11.53 | 10th |
| Pato O’Ward | N/A | N/A | 1st | 10.24 | 20th |
| David Malukas | 8.67 | 28th | 4th | 9.88 | 28th |