O’Ward blasts to victory in the first of IndyCar’s two Milwaukee races to finish

Pato O’Ward started second and finished first in Sunday’s Snap-On Race 2 at the Milwaukee Mile (which was actually the first to be completed after the conclusion of Saturday's Race 1 was postponed until this evening) and captured his second victory of the year, adding to his road course win in July at Mid-Ohio.

The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy was the class of the field to close the 250-lap contest and he wasn’t alone as teammate Christian Lundgaard – who had a breakout drive last year at Milwaukee – repeated the feat to take third in the No. 7 Chevy, right behind Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin. The latter made use of sharp pit strategy to leap onto the podium with the No. 3 Chevy to give the Bowtie a sweep of the top three.

Behind the trio, Penske’s David Malukas took fourth in the No. 12 Chevy, while pole-sitter and championship leader Alex Palou finished fifth in the No. 10 Honda – slightly extending his lead over Kyle Kirkwood, who charged from 24th to sixth in the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda, from 91 to 97 points. All Palou needs to do is finish the next race in a decent position to be crowned a five-time champ.

Penske Josef Newgarden and Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean were the only two drivers to crash; both were uninjured.

Teams will have approximately three hours to ready themselves for the resumption of Race 1, which is due to start at 5pm local, and complete the remaining 160 laps leftover from Saturday’s rain delay.

The second Snap-On 250 got under way under blue skies and a warm 80 degrees at 12:10pm local and Alex Palou led from pole as Newgarden took P2 from O’Ward.

Lap 3 and it’s Palou, Newgarden, O’Ward, Schumacher, Foster, and VeeKay.

Lap 7 and Palou leads Newgarden by 1.7s and O’Ward by 2.7s.

Lap 9 and Kirkwood is in P18.

Lap 10 and Palou leads Newgarden by 2.7s and O’Ward by 3.5s. Schumacher is 4.7s back.

Lap 19 and Palou has started lapping the field, first with Collet in P25. His lead over Newgarden is 3.2s. Kirkwood is up to P17.

Lap 29 and Palou’s losing time in traffic as Newgarden is 0.7s back. O’Ward is 2.3s down.

Lap 31 and Newgarden almost hits the Turn 2 wall while trying to pass Palou. O’Ward closes in on Newgarden.

Lap 34 and Palou’s lead is down to 0.4s and Newgarden goes to the lead. Kirkwood is P15.

Lap 36 and caution is out for Romain Grosjean who slid sideways out of Turn 2 without hitting anything and he continued. He falls to P15, promoting Kirkwood to P14.

Lap 39 and the field pits. Order in was Newgarden, Palou, O’Ward. Order leaving is Palou, Newgarden, Schumacher as O’Ward’s right-rear tire changer struggled to get the wheel nut on, had the car dropped and sent, and watched as the wheel tried to come off before O’Ward was stopped. The wheel was properly attached and he returned in P14.

Lap 47 restart and Palou leads Newgarden and Schumacher.

Lap 48 and McLaughlin takes P3 from Schumacher.

Lap 49 and VeeKay takes P5 from Foster.

Lap 51 and VeeKay takes P4 from McLaughlin.

Lap 52 and Kirkwood is up to P7, having passed Schumacher.

Lap 54 and Lundgaard takes P4 from McLaughlin.

Lap 56 and Foster takes P6 from McLaughlin.

Lap 57 and Kirkwood is up to P7.

Lap 69 and Palou leads Newgarden by 2.8s and VeeKay by 3.3s. Lundgaard is P4, 4.2s back.

Lap 77 and Palou leads Newgarden by 3.9s and VeeKay by 4.2s.

Lap 78 and VeeKay takes P2 from Newgarden. Lundgaard goes by as well to take P3.

Lap 83 and Palou is struggling to lap Siegel, has his lead taken down to 2.8s.

Lap 85 and Newgarden pits first after complaining about his front tires.

Lap 86 and Palou’s lead is down to 1.0s behind Siegel.

Lap 87 and VeeKay is within 0.5s of Palou.

Lap 88 and VeeKay and Lundgaard pit. Slow exit for VeeKay and really long stop for Lundgaard whose left-rear tire changer has problems.

Lap 89 and Palou pits from the lead.

Lap 90 and Palou returns to the lead ahead of Newgarden and VeeKay and Lundgaard and Foster.

Lap 94 VeeKay takes P2 from Newgarden.

Lap 97 and Palou is struggling again in traffic; VeeKay is 0.3s back.

Lap 100 and VeeKay takes P1 from Palou.

Lap 103 and VeeKay leads Palou by 1.03s and Newgarden by 4.3s. Kirkwood is P5.

Lap 107 and Kirkwood takes P4 from Lundgaard.

Lap 108 and Kirkwood takes P3 from Newgarden.

Lap 110 and VeeKay’s lead is 0.6s over Palou.

Lap 120 and VeeKay leads Palou, who continues to struggle in traffic, by 1.3s and Kirkwood by 3.2s.

Lap 122 and Power takes P4 from Newgarden.

Lap 124 and Power and Newgarden pit.

Lap 125 and Palou takes P1 from VeeKay.

Lap 126 and Kirkwood and Lundgaard pit.

Lap 127 and Palou and VeeKay pit. Palou’s team rocks the stop.

Lap 134 and Palou leads Power by 3.2s, Newgarden by 4.4s, Malukas by 4.9s and McLaughlin by 5.6s.

Lap 142 caution is out as Newgarden spins on his own in Turn 4 and hits the wall. “Just made a mistake. Forced it too much,” he said.

Lap 148 and the field pits. Power gets out ahead of Palou, who has a slow left-rear change, and Malukas and Kirkwood. McLaughlin and Dixon stay out and assume P1 and P2.

Lap 158 Restart and Grosjean crashes on his own. Caution is back out.

Lap 169 Restart and McLaughlin leads Power as Palou falls back.

Lap 171 and it’s McLaughlin, Power, Lundgaard, O’Ward, Palou.

Lap 172 and Kirkwood is P10.

Lap 175 and Power takes P1 from McLaughlin. Lundgaard’s closing on him.

Lap 176 and VeeKay takes P7 from Foster.

Lap 180 and it’s Power leading McLaughlin by 0.7s, Lundgaard by 1.4s, O’Ward by 2.8s, and Palou by 4.3s.

Lap 190 and it’s Power over Lundgaard, O’Ward, McLughlin, Palou, Rasmussen, VeeKay, Foster, Malukas, Kirkwood, and Ericsson.

Lap 193 and McLaughlin and Palou pit. Power pits as well. Lundgaard has issues with two wheels and loses time in the pits.

Lap 196 and Power is assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit lane.

Lap 198 and O’Ward leads McLaughlin by 1.4s, Lundgaard by 4.3s, Palou by 5.3s and Malukas by 6.4s. Kirkwood is P6.

Lap 200 and O’Ward leads McLaughlin by 1.9s.

Lap 210 and O’Ward leads McLaughlin by 1.4s, Lundgaard by 3.8s, and Palou by 6.4s. Lirkwood is 11.3s down in P6.

Lap 230 and O’Ward’s lead is cut to 0.7s by McLaughlin as O’Ward struggles to lap Power. Malukas is up to P4 as Palou is demoted to P5.

Lap 240 and O’Ward appears to have the race under control with 1.6s over McLaughlin and 3.0s over Lundgaard. Malukas is 9.5s down in P4.

Lap 250 and O’Ward wins Race 2 ahead of McLaughlin and Lundgaard.

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