Pato O’Ward shines in Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 win

WEST ALLIS, Wisc. — Pato O’Ward shines in his NTT INDYCAR Series Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 win.

This is his second win of the season and the 11th of his INDYCAR career.

O’Ward qualified on the front row for the fourth time this season and settled into second place for the majority of the first stint.

The first round of pit stops came and went with a quick caution which trapped him in the middle of the pack.

But his persistence remained iron clad. He picked off cars using raw speed and a bit of strategy which vaulted him back inside the top ten halfway through the 250-mile event.

His final restart of the day that came after Romain Grosjean’s caution proved to be the most pivotal few laps of his race. A nearly stalled David Malukas and a gutsy three-wide move on Alex Palou netted him inside the top five with quick succession.

Then, a fading Scott Dixon and teammate Nolas Siegel who both had older tires catapulted O’Ward into the top three with one pitstop remaning.

His crew nailed the stop. He jumped McLaughlin and looked primed to fight Will Power for the win. Then the luck came his way. Power sped on pit lane and Pato inherited the lead.

He would go onto hold off advances from McLaughlin and even lap Power on his way to a third consecutive multi-win season.

The Top Ten

Scott McLaughlin joined O’Ward on the podium from second. The Team Penske driver gambled on extending his tire life after teammate Josef Newgarden crashed out from the top five.

His strategy worked. Unfortunately, it was not enough to snap his 30+ race losing streak but the New Zealander finds his third podium of the year.

Pato’s teammate Christian Lundgaard joined him on the all-Chevrolet podium. Lundgaard entered with an average finish of 14th on ovals and certainly decreased that average today.

Then, David Malukas surged around the tire-saving Palou for fourth place. Alex Palou did not secure the 108-point advantage needed to clinch the championship afterwards. However, his fifth-place finish was one spot better than his championship foe Kyle Kirkwood.

Rinus VeeKay placed a solid seventh. At one point he led the Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 but faded after his brief stint out front.

Defending race winner Christian Rasmussen could only muster a top ten from eighth. Even still, the Dane earned his best result since Mid-Ohio for his third top ten of the season.

Finally, Marcus Ericsson and Louis Foster rounded out the top ten for the Honda camp.

The NTT INDYCAR Series action from the Milwaukee Mile is not over! The resumption of the Snap-On Makers and Fixers 250 will start at 6:00 p.m. ET with Pato O’Ward in the lead at lap 90.