Pato O’Ward delivered a masterclass performance at The Milwaukee Mile, storming to victory in the rain-affected opening race to complete a dramatic doubleheader sweep at the historic one-mile oval.
The 27-year-old Mexican driver executed the decisive move on a late restart with 19 laps remaining, diving to the inside of Team Penske’s David Malukas before pulling away to win by 1.7535 seconds in the #5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Race 2 had been completed earlier on Sunday while the rain-suspended Race 1 remained unfinished. By claiming both victories in a single day, O’Ward became the first IndyCar driver since Rick Mears at Atlanta in 1981 to accomplish this remarkable feat. The wins marked his 12th career victory, third of the season, and third at the Milwaukee oval.
“Oh, man, I’ve dreamt of weekends like this before,” O’Ward said. “You know, I know having the doubleheaders just a couple of times in my career and wishing like, I want to win both of them in a weekend and we got to win both in a day. That’s definitely a dream come true for myself and I’m sure for the team. And I’m just so happy that we were able to get back on our oval form because I know we’ve been slacking all year. And this is what it’s what a way to to end our 2026 season after some tough challenges and going on to Laguna.”
Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay overtook Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin with three laps remaining to claim the final podium position in third, marking his best finish of the season and his first podium since Toronto last year.
While McLaughlin settled for fourth, ECR’s Christian Rasmussen rounded out the top five.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou finished tenth and officially secured his fifth IndyCar Series championship, becoming the second driver to win four consecutive titles alongside Sebastien Bourdais’s streak from 2004-07. With five championships, Palou moves into third all-time, trailing only A.J. Foyt’s record of seven and teammate Scott Dixon’s six.
“Incredible,” Palou said. “It feels like, I don’t know, I don’t know what to say, man. I owe everything to this team and everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda, DHL, all our partners, but especially Chip (Ganassi, team owner) and everybody that is behind. So, incredible, man. Just so proud of this team. Today was a really bad race for us, like we were suffering all the time, but I was like, just keep focused, keep on going. And it was great, man. Great to have another championship and, yeah, ready for the next one.”
The Race
Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
Although Scott McLaughlin captured the pole position, it was O’Ward who led the field to the green flag after the top three starters – McLaughlin, Alex Palou, and David Malukas – each received a nine-place grid penalty for unapproved engine changes ahead of the race weekend.
Newgarden immediately posed a threat to O’Ward as the pair gapped the field and engaged in a fierce battle for the lead.
Despite his own grid penalty, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay was on the move early – climbing to 12th by Lap 12 after starting 24th.
The battle at the front took a different complexion as Felix Rosenqvist overtook Newgarden at the exit of Turn 2 to claim second on Lap 14. O’Ward remained out front by 0.5 seconds.
Rosenqvist took the lead from O’Ward on Lap 22 entering Turn 1. The gap had expanded to 2.5 seconds by Lap 30 for Rosenqvist. O’Ward fell to third behind Newgarden a lap later, already 5.2 seconds behind. O’Ward reclaimed the position by Lap 37.
VeeKay’s ascension continued, moving into the top 10 by Lap 39 after passing Romain Grosjean.
The pit stop window opened by Lap 42, with Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood the first to stop. Scott Dixon came in the next lap as part of an undercut strategy. Newgarden dove to pit lane on Lap 49.
Meanwhile, Rosenqvist’s lead had shrunk to 2.8375 seconds over O’Ward by Lap 50. O’Ward pitted on Lap 51, with Rosenqvist coming in the next lap.
The cycle of stops saw Will Power, rookie Dennis Hauger, and Romain Grosjean find the lead briefly before pitting, with O’Ward vaulting ahead of Rosenqvist and back into the lead by Lap 58.
The caution came out on Lap 63, with light moisture hitting the track.
The pits opened on Lap 69, with Malukas, Dixon, Palou, Christian Rasmussen, rookie Mick Schumacher, McLaughlin, and Ferrucci coming to pit lane.
The race remained under caution, but the red flag finally came out on Lap 90 as the raindrops intensified.
David Malukas, Team Penske
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
After a red flag that lasted 25 hours and 40 minutes, during which the suspended Race 2 was completed, Race 1 resumed on Sunday evening.
O’Ward led Rosenqvist and the rest of the field to the long-awaited restart on Lap 100. Rossi, who restarted third, struggled to get going on the restart and was engulfed in a three-wide battle immediately, with Newgarden propelling him with a brave outside pass.
Rossi fell to eighth over the next six laps. Meanwhile, O’Ward built a 1.5-second lead over Rosenqvist by Lap 108.
O’Ward’s lead sat at 1.4058 seconds by Lap 116. At the same time, Kirkwood dove to pit lane, which started a trend with several drivers coming in for service over the next several laps, including O’Ward giving up the lead on Lap 118.
Malukas cycled to the top spot, with Dixon and Schumacher running second and third, respectively, on Lap 120.
Dixon pitted on Lap 124, with Schumacher following two laps later. Malukas continued to stay out.
Malukas continued to lead on Lap 135, with O’Ward now second and closing with fresher tires at eight seconds behind.
The advantage for Malukas shrunk to 5.9820 seconds over O’Ward on Lap 140. However, two laps later, Malukas pitted and handed the lead to O’Ward.
By Lap 150, O’Ward led teammate Lundgaard by 2.9 seconds, with Armstrong 9.4 seconds back in third.
The caution came out on Lap 151 after Schumacher spun following contact with Grosjean. Kirkwood was coming to pit lane but was unable to get serviced due to the caution laps coming on.
With the pits open under caution, Kirkwood stayed out to get the wave around as the field pitted, with the exception of Malukas, who elevated to the lead.
Malukas led O’Ward to the restart on Lap 163, with a trio of lapped cars between them. Power then executed an outside maneuver on Lundgaard to take over third at the exit of Turn 2.
By Lap 170, Malukas held a 2.3265-second lead over O’Ward, with Power roughly six seconds behind in third. O’Ward started to lose ground over the next 10 laps, fading back to 3.4 seconds behind Malukas.
The top five through 190 laps were Malukas, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Power, and Lundgaard.
Power was the first among the top five to pit, coming in for service on Lap 191. Rosenqvist came in the next lap, with O’Ward on Lap 194. Malukas came in on Lap 195 and managed to cycle back to the lead with a wider gap to O’Ward of 6.5 seconds by Lap 200.
However, the caution came out moments later for Power slapping the wall after being caught on the outside of a three-wide battle as Lundgaard dived underneath him and McLaughlin. Power ended up in the marbles and made contact with the wall, but was able to return to the pits, where the damage was enough for him to step out of the #26 Andretti Global Honda.
Malukas led the field to the green flag on Lap 210, with a pair of lapped cars between himself and O’Ward. After a brief delay, O’Ward got around the lapped car of Santino Ferrucci, leaving only Malukas in front at 1.1 seconds ahead.
Moments later, Ferrucci’s rookie teammate, Caio Collet, bounced off Newgarden at the exit of Turn 4 and pounded the outside wall, bringing out the caution on Lap 213.
Kirkwood, Rossi, Dixon, and Kyffin Simpson opted to pit and take on fresh tires during the lengthy cleanup.
The restart came on Lap 226, with Malukas, O’Ward, and McLaughlin three-wide for the lead immediately. O’Ward emerged in front after passing Malukas on the inside, with Malukas in second and McLaughlin third.
O’Ward’s lead went to 0.5814 seconds on Lap 231. Meanwhile, Race Control handed a drive-through penalty to Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger for being out of line during the restart.
With 10 laps to go, O’Ward’s lead held firm at 1.0248 seconds over Malukas.
VeeKay began pressuring McLaughlin for the final podium spot with six laps to go, with the two drivers trailing Malukas by 0.7 seconds. VeeKay managed to get around McLaughlin with three laps to go as the pair caught the lapped car of Dixon.
In the end, O’Ward coasted to the victory as Malukas collected the sixth runner-up result of his IndyCar career. Meanwhile, Palou finished tenth and officially captured his fifth IndyCar championship.
