Scott McLaughlin has led home Scott Dixon to complete a Kiwi one-two in this morning’s second race at the Milwaukee Mile.
The Penske #3 led 85 of the 250 laps and held on in a late safety car restart to take a 0.4558-second victory over his compatriot. Colton Herta completed the podium ahead of Santino Ferrucci and Marcus Ericsson.
“That was the most fun race I’ve had in INDYCAR,” McLaughlin said.
“It was a blast. We just stuck with it. The car wasn’t quite good at the start, and we just tuned her up, and it was awesome. A lot better in traffic today, which helped a lot.
“Yeah, burn the house down tonight. That was awesome. I’m pumped.”
The drama in Milwaukee began before the race even went green.
Series leader Alex Palou was left stalled on track after suffering electrical issues before the green and could not get rolling, presenting the opportunity for Will Power to eat into his championship advantage.
The initial start was then waved off, as the back end of the field was not packed up enough. Linus Lundqvist missed the call and ran into the back of Marcus Armstrong, who had impressively qualified third but collided with pole-sitter Josef Newgarden following the contact. Both cars ended up against the inside wall with significant damage, ending their respective races.
Lundqvist received a drive-through penalty for avoidable contact.
Palou eventually returned to proceedings briefly, only to return to the paddock shortly after. He ultimately rejoined the race on lap 37, 28 laps down, looking to secure additional points whenever other drivers found trouble.
Fortune favoured the Chip Ganassi Racing #10, who gained eight places over the race to finish 19th.
A mid-race spin for title rival Will Power also minimised the damage, with the Australian nosing his Penske #12 into the wall on Lap 131 at low speed but not stalling to remain in contention.
Power led 64 laps and looked likely to eat into a large chunk of Palou’s advantage but was forced to settle for 10th.
McLaughlin, who started sixth, passed Colton Herta on Lap 218 to take the lead for good on much fresher tyres. A crash for Sting Ray Robb on Lap 228 brought a late-race caution and brought Dixon back into contention, with the six-time champion running in the top five but some 12 seconds off the leader entering the closing stages.
Dixon, also on fresher tyres, took second off Herta for second on Lap 241 and set his sights on McLaughlin but never got closer than six-tenths of a second.
“I think had it gone a few more laps, it looked like he was starting to burn off his fronts (tyres) a little bit,” Dixon said. “But congrats to McLaughlin. Pretty sweet to have a Kiwi 1-2 there.”
Palou enters the final round at Nashville Superspeedway with a 33-point advantage over Power. McLaughlin is 50 points off the lead, still mathematically in contention, but will be eliminated if Palou starts in Nashville.
The IndyCar season finale takes place on September 15.
Header Image: Joe Skibinski: Penske Entertainment
Congrats to you both…nail biting stuff
Kiwis 1st and 2nd yay!!