WEST ALLIS, Wisc. — It could have been a dramatic day in the battle for the NTT IndyCar Series Championship when Alex Palou’s No. 10 DHL Honda died on the parade lap because of an electrical issue, dropping him 28 laps down before he was able to return at The Milwaukee Mile.
At that point, Team Penske’s Will Power had wiped out a 43-point deficit and appeared destined to be the points leader heading into the final race of the season at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway on Sept. 15.
But it was all wiped out when Power’s No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet spun by himself in Turn Four.
Power went on to finish 10th, Palou finished 19th and Palou heads into the final race of the season with a 33-point lead over Power.
Oh, by the way, Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske scored his third IndyCar win of the season as the driver from Christchurch, New Zealand defeated Scott Dixon of Auckland, New Zealand by 0.4558 seconds in Sunday’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s.
The doubleheader weekend was IndyCar’s return to the famed Milwaukee Mile for the first time since 2015.
With 11 laps to go, the green flag waved to decide the winner. McLaughlin led the field to the green followed by Rossi, Dixon and Herta.
Dixon passed Rossi for second and Herta dove inside of Dixon in the battle for second. The two cars almost touched, but Dixon was able to pull away and try to reel in McLaughlin with 10 laps to go.
Power was 10th, the last car on the lead lap, and Palou was 20th, 30 laps down.
Dixon cut into McLaughlin’s lead with seven laps to go, the fastest driver on the race track with seven to go.
With five laps to go, McLaughlin was able to maintain a 0.6591-second lead.
He went on to score the second oval victory of his career. His first came in the second race of the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway – the Hy-Vee HomeFront 250 presented by Instacart on July 13.
“That was the most fun race I’ve had in IndyCar,” McLaughlin said afterward. “It was a blast. We just stuck with it. Wasn’t quite good enough at the start, we just changed it up, and it was awesome.
“I’m pumped. The tenacity.
“I did a terrible job yesterday. We really worked hard on it. I hardly slept last night. I got four and a half hours sleep because I was so stressed about what I did wrong and what I could do better.
“I’m just really lucky to have this group. We’ll just keep working. All you can do is win races now. So, we’ll just have fun.”
Dixon celebrated his 400th start in Saturday’s race and his 142nd podium finish of his career, an IndyCar record. He broke a tie with Mario Andretti.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” Dixon said. “Obviously Mario, I’m a massive fan of Mario. He’s a huge part of our series.
“Again, I keep saying it, but it’s so cool that him and A.J. Foyt and many others, whether it’s Rick, come to a lot of our races. Obviously, Mario raced in a lot of different categories, as well, and achieved many great things.
“Just to be mentioned with any of those guys is very special.”
The 250-lapper had a historical amount of passing. There were 763 on-track passes, a new season high at the most on record at the Milwaukee Mile. There were also 56 passes inside the top five, another track record.
The first five laps were run under caution after Palou’s car had died on the parade lap from what the team initially reported as battery failure.
After the race, however, they admitted it could have been an electrical issue with the hybrid engine and are doing a detailed analysis of the situation before knowing for sure.
“I’m a bit sad and disappointed today,” said Palou, who only lost 10 points on his lead over Power. “We just couldn’t really do anything. We tried everything to try not to lose many laps. It was out of my control, the team’s control and (Honda’s) control.
“So, it’s a sport. It is what it is. But we tried everything. We were getting happier and happier getting more points, one point, one point.
“It was not a great day but could have been a lot worse, could have been a lot better obviously but on to Nashville.”
Palou’s massive misfortune was mitigated when Power spun, taking away his chance of winning the race and leaving with the points lead. He led 64 laps in the race, second only to McLaughlin’s 85.
“It was like a faster than normal restart,” Power said. “Or maybe it was because I was starting back there. I was in second gear and just caught me by surprise.
“Did not expect that.
“I was really happy to keep it off the wall and not get hit by anyone. Yeah, we lost a lap changing that wing, so I don’t know what that was. So, whoa man. I was able to bump it crazily.
“Long shot now. God gave us a chance there and I kind of let it go. That’s the season man, you just can’t have those mistakes. It’s going to be a bit hectic on those restarts. We were back there. So maybe it would have been better to stay out. I don’t know.”
It was a crazy start to what ended up a crazy race.
The green flag was supposed to wave on Lap 6, but it was waved off for a stack up in the back of the field, triggering another impactful moment.
Pole sitter Josef Newgarden was tagged from behind by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, after he was hit from behind by his teammate, Linus Lundqvist. Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet slammed into the inside retaining wall. Newgarden was out of the race.
“I got clobbered on the start,” Newgarden said.
Simultaneously, Palou’s car was refired and he returned to the track. But Palou’s Honda came to a stop on the backstretch.
Palou’s No. 10 DHL Honda was towed back to the paddock and the driver sprinted to the timing stand to consult with team manager Barry Wanser.
The green flag came out for the first time on lap 18 with Scott McLaughlin at the point in the No. 3 Chevrolet followed by championship challenger Power.
Palou slid back into the cockpit of the No. 10 Honda on lap 24 after the battery was replaced and charged.
Palou was back on the track on lap 29, listed as 28 laps down.
On lap 36, Power pulled up on McLaughlin and tried to dive low but couldn’t complete the pass.
Power made the pass for the lead inside Turn Three on lap 44. That move erased a 43-point deficit and gave him a three-point lead over Palou.
On lap 50, Power led McLaughlin by 1.6441 seconds. Alexander Rossi was third followed by Saturday’s race winner, Pato O’Ward with Felix Rosenqvist fifth.
The top four were Chevrolet drivers.
Rossi pitted on lap 52, starting the first pit stop cycle of the race. David Malukas’ Honda was next on pit road followed by Marcus Ericsson.
Power, the leader, pitted on lap 56 giving the lead to Santino Ferrucci. Over the course of the race, Ferrucci had 63 on-track passes — the most of any driver this season.
Power returned to the track on fresh tires but washed up the track to the higher line as he tried to put heat in the tire. He regained the lead on lap 59.
After the pit stop cycle, Power led Rossi by 1.8500 seconds.
Malukas’ No. 66 Honda slowed on track on lap 64 for another caution, potentially another electrical issue.
Conor Daly, who finished third in Saturday’s race, had a clutch failure on the No. 78 Chevrolet.
Power led the field to the restart on lap 72 ahead of Rossi, McLaughlin, O’Ward and Ferrucci. Palou remained 24th, 27 laps back.
O’Ward pulled into pit lane on lap 88 with an apparent gearbox issue. He radioed to his crew, “Oh, man, are you serious?”
“Gearbox is gone, we’re looking into it,” O’Ward said.
Power put O’Ward another lap down on lap 96.
Power pitted on the next lap along with teammate McLaughlin.
After the second pit stop sequence, Power led McLaughlin by 1.4357 seconds.
Sting Ray Robb spun and came to a stop inside Turn Two for the third caution period of the race.
The lead group of drivers came down pit road on lap 116 including Power. McLaughlin jumped Power out of the pits.
By moving out of the lead and Palou moving up to 22nd place, Palou was back in the points lead by 16 points over Power.
Racing resumed on lap 125, with Rossi controlling the field. He got a good start ahead of Scott Dixon. Palou got drilled from behind from Christian Rasmussen, spun around in Turn Three and crashed into the wall for another caution.
“I got drilled,” Rahal radioed to his crew.
Afterward, Rahal said, “I’m good. It was a fitting finish to the weekend. Can’t give up. It was just one of those weekends to forget. A restart like that on old tires and everyone else has stickers, guys need to drive with their heads and Rasmussen hit me yesterday. It’s very disappointing with him. He’s a young guy, I hope he learns from this and he probably will.
“For a team, today was about survival and unfortunately for us, we didn’t survive.”
The green waved on lap 132, and Power spun around on the restart. He avoided contact with the outside wall as the yellow flag waved, but he lost five positions on the track.
Power pitted on the next lap to replace tires and check the front wing. The team put on used tires.
Power pitted again to replace the front wing as IndyCar waved off a restart because the order was not correct. Power went one lap down, dropping to 14th.
Mclaughlin passed Dixon for second place on lap 156.
Dixon pitted on lap 162 followed by Rossi. That put McLaughlin in the lead.
McLaughlin pitted on lap 165, and that put Colton Herta into the lead.
Up front, it was Herta, Rinus VeeKay, Romain Grosjean, McLaughlin and Rossi.
Rossi was the leader when the green flag waved on lap 137. Power was 14th and Palou 22nd.
Ironically, he was racing side-by-side with Palou, who was leading the points as they run by 31 over Power.
The Team Penske driver made another pit stop on lap 175, putting the last set of “sticker” tires on the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. That put him two laps down, in 13th place.
Herta, the leader, made his final pit stop on lap 186.
McLaughlin was back in front ahead of Rossi, Ferrucci, Dixon, Marcus Ericsson and Herta.
Ferrucci made his final pit stop on Lap 196, from fourth position. Rossi, running third, pitted on lap 197. McLaughlin pitted on lap 198 from the lead.
Four tires and fuel in 5.8 seconds and McLaughlin was away.
Dixon pitted on lap 199 from third place and Herta was back in the lead by 8.7681 seconds over McLaughlin.
The Team Penske driver was able to eliminate a near 10-second lead to close in on Herta for the lead by lap 213. He trimmed the advantage down to 0.2685 seconds.
McLaughlin blew by Herta inside Turn Three, but Herta was able to close the door and maintain the lead. McLaughlin tried again, but Herta held his edge until he cleared the Andretti Global driver on lap 218.
Further back, Palou was up to 20th and Power was 10th.
With 22 laps to go, Robb crashed for the second time in Turn Two for the sixth caution of the race. That was helpful to Power, as he could save fuel and potentially return to the lead lap on the restart depending on pit stops.
McLaughlin led everybody on the lead lap onto pit lane on lap 231 and that put Power back on the lead lap.
But it was too little, too late for the Team Penske driver to trim any more points off Palou’s lead.
In the end, it was another Team Penske driver that got to celebrate as McLaughlin claimed his seventh career IndyCar victory.