Bobby Travis · NASCAR/IndyCar Correspondent
After a lengthy weather delay, Pato O'Ward claimed the postponed first race of the Milwaukee doubleheader Sunday evening with a late-race pass on David Malukas.
Pato O'Ward took the checkered flag in the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250, the first of two IndyCar races at Milwaukee Mile, though not until Sunday evening. The race had been halted Saturday after approximately 90 laps due to heavy rain and the red flag. Additional rain Sunday morning meant the doubleheader's second race ran at its originally scheduled midday time, with O'Ward taking that victory as well before the first race wrapped up that evening. There, O'Ward executed a decisive move past David Malukas, rounding out his weekend sweep at Milwaukee.
Red Flag and a Battle With Legs
Saturday brought the Milwaukee Mile to an abrupt halt before the race could truly build momentum. After roughly 90 laps completed, rain swept across the track, officials displayed the red flag, and the field was parked. Racing resumed Sunday evening, with cars reset to their exact configuration from lap 90, complete with tire age and fuel levels intact.
As the event continued, a battle between Pato O'Ward and David Malukas developed that stretched into the closing stages. Only 19 laps from the finish, O'Ward broke clear in a three-way fight for the lead and held his advantage through to the end. The final margin stood at a tight but clean 1.75 seconds over Malukas, with Rinus VeeKay completing the podium a further 1.1 seconds back.
The Turn Four Incident: Newgarden and Collet
A late-race yellow came courtesy of a sequence involving Josef Newgarden. The Penske driver had picked up fresh rubber under an earlier caution and was working through traffic afterward. While accelerating out of turn four roughly 37 laps from the end, he made contact with Caio Collet, and closing speed proved too aggressive, the cars touching wheel-to-wheel.
Collet was sent hard into the outside wall by the impact, his machine sustaining visible damage, and the full caution flag followed immediately. The Foyt rookie ultimately finished 39 laps down in 24th place, while Newgarden pressed on to salvage seventh at the checkered. Will Power became the day's second DNF, classified 25th, 51 laps behind.
Podium, Points, and Looking Ahead
Behind the top three, the field sorted largely along qualifying order through much of the event. Scott McLaughlin converted his pole position into fourth place, with Christian Rasmussen and Christian Lundgaard rounding out positions five and six. Romain Grosjean, by contrast, endured a grinding afternoon: after an early contact with Louis Foster, a later spell on fresh rubber brought him into lap 150, where he triggered a spin for Mick Schumacher and limped home a lap down.
Álex Palou slotted quietly into the points at tenth, flying under the radar for the evening. For the championship, it barely mattered: leading with 607 points ahead of the season finale at Laguna Seca on September 6th, the Spaniard holds a 100-point buffer over Christian Lundgaard, a deficit that even a win and bonus points cannot overcome. Palou clinches the 2026 IndyCar championship. The battle for positions behind him remains wide open, however: just two points separate Lundgaard from Kyle Kirkwood in third, and O'Ward lies fourth, very much in striking distance. For O'Ward, the first-race victory capped off a remarkable weekend: because rain forced the second race into its early midday slot, the Mexican driver completed a sweep at Milwaukee with his late-evening win in race one, a result that substantially brightens his credentials on the oval at West Allis and sends Arrow McLaren into the final stretch with momentum.
