Pato O'Ward delivered his own version of a ‘Daily Double’ after winning the rain-impacted opening race to sweep the doubleheader round at The Milwaukee Mile.
The 27-year-old Mexican made the winning move on a late restart with 19 laps to go, diving to the inside of Team Penske’s David Malukas before going on to win by 1.7535s in the #5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Race 2 had been completed earlier on Sunday while the rain-suspended Race 1 remained unfinished. By winning both, O’Ward became the first IndyCar driver since Rick Mears at Atlanta in 1981 to claim two victories on the same day. The win marked the 12th of O’Ward’s career, third of the season, and third at the 1.015-mile 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.”
BREAK OUT THE BROOM! 🧹
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 30, 2026
IT’S A PATO SWEEP! pic.twitter.com/mj4cc0j4hJ
Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay passed Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin with three laps to go to secure the final spot on the podium in third, his best finish of the season and first podium since Toronto last season.
While McLaughlin finished fourth, ECR’s Christian Rasmussen took fifth.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou finished 10th and officially secured his fifth IndyCar Series championship. He became the second driver to win four consecutive titles, matching Sebastien Bourdais’s run from 2004-07. With five championships, Palou now moves into third all-time, trailing only the legendary A.J. Foyt’s mark 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
Although Scott McLaughlin captured the pole, it was O’Ward that led the field to the green flag after the top three starters - McLaughlin, Alex Palou, and David Malukas - each took a nine-place grid penalty for unapproved engine changes ahead of the race weekend.
Newgarden immediately put O’Ward under threat as the two gapped the field and battled for the lead.
Following his own grid penalty, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay was the one on the move early - up to 12th by Lap 12 despite starting 24th.
The battle at the front took a different complexion as Felix Rosenqvist got by Newgarden at the exit of Turn 2 to take over second on Lap 14. O’Ward remained out front by 0.5s
Rosenqvist took the lead from O’Ward on Lap 22 entering Turn 1. The gap was already up to 2.5s by Lap 30 for Rosenqvist. O’Ward fell down to third behind Newgarden a lap better, already 5.2s behind. O’Ward took the spot back 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. Newgarden dove to pit lane on Lap 49.
Meanwhile, Rosenqvist’s lead shrunk to 2.8375s over O’Ward by Lap 50. O’Ward pitted on Lap 51, with Rosenqvist 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.
After a red flag that lasted 25 hours and 40 minutes, during which suspended duration 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 1.5s lead over Rosenqvist by Lap 108.
The lead for O’Ward sat 1.4058s 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 8s behind.
The advantage for Malukas shrunk down to 5.9820s 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 2.9s, with Armstrong 9.4s 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 2.3265s lead over O’Ward, with Power roughly 6s behind in third. O’Ward started to lose ground over the next 10 laps, fading back to 3.4s 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 was in on Lap 195 and managed to cycle back to the lead with a wider gap to O’Ward of 6.5s 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 1.1s 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 0.5814s 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 1.0248s over Malukas.
VeeKay began pressuring McLaughlin for the final podium spot with six laps to go, with the two drivers trailing Malukas by 0.7s. 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 10th and officially captured his fifth IndyCar championship.
