O'Ward completes rare single-day double at Milwaukee Mile
Pato O'Ward swept the Milwaukee Mile IndyCar doubleheader on Sunday, winning both Race 2 and the rain-delayed conclusion of Race 1 at the 1.015-mile oval. The Arrow McLaren driver became the first IndyCar driver since Rick Mears at Atlanta in 1981 to claim two victories on the same day. O'Ward took the checkered flag in Race 1 by 1.7535 seconds over Team Penske's David Malukas, making the winning move on a late restart with 19 laps remaining by diving to the inside of Malukas. Rinus VeeKay passed Scott McLaughlin with three laps to go to claim third, his best finish of the season and first podium since Toronto last year.
Earlier in the afternoon, O'Ward had won Race 2 by 0.7916 seconds over McLaughlin after overcoming a slow early pit stop caused by a sticky right-rear tire change. Christian Lundgaard finished third for Arrow McLaren. The two wins gave O'Ward his 12th career IndyCar victory, third of the 2026 season, and third at Milwaukee. "Oh, man, I've dreamt of weekends like this before," O'Ward said. "That's definitely a dream come true for myself and I'm sure for the team."
Palou locks fifth championship with conservative drive
Álex Palou officially secured his fifth IndyCar Series championship by finishing 10th in the rescheduled Race 1 at Milwaukee. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver completed a risk-free race, avoiding wheel-to-wheel battles and managing his pace through multiple restarts to clinch enough points to seal the title. "Incredible," Palou said. "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."
Palou's fifth title in the past six seasons moved him into third on the all-time list, trailing teammate Scott Dixon's six championships and A.J. Foyt's mark of seven. He also became only the second driver to win four consecutive IndyCar titles, matching Sebastien Bourdais's run from 2004 to 2007. Palou entered the Milwaukee Race 1 resumption with a 97-point lead over Kyle Kirkwood and needed only an 18th-place finish to mathematically clinch.
Race control and schedule reshuffle shaped Sunday's running order
Persistent rainfall at the Milwaukee Mile forced IndyCar officials to overhaul Sunday's schedule. Race 1 had been red-flagged on Saturday evening at Lap 90 due to moisture on the oval, with O'Ward leading Felix Rosenqvist and Palou at the time. Series organizers initially planned to resume Race 1 at 10:00 a.m. local time, but returning rain pushed the restart until approximately 5:00 p.m. local time, after Race 2 had been run at its scheduled 12:00 p.m. start. The dual-race Sunday marked the second weather delay of the 2026 IndyCar season, following the Nashville GP postponement on July 19.
Top-three starters Scott McLaughlin, Palou, and Malukas each received nine-place grid penalties for unapproved engine changes ahead of the race weekend, promoting O'Ward to the front of the green flag. The rescheduled Race 1 also featured late drama, including a Lap 215 crash involving Caio Collet and Josef Newgarden that triggered a yellow flag and an earlier wall contact for Will Power on Lap 200. In Race 2, Will Power lost a potential victory after receiving a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit entry during his final stop.
Follow-up signals
The 2026 IndyCar Series season concludes September 4–6 at Laguna Seca, where O'Ward will carry momentum from his Milwaukee sweep into the finale.
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