McLaughlin Wins IndyCar’s Second Race At Milwaukee As Power Blows Big Opportunity

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Sep 1, 2024
Scott McLaughlin at Milwaukee
Credit: Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski

The start of the second Hy-Vee 250 at The Milwaukee Mile was a nightmare for points leader Alex Palou, but a dream for Will Power.

Points leader Palou had electrical issues before the green flag and got stuck in the pits for repairs before he could join the race many laps down, opening the door for second-place Power to make big gains with two races to go.

Power spun by himself during a restart on lap 132 of the 250-lap race. He didn’t damage his car, but ended up at the back of the field and finished 10th, while Palou was able to salvage a 19th place finish 29 laps down as other cars suffered accidents and incidents. At one point during the race, Power was in position to move to the top of the season standings.

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who started second on the grid, led four times for 85 laps including from lap 218 to the end. Scott Dixon finished second ahead of Colton Herta and Santino Ferrucci, who had the same result on Saturday.

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The results left Colton Herta fourth in the points, 63 behind Palou, which mathematically eliminates him from championship contention, while Power is 33 points back with a chance of stealing the title in the season finale at the Nashville Superspeedway on Sept. 15. McLaughlin is 50 points down in third which doesn’t technically eliminate him, but he would have to have a perfect race alongside very poor performances from both Palou and Power to claim the championship.

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IndyCar hasn’t held a race on the track since 2008, making it very much a wildcard, although Scott Dixon won the last three times the series visited the 1.33-mile oval.

Full results:

1. Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 250, Running
2. Scott Dixon, Honda, 250, Running
3. Colton Herta, Honda, 250, Running
4. Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 250, Running
5. Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 250, Running
6. Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 250, Running
7. Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 250, Running
8. Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 250, Running
9. Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 250, Running
10. Will Power, Chevrolet, 250, Running
11. Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 249, Running
12. Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 248, Running
13. Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 248, Running
14. Jack Harvey, Honda, 247, Running
15. Katherine Legge, Honda, 246, Running
16. Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 243, Running
17. Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 230, Retired
18. Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 221, Contact
19. Alex Palou, Honda, 221, Running
20. Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 215, Contact
21. Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 181, Mechanical
22. David Malukas, Honda, 126, Mechanical
23. Graham Rahal, Honda, 123, Contact
24. Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 86, Mechanical
25. Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 23, Mechanical
26. Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 6, Contact
27. josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 5, Contact