In a wild race that featured more twists than a pretzel factory, Scott McLaughlin held off six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon to win the second race of the Milwaukee Mile 250s double-header.
New Zealand's McLaughlin earned his series high-tying third victory of the season in the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet, finishing 0.4558 seconds ahead of fellow Kiwi Dixon in the No 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda on Sunday (Monday NZ Time).
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“That was the most fun race I’ve had in IndyCar,” McLaughlin said. “It was a blast. We just stuck with it. The car wasn’t quite good at the start, and we just tuned her up, and it was awesome. A lot better in traffic today, which helped a lot.
“Yeah, burn the house down tonight. That was awesome. I’m pumped.”
Colton Herta finished third and Santino Ferrucci fourth, mirroring his result in the first race on Saturday (Sunday NZT). Marcus Ericsson ended up fifth, his best result since placing fifth on July 7 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Defending series champion Alex Palou, Dixon's teammate, will carry a 33-point lead over McLaughlin's teammate Will Power into the next race, the season-ending Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway on September 15.
Palou finished 19th, while Power placed 10th in a day of disappointment and lost chances for both.
McLaughlin, who started sixth, passed Herta on Lap 218 to take the lead for good. That decisive dive under Herta in Turn 1 came after a feisty three-lap joust between the two young stars, as McLaughlin took advantage of fresher tyres and traffic in front of Herta to erase Herta’s seven-second lead in just 14 laps.
It appeared Alexander Rossi might have a chance to challenge McLaughlin after the Kiwi took the lead, as Rossi was gaining ground quickly. But Sting Ray Robb crashed in Turn 2 on Lap 228, triggering the last of six caution periods.
All five cars on the lead lap at the time had to decide whether to pit for fresh tyres or stay out, and the entire quintet dove to pit road on Lap 230. McLaughlin powered away from the field on the restart on Lap 239, and Dixon passed Rossi for second in Turn 1.
Then Herta and Dixon engaged in a spirited fight for second, racing side-by-side, inches apart, in Turns 3 and 4.
Dixon finally passed Herta for second on Lap 241 and set his sights on McLaughlin, but never got closer than six-tenths of a second. McLaughlin took the checkered by leading his race-high 85th lap.
“I think had it gone a few more laps, it looked like he was starting to burn off his fronts (tires) a little bit,” Dixon said. “But congrats to McLaughlin. Pretty sweet to have a Kiwi 1-2 there.”
McLaughlin’s victory was just one of the thrilling ebbs and flows in the race, which featured a series track record 13 lead changes on the historic 1.015-mile Milwaukee Mile oval.
Perhaps the one lead change that appeared probable early in the race did not happen. Palou held on to the championship lead despite one of his most challenging days of the season.
Palou finished 29 laps down after an electrical problem on the pace laps sent his car to the pits and the garage for repairs. Power placed 10th as the last car on the lead lap, losing a chance to gain more ground and perhaps take the championship lead after spinning in Turn 4 on a restart on Lap 131 while running in the top five.
“It was not a great day, but it could have been a lot worse,” Palou said. “It could have been a lot better, obviously. On to Nashville.”
Said Power: “A long shot now. God gave us a chance then, but kind of let it go. That’s the season, man. You just can’t have those mistakes.”
McLaughlin is the only other driver mathematically eligible for the title at Nashville, 50 points behind Palou. But it should come down to a two-driver duel for the Astor Challenge Cup at Nashville between two-time season champions Palou and Power, as McLaughlin will be eliminated if Palou starts the race.
Palou, strategist Barry Wanser and the entire Chip Ganassi Racing crew stayed calm and avoided catastrophe when Palou’s car stopped at the exit of pit lane at the start of the pace laps with an apparent electrical problem.
The car returned to the track but then had to return to the paddock for more diagnosis and repairs, and Palou returned to the track at speed on Lap 37, 28 laps down.
“We couldn’t really do anything,” Palou said. “We tried everything to try and not lose many laps.”
Palou was the most notable of a handful drivers struck by mechanical misfortune in this race. Another was Race 1 winner Pato O’Ward, who finished 24th after completing just 87 laps due to a gearbox problem.
The race took an eventful tone right from the start. Besides Palou’s car shockingly sitting silent at the exit of pit lane, pole winner Josef Newgarden was eliminated from the race in a three-car incident on Lap 1.
The race start was called off because the rear of the field was not in order, and the No 8 of rookie Linus Lundqvist hit the rear of Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Kiwi Marcus Armstrong, who then pinballed into Newgarden’s No 2, punting it into the inside wall.
After that melee, the race settled into a pattern of nonstop action. There were a season-high 763 on-track passes – a season high and the most on record in an IndyCar race at the Milwaukee Mile – and 56 passes in the top-five, another track record. Ferrucci once again put on a show with 63 on-track passes, the most of any driver in one race this season.