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Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin came out on top of a chaotic second race at Indycar’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader, the Kiwi fending off rival Scott Dixon by a narrow margin of just 0.455s.
McLaughlin, who started second, inherited the lead after a crash involving his teammate Josef Newgarden early in the race.
He then remained a contender throughout the 250-lap event, which featured an intense and late side-by-side battle with Colton Herta for the lead. Despite a restart with 11 laps to go and pressure from a charging Scott Dixon, McLaughlin held firm to capture his third win of the season.
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“That was the most fun race I’ve had in IndyCar,” said the Penske driver, who led 85 laps on the day.
“That was a blast. So happy for everyone on the Gallagher Chevy, we just stuck with it. It wasn’t quite good at the start - the car - and then we just tuned her up and it was awesome.
“A lot better in traffic today, which helped a lot. Credit to Colton; we had a blast racing each other.”
After a disappointing afternoon for IndyCar title contenders Alex Palou and Will Power, the former will head into the series’ finale at Nashville with a 33-point lead over his Penske rival.
Power, who spun midway through the race, rued a missed opportunity to gain significant ground on Palou following the electrical issues that undermined the Chip Ganassi Racing’s race.
“A long shot now. God gave us a chance then, but kind of let it go,” said Power. “That’s the season, man. You just can’t have those mistakes.”
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