Pato O’Ward won in IndyCar’s return to the Milwaukee Mile after nine years away, hanging on Saturday in the first race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader weekend for his third victory of the season.
O’Ward led a race-high 133 laps and finished 1.8215 seconds ahead of 2014 Milwaukee winner Will Power.
“Wonderful race for us,” O’Ward said. “The car really came to life in the second stint, then it was a little gnarly after that. A lot of changing conditions. The track was getting quite a bit cooler.”
Conor Daly finished third and Santino Ferrucci fourth as Chevrolet-powered entries took the top four positions. Championship leader Alex Palou in fifth was the highest finisher among Honda entrants.
Who is Pato O’Ward, winner of the first Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250?
The 25-year-old native of Monterrey, Mexico, is in his fifth full season on the circuit, all with Arrow McLaren. The victory was O’Ward’s seventh in 87 NTT IndyCar Series starts.
O’Ward has been in the news in recent days as drivers and fans have reacted to the news that NASCAR will take its top two series to Mexico next season while IndyCar has yet to make a deal to do the same despite having an extremely popular Mexican driver in its midst.
O’Ward started sixth, gained ground after making his first pit stop earlier than other leaders and then passed polesitter Scott McLaughlin on the front stretch on the start of the 119th lap to lead for the first time.
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