McLaughlin wins manic Milwaukee
Kiwi Scott McLaughlin took a third victory of the 2024 IndyCar season in a wild second and final leg of the Milwaukee Mile 250 that could shape the title race.
McLaughlin fended off fellow New Zealander Scott Dixon by just 0.4558s with Colton Herta completing the podium and the Penske star has now rocketed to third in the points.
On a day where both title contenders found trouble, Australia’s Will Power further cut Alex Palou’s points lead to 33 ahead of the season finale.
Palou, who finished 19th, had dramas before the race began having stopped during the pace laps with a battery issue.
Power led early but a spin during a restart saw him drop a lap before the Aussie put in a fighting drive back to 10th.
McLaughlin inherited the lead on lap 5 when pole-sitter Josef Newgarden crashed in a tangle with Linus Lundqvist and Marcus Armstrong. Having avoided the chaos, the Kiwi raced up front throughout the 250-lap affair.
He overcame Herta in an intense wheel to wheel battle which proved critical as the #3 led the restart with 11 laps to go.
Despite the experienced Dixon applying the blowtorch, McLaughlin held on to record a seventh IndyCar success and second on an oval.
“That was the most fun race I’ve had in IndyCar,” said McLaughlin recalled.
“That was a blast. So happy for everyone on the Gallagher Chevy, we just stuck with it.
“It wasn’t quite so good at the start – the car – and then we just tuned her up and it was awesome.”
The IndyCar season finale is at Nashville on September 15.
IndyCar Milwaukee race 2 results
1. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 250, Running
2. (17) Scott Dixon, Honda, 250, Running
3. (18) Colton Herta, Honda, 250, Running
4. (12) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 250, Running
5. (16) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 250, Running
6. (6) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 250, Running
7. (15) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 250, Running
8. (19) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 250, Running
9. (14) Romain Grosjean, Chevrolet, 250, Running
10. (4) Will Power, Chevrolet, 250, Running
11. (8) Felix Rosenqvist, Honda, 249, Running
12. (25) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 248, Running
13. (24) Kyffin Simpson, Honda, 248, Running
14. (13) Jack Harvey, Honda, 247, Running
15. (22) Katherine Legge, Honda, 246, Running
16. (23) Christian Rasmussen, Chevrolet, 243, Running
17. (20) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 230, Retired
18. (21) Sting Ray Robb, Chevrolet, 221, Contact
19. (10) Alex Palou, Honda, 221, Running
20. (5) Linus Lundqvist, Honda, 215, Contact
21. (27) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 181, Mechanical
22. (9) David Malukas, Honda, 126, Mechanical
23. (26) Graham Rahal, Honda, 123, Contact
24. (7) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 86, Mechanical
25. (11) Nolan Siegel, Chevrolet, 23, Mechanical
26. (3) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 6, Contact
27. (1) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 5, Contact
Race Statistics
Winner’s average speed: 120.334 mph
Time of race: 2:06:31.3981
Margin of victory: 0.4558 of a second
Cautions: 6 for 57 laps
Lead changes: 13 among 7 drivers
Lap leaders:
Newgarden, Josef 1 – 4
McLaughlin, Scott 5 – 43
Power, Will 44 – 54
Ferrucci, Santino 55 – 56
Legge, Katherine 57 – 58
Power, Will 59 – 96
Ferrucci, Santino 97 – 100
Power, Will 101 – 115
Rossi, Alexander 116 – 161
McLaughlin, Scott 162 – 163
Herta, Colton 164 – 187
McLaughlin, Scott 188 – 198
Herta, Colton 199 – 217
McLaughlin, Scott 218 – 250
NTT INDYCAR SERIES point standings: Palou 525, Power 492, McLaughlin 475, Herta 462, Dixon 443
Photo by Geoffrey Miller / LAT Image
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