WEST ALLIS, Wis. — On a weekend in which he’s been sparring with series officials, Pato O’Ward took the fight to the IndyCar field Saturday night at the Milwaukee Mile.
O’Ward led a race-high 133 of 250 laps for his seventh career victory, beating Will Power seconds in the opener of a weekend doubleheader on the 1.015-mile oval.
The Arrow McLaren star scored his third victory of the season and his first oval win since Iowa Speedway in July 2022.
After spending the past two days expressing his disappointment about IndyCar missing out on a Mexico City race that NASCAR landed, O’Ward then showed up to his media center winner’s interview wearing a sombrero with a devilish grin.
“We had a really tough weekend in Portland, this is a great way to bounce back,” O’Ward told NBC Sports’ Georgia Henneberry.
Will: “IndyCar should be in Mexico City, not NASCAR”
— Tony DiZinno (@tonydizinno) September 1, 2024
Pato: “Pato who?”
That just happened. pic.twitter.com/kgQ6mQLhcG
Pato WHO? pic.twitter.com/B37g3fcVpp
— Pato O'Ward (@PatricioOWard) September 1, 2024
“We have another opportunity tomorrow. Glad I could bring it home for the boys. Team Chevy brought the power. Super stoked for the team. We’ll enjoy it today and tomorrow it’s business again.”
Power finished ahead of Palou but came up just short of a second consecutive victory that would have helped him close the gap on championship leader Alex Palou.
“I’m stoked to get on the podium,” Power told NBC Sports’ Dillon Welch. “One more (position) is what we needed, but Pato was super good and strong and got through that traffic very well.
“Alex is forever consistent so it’s hard to drop that points gap but we’re doing what we need at the moment. We’re executing, good stops, good strategy. Keep digging man, and try to make this a fight to the end.”
After starting 25th, Conor Daly finished third in his first podium finish since a career-best second at Detroit more than eight years ago. Daly was making his third start in the No. 78 for Juncos Hollinger Racinig, which is trying to finish in the top 22 in points to earn a $1 million bonus from IndyCar.
Daly received hearty postrace congratulations in the pit lane from Power and longtime rival Santino Ferruci after making 51 on-track passes (the most by any driver in 2024).
“It feels amazing,” Daly told Henneberry. " I appreciate (co-team owners) Ricardo (Juncos) and Brad (Hollinger) giving me a chance. We had a lot of bad luck, and I think a lot of people were wondering was this the guy to do it. They gave me the car to do it.
“I want to do well in the series. My goal is to be on the podium in this series, and it’s been far too long since I’ve been on the podium. It’s nice to get another one.”
Santino Ferrucci took fourth, followed by Palou, who remained 43 points ahead of Power in the championship standings with two races remaining.
Palou can wrap up the title if he leads by at least 55 points after Sunday’s race.
“We had a good day overall,” Palou, who ran as high as second but fell a lap down on the timing of the final yellow, told Henneberry. “A little unlucky with the yellow, but we are aggressive to try to get the lead and got the yellow on the out lap and went to seventh. Not the luckiest of days, but top five, the car was amazing, everyone did an amazing job in the pits.”
The Chip Ganassi Racing star had a scary moment on Lap 147 when Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson collided in Turn 3 while racing for second on Lap 147.
Palou swung his No. 10 Dallara-Honda low and scooted past the accident, which knocked Ericsson and Newgarden out of the race.
Ericsson, who was attempting to pass on the inside in his No. 28 Dallara-Honda, put the blame on Newgarden.
“I felt like I was down the inside, and Josef just turned down on me,” Ericsson told NBC Sports’ Georgia Henneberry. “I don’t think I could do much more, and he kept turning into the corner. I can’t go much lower than that. The clever move is to give the room.
“I just felt he should have given me more room, we would have been both fine and fighting for the win. Just really disappointed.”
Newgarden will have a shot at redemption when he starts from the pole Sunday, but his No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet will need significant repairs.
“I tried to give Ericsson the inside,” Newgarden told Henneberry. “I knew it would be hard for him to pass me on the inside, next thing I know I’m being pulled into the wall. Yeah, it’s a bummer. We were doing a good job switching up the strategy like we needed. It was hard to make something happen just outright. Strategy was going to be key, and the team was on it. Sad to have the day end so soon.”