Pato O’Ward Claims Third Victory of 2024 at the Milwaukee Mile

Will Power, Pato O’Ward and Conor Daly spray champagne as they celebrate on the podium after Race One of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250. O’Ward won the first race of the double header followed by Power and Daly. (Photo by Mike Moore | The Podium Finish)

WEST ALLIS, Wis. – Pato O’Ward took his third victory of the 2024 season ahead of Will Power and Conor Daly at the first race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s on August 31. 

O’Ward was one of 21 drivers who had not started a race on the infamous mile, as IndyCar has not raced there since 2015. Scott Dixon, Power, Graham Rahal, Josef Newgarden and Katherine Legge have all started on the mile, as well as Jack Harvey, who has started there with INDY NXT. 

Based on the way the track was with tire degradation, the most popular pit stop strategy ended up being the four-tire stop. This proved beneficial to O’Ward and with the Arrow McLaren team’s strategy, he led 133 laps on the 1.015-mile track. 

“The car was fantastic,” said O’Ward in a post-race interview with NBC Sports’ Reporter Georgia Henneberry. “It was getting a little gnarly there in the end, but glad I could bring it home for the boys.”

While Scott McLaughlin started on pole, O’Ward was able to capitalize on his sixth place starting position as he made his way through traffic on the track and took the lead three times throughout the race. 

Power took second place over Daly and Power closed the standings gap to only 43 points behind NTT IndyCar Series Championship leader, Alex Palou. 

Alex Palou during race one of the doubleheader at the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250. Palou leads Will Power in the championship standings. (Photo by Mike Moore | The Podium Finish)

“Alex is forever consistent so it’s hard to drop that points gap, but we’re doing what we need at the moment,” said Power in a post-race interview with NBC Sports. 

The battle between Palou and Power was not just on the oval, however. Throughout the race, Palou got close to Power’s right rear changer, Adam Jarus, multiple times over the course of his four pit stops. 

Along with the chaos in the pits between Palou and Power, Colton Herta had a pit incident as well, which resulted in a penalty. 

While exiting the pit lane on Lap 188, Herta lost his left front tire, causing him to make an emergency pit stop when the pit lane was closed and ultimately taking him out of leadership contention. This incident was one of many that caused a yellow flag to fly throughout the course of the race. 

Another incident occurred between Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson and Team Penske’s Newgarden on Lap 147 in which the drivers collided, ending both of their races. 

There are always two sides to every story following a racing incident, such as the collision between the Penske and Andretti drivers, and they both went on to explain each side to Henneberry with NBC Sports. 

“I just felt he should have given me more room. We would have been both fine and fighting for the win. Just really disappointed,” said Ericsson to Henneberry. 

Josef Newgarden racing around a corner during Race One of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250. Newgarden collided with Marcus Ericsson on Lap 147, ending both of their races. (Photo by Mike Moore | The Podium Finish)

Newgarden had his own perspective on the incident as well, telling Henneberry that he “tried to give Ericsson the inside.” 

“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,” said Newgarden to Henneberry. 

While the race was not picture perfect for everyone, Juncos Hollinger Racing was able to secure their best-ever finishing position with Daly taking the final step on the podium. Daly started 25th on the grid but was able to work his way through traffic, capitalizing on taking different lines on several occasions. 

“I want to do well in the series. My goal is to be on the podium in the series,” said Daly in an interview with NBC Sports. “And it’s been far too long since I’ve been on the podium, and it’s nice to get another one. So I just love racing in this series, and just happy to be here.”

The doubleheader continues at the Milwaukee Mile on Sunday, September 1. Newgarden will sit on the pole and his Penske teammate McLaughlin will start alongside him.