Pato O’Ward completed one of the most remarkable days in recent IndyCar history at the Milwaukee Mile, winning both races on the same Sunday after rain transformed the doubleheader into an extraordinary 410-lap marathon.
The Arrow McLaren driver first won the regularly scheduled second race of the weekend, beating Scott McLaughlin and team-mate Christian Lundgaard. Hours later, O’Ward returned to the cockpit to complete Saturday’s rain-suspended opening race — and won that too.
It meant Race 2 was completed before Race 1, but the unusual scheduling ultimately produced an even more significant piece of history.
O’Ward became the first driver to win two IndyCar races on the same day since Rick Mears achieved the feat at Atlanta in June 1981, according to IndyCar’s official Milwaukee report.
And while O’Ward dominated the race headlines, Alex Palou made history of his own by securing his fifth IndyCar championship and fourth consecutive title.
O’Ward strikes first in Sunday’s scheduled Race 2
Sunday afternoon’s regularly scheduled 250-lap race became the first contest of the doubleheader to reach its conclusion.
O’Ward had to work for the victory.
Alex Palou led a race-high 115 laps, while different pit strategies brought Scott McLaughlin, Will Power and Christian Lundgaard into contention as the race developed.
The decisive moment came during O’Ward and McLaughlin’s final stops on lap 192. Arrow McLaren produced a rapid 6.6-second service, allowing O’Ward to emerge ahead of McLaughlin. After the remaining pit sequence cycled through, O’Ward took the lead for good on lap 196.
McLaughlin remained a threat through heavy traffic, but O’Ward eventually opened enough breathing room to win by 0.7916 seconds.
Lundgaard completed the podium in third, giving Arrow McLaren two cars in the top three, while David Malukas finished fourth. Palou took fifth and championship rival Kyle Kirkwood sixth.
Milwaukee Race 2 — top 10
| Pos | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pato O’Ward |
| 2 | Scott McLaughlin |
| 3 | Christian Lundgaard |
| 4 | David Malukas |
| 5 | Alex Palou |
| 6 | Kyle Kirkwood |
| 7 | Rinus VeeKay |
| 8 | Christian Rasmussen |
| 9 | Marcus Ericsson |
| 10 | Louis Foster |
The race also produced 333 passes for position, briefly setting a Milwaukee IndyCar record.
Remarkably, that record would survive only a few hours.
Race 1 finally resumes — and O’Ward does it again
Saturday’s opening race had been suspended after 90 of its 250 laps when rain and wet track conditions prevented IndyCar from completing the race safely.
O’Ward therefore entered Sunday evening having already won one race while still technically leading another.
The resumed contest developed into a battle largely between O’Ward and Malukas. Between them, the pair led 212 of the 250 laps, with O’Ward accounting for 119 and Malukas 93.
Malukas appeared to have put himself in position for a long-awaited maiden IndyCar victory before the race changed again on the final restart.
With Malukas leading the field back to green on lap 226, his Team Penske Chevrolet struggled to accelerate cleanly.
O’Ward attacked low while McLaughlin went high, sending the trio three-wide into Turn 1.
O’Ward emerged in front and never surrendered the lead.
He eventually crossed the line 1.7535 seconds ahead of Malukas, with Rinus VeeKay completing the podium for Juncos Hollinger Racing. McLaughlin finished fourth and Christian Rasmussen fifth.
Milwaukee Race 1 — top 10
| Pos | Driver |
|---|---|
| 1 | Pato O’Ward |
| 2 | David Malukas |
| 3 | Rinus VeeKay |
| 4 | Scott McLaughlin |
| 5 | Christian Rasmussen |
| 6 | Christian Lundgaard |
| 7 | Josef Newgarden |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson |
| 9 | Marcus Armstrong |
| 10 | Alex Palou |
Kyle Kirkwood finished 15th, a result that would have major consequences for the championship. Full results were also published by Motorsport.com.
And the second race of the day eclipsed the earlier Milwaukee passing record, producing 372 on-track passes for position.
Palou seals a historic fifth championship
For Palou, tenth place was more than enough.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver had started the day with a commanding championship advantage and strengthened his position with fifth in the afternoon race.
Kirkwood’s sixth and 15th-place finishes across the two races ensured the championship fight was over before the season finale at Laguna Seca.
Palou’s fifth title puts him behind only A.J. Foyt’s seven championships and Scott Dixon’s six in IndyCar history.
His fourth consecutive championship also equals the series record established by Sébastien Bourdais between 2004 and 2007.
The championship itself may be decided, but the fight immediately behind Palou remains exceptionally close.
Christian Lundgaard leaves Milwaukee second in the standings, two points ahead of Kirkwood and four ahead of O’Ward, meaning just four points separate second, third and fourth heading into the Laguna Seca finale.
From rain delay to one of IndyCar’s wildest Sundays
Milwaukee’s doubleheader looked very different when the rain arrived on Saturday.
As we reported when the opening race was suspended, postponing the remainder created the prospect of an unusually demanding Sunday for the teams and drivers.
That turned out to be an understatement.
Rather than simply completing two races, Milwaukee delivered two victories for the same driver, successive passing records, a championship clincher and a schedule so unusual that Race 2 finished before Race 1.
For O’Ward, it transformed a strong weekend into a historic one.
He arrived at Milwaukee with one victory during the 2026 season. He leaves with three — and with his name alongside Rick Mears in the IndyCar record books.
Tech Torque Verdict
Milwaukee could hardly have produced a better example of why IndyCar’s short-oval racing remains so compelling.
Rain initially disrupted the weekend, but the resulting Sunday programme created something genuinely memorable rather than simply inconvenient.
Pato O’Ward had to win in two very different ways: first through pit execution, pace and traffic management, then through aggression when one final restart offered him the opportunity to take the delayed race away from David Malukas.
Winning both would already have been exceptional. Doing it on the same day for the first time in 45 years makes this one of the defining performances of O’Ward’s IndyCar career.
And behind that achievement came an equally significant piece of history.
Alex Palou is now a five-time champion, four of those titles have come consecutively, and at just 29 his place among the greats of American open-wheel racing is becoming increasingly difficult to overstate.
Milwaukee started as a rain-hit doubleheader.
It finished as one of the most historic weekends of the 2026 IndyCar season.
