Scott McLaughlin held off Scott Dixon to capture the second race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader Sunday in West Allis, Wis., in a wild event that had a series track record 13 lead changes.
McLaughlin held off the six-time IndyCar champ by .4558 of a second on the Milwaukee Mile oval to win his third race of the season.
“That was the most fun race I’ve had in IndyCar,” said McLaughlin, who started sixth. “It was a blast. We just stuck with it. The car wasn’t quite good at the start, and we just tuned her up, and it was awesome. A lot better in traffic today, which helped a lot.
“Yeah, burn the house down tonight. That was awesome. I’m pumped.”
Despite the loss, Dixon reached the podium for the 142nd time in his career, breaking a tie with Mario Andretti for the IndyCar all-time record.
“Yeah, it’s cool,” said Dixon, a 58-time race winner. “Obviously Mario, I’m a massive fan of Mario. He’s a huge part of our series. Again, I keep saying it, but it’s so cool that him and A.J. (Foyt) and many others, whether it’s Rick (Mears), come to a lot of our races. Obviously, Mario raced in a lot of different categories, as well, and achieved many great things.
“Just to be mentioned with any of those guys is very special.”
IndyCar standings leader Alex Palou finished 19th and will have a 33-point lead over Will Power heading into the season-ending Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway. Palou’s No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda suffered an electrical issue that forced his car to the garage for repairs.
“It was not a great day, but it could have been a lot worse,” Palou, the defending series champion, said. “It could have been a lot better, obviously. On to Nashville.”
Power finished 10th on Sunday. On Lap 131, he spun out in Turn 4 on a restart.
“A long shot now,” Power said. “God gave us a chance then, but kind of let it go. That’s the season, man. You just can’t have those mistakes.”
Colton Herta, Santino Ferrucci and Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top five.
–Field Level Media