McLaughlin wins as Power blows chance to slash Palou’s points lead · RaceFans

Scott McLaughlin took maximum advantage of a bad day for Alex Palou by winning the second race of the weekend at Milwaukee.

Disaster struck championship leader Palou when his car died moments before the race was due to begin. His Ganassi team eventually got his car running again after extensive work in the pits, but lost 30 laps.

That threw the door open for Palou’s closest championship rival, Will Power, to slash his lead. He looked on course to do so for much of the first half of the race as he ran among the leaders.

But an unforced spin during the race’s fourth restart on lap 131 dropped Power to the rear of the field. He then lost a lap as his team called him in to replace his damaged front wing. Power recovered to finish 10th and will go to the season finale in Nashville 33 points behind Palou, a far wider gap than it might have been.

McLaughlin led the field to the finish after the final restart on lap 239. Scott Dixon filled his mirrors for the final laps after picking off Colton Herta and Alexander Rossi, but was unable to attack the Penske driver, who scored his third win of the year.

Behind third-placed Herta, Santino Ferrucci came fourth for the second time in 24 hours after passing Rossi with six laps to go. Marcus Ericsson also demoted the struggling Rossi before the finish to take fifth.

Rossi was the only McLaren driver to finish. His two team mates, Nolan Siegel and yesterday’s winner Pato O’Ward, both retired before the 90-lap mark with gearbox problems.

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Rinus Veekay took seventh ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and Romain Grosjean. Power, 10th, was the last driver on the lead lap, which he rejoined during the last caution period.

Palou was eventually classified 29 laps down in 19th place. “It was not a great day but it could have been a lot worse,” he reflected. “And could have been a lot better.”

The Ganassi’s drivers dramas meant the first five laps passed under caution. A two-wide start was then given on lap six, but immediately waved off, though fifth-placed Linus Lundqvist realised too late. He tapped Marcus Armstrong into Josef Newgarden, dumping the pole winner into the barrier and putting both out of the race.

Race result