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Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s - Race 2
West Allis, Wisconsin
September 1, 2024

JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 SNAP-ON CHEVROLET

START: 1ST  
FINISH: 27TH  
POINTS: 8TH (-161)

RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Snap-on Chevrolet team endured another tough outing in Sunday's second Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250, this time without turning a lap under green before an incident left him with a 27th-place finish. The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner won his 19th career NTT P1 Award on Saturday afternoon and led the field through a chaotic start to the race that began under caution as points leader Alex Palou had issues getting up to speed. As the field began to attempt to take the green flag on Lap 6, race control called off the start due to the field not being packed as tight as they would like. The No. 8 of Linus Lundqvist attempted to get a strong start on the leaders and made contact with his teammate, Marcus Armstrong, just as the yellow flag waved. Unfortunately for Newgarden, the contact sent Armstrong into the right side of the No. 2 Chevrolet, damaging it beyond repair to continue in the event. 

NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: "I really have no idea what happened there. Obviously the start was called off by race control and then I just got hit by the 11. Definitely had higher hopes for this weekend, especially starting on the pole with the Snap-on Chevy."

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN No. 3 GALLAGHER CHEVROLET

START: 2ND  
FINISH: 1ST  
POINTS: 3RD (-49)

RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 Gallagher Chevrolet team scored their third win of 2024 in Sunday's Hy-Vee Milwaukee 250 at the famed Milwaukee Mile. For McLaughlin, it is his seventh career victory and his second oval victory of 2024 in his fourth full season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. McLaughlin rolled his Gallagher Chevrolet from the outside pole position alongside teammate Josef Newgarden. The race saw contact early which ultimately gave McLaughlin the lead in the opening stages of the race. He would eventually relinquish the lead to teammate Will Power on Lap 44. McLaughlin would make his first pit stop around lap 60 and would continue to shadow Power as the two pitted again on lap 97. McLaughlin would pit under caution on Lap 117 and strong service by the Gallagher crew would get him out in fourth position - the first driver on a four pit stop strategy. With great pace and fresh tires, McLaughlin would pass Scott Dixon for second and eventually work his way by Colton Herta for the race lead on Lap 164. A late race caution would see the leaders pit again with under 25 laps to go and McLaughlin would pit for scuffed tires. The New Zealander would run qualifying laps at the end to bring home the checkered flag and remain in contention for the championship. In addition, McLaughlin's 55th win for Team Penske helped Chevrolet clinched the 2024 manufacturers title in the INDYCAR SERIES.

MCLAUGHLIN'S THOUGHTS: "That was the most fun race I have had in INDYCAR, it was a blast. So happy for everyone on the Gallagher Chevy because we just stuck with it.  It wasn't quite good at the start, but we trimmed it up and it was awesome.  Lot better with traffic today which helped a lot. Credit to Colton (Herta) and all the guys we raced with, we had a blast.  The 21 car, the crew, they helped me a lot in some exchanges and helped me with getting in the box. Big thanks to Team Chevy, and that teamwork that we have. But yeah, I am pumped."

WILL POWER No. 12 VERIZON CHEVROLET

START: 4TH 
FINISH: 10TH 
POINTS: 2ND (-33)

RACE RUNDOWN: Will Power and the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet team continued to cut into the points lead of Alex Palou with a 10th-place finish in Sunday's Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250, but the Australian driving ace will lament giving away precious points with a mid-race spin. The all-time leader in NTT P1 Awards qualified fourth for Sunday's race but was able to navigate the early chaos to move to the second position when the action finally picked up. He was able to make the pass on teammate Scott McLaughlin for the lead on Lap 44 and would run in the lead position for 64 laps on the day. With Palou mired at the rear of the field following an issue on the first lap of the race, Power actually took over the points lead at times before a spin on Lap 132 while the field was coming to the restart zone forced him to make two trips to pit lane for service and a new front wing. To make matters worse, Power was unable to remain on the lead lap following his pit stop for the new wing and spent most of the remaining laps fighting to get back to lead-lap racing. He was able to do just that by taking the wave around under a Lap 227 caution flag, but with few laps left he could only climb to 10th before the green flag. Power now trails Palou by 33 points, taking 21 points from the leader in the two Milwaukee races as the series makes its final stop of the year in Nashville on September 15. 

POWER'S THOUGHTS: "I saw the (Palou) situation and it was like, looking pretty good. As per usual, something else happens!  It's never straightforward. That's racing. We were trying to win it. I'm not one to look back, but if I would have just got a good restart, we would have been OK. Yeah, we kept the Verizon Chevy off the wall and that was a good start to maximize out points after the spin. It's not an insurmountable gap to make up at Nashville but we have our work cut out for us."

The 17th and final round of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season takes place on Sunday, September 15 at the Nashville Superspeedway.