IndyCar News: McLaughlin outduels Dixon to win in Milwaukee

.Penske Chevy driver Scott McLaughlin, who started from the pole for Race 1 of the IndyCar Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250 Doubleheader but did not win, turned it around today and won the 2nd half of the doubleheader with a late pass on Andretti Honda driver Colton Herta.

McLaughlin, who started sixth, passed Colton Herta on Lap 218 to take the lead for good. That decisive dive under Herta in Turn 1 came after a feisty three-lap joust between the two young stars, as McLaughlin took advantage of fresher Firestone Firehawk tires and traffic in front of Herta to erase Herta’s seven-second lead in just 14 laps.

McLaughlin then had to hold off Ganassi Honda veteran Scott Dixon for the win, as Herta faded to third at the finish, 4.67s behind McLaughlin.  Dixon made his 400th race start this afternoon.

“I think had it gone a few more laps, it looked like he was starting to burn off his fronts (tires) a little bit,” Dixon said. “But congrats to McLaughlin. Pretty sweet to have a Kiwi 1-2 there.”

Santino Ferrucci, who was second in Race 1, had to settle for 4th today in the #14 AJ Foyt Chevy, 10.98s behind McLaughlin

Marcus Ericsson rounded out the top-5 in his Andretti-Honda, 13.7s behind McLaughlin.

What a difference a few hours made from Race 1 to Race 2.  The drivers on the podium all had issues in Race 1.  The two Kiwis, McLaughlin and Dixon, finished eighth and tenth last night, respectively.   Colton Herta had a tire come off after a pit stop and finished 22nd.

Today’s race went yellow right from Lap 1 to Lap 15 when the start was waved off.  Alex Palou, the points leader, pulled off the track on the third parade lap.   The Ganassi Racing DHL Honda was pulled back into the garage and Palou rejoined the race on Lap 29.

Palou, strategist Barry Wanser and the entire Chip Ganassi Racing crew stayed calm and avoided catastrophe when Palou’s car stopped at the exit of pit lane at the start of the pace laps with an apparent electrical problem. The car returned to the track but then had to return to the paddock for more diagnosis and repairs, and Palou returned to the track at speed on Lap 37, 28 laps down.

“We couldn’t really do anything,” Palou said. “We tried everything to try and not lose many laps.”

On Lap 5, the polesitter, Josef Newgarden, made it about half way down the front stretch before Linus Lundqvist and Marcus Armstrong put the No 2 in the wall, ending his chance of a win today.  And the yellow came out again.

On Lap 63, Meyer Shank’s David Malukas slowed on the track after running against the wall on the frontstretch.  The No 66 would retired from the race with a mechanical.

Foyt Racing’s No 41 Chevrolet of Sting Ray Robb spun and stopped in Turn 2 on Lap 113.  Not making any contact, the car continued.  That yellow was for three laps.

The yellow came out again when Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen made contact with RLL’s Graham Rahal, spinning Rahal into the SAFER barrier in Turn 3.  Rasmussen continued while Rahal retired from the race.

On Lap 229, Sting Ray Robb cause another yellow by making contact with the SAFER barrier in Turn 2, ending his race.

There were 763 on track passes today.

Said Power: “A long shot now. God gave us a chance then, but kind of let it go. That’s the season, man. You just can’t have those mistakes.”

Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile Race 2 Results

Lucille Dust reporting live from the Milwaukee Mile