McLaughlin and Palou take Milwaukee poles, O'Ward to start first for Race 1
- Dan Jones
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
Scott McLaughlin and Álex Palou shared the pole positions for IndyCar's Milwaukee 250s, while Pato O'Ward was promoted to first for Race 1 due to engine penalties for McLaughlin, Palou and David Malukas.
How it unfolded
As usual for qualifying for ovals on doubleheader weekends, drivers set two laps with their speed on their first lap determining their position for Race 1, and their speed on their second lap determining their position for Race 2. The drivers went out in reverse championship order, meaning that the remaining championship contenders would be the ones last on track.
Sting Ray Robb was first on track as he set speed times of 159.564 mph and 159.392 mph, laying the benchmark for all others to follow. Rookie Mick Schumacher comfortably usurped Robb's speeds, upping the pace with a 162.344 mph and 163.244 mph effort whilst Schumacher's fellow rookie Caio Collet slotted in between the two previous runners, with speeds of 160.033 mph and 159.947 mph.
Christian Rasmussen was next on track, his first laps since crashing with Kyle Kirkwood in practice, going second for both races with 161.015 mph for Race 1 and 160.409 mph for Race 2. Dennis Hauger, who impressed in practice, continued his promising showing going top with a 163.192 mph for Race 1 and second for Race 2 with a 161.253 mph.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Louis Foster followed, moving into second for Race 1 with a 163.011 mph speed and into the same position for Race 2 with a 162.910 mph speed. Nolan Siegel went out on-track for his first laps since he crashed within the first 15 minutes of practice on Friday, with the lack of running immediately obvious with Siegel significantly off the pace, completing a 155.959 mph first lap speed and a 157.754 mph second lap speed.
Romain Grosjean followed with a middle-of-the-pack pair of laps setting a 162.379 mph opening lap speed to put him third before a trickier second lap put him fifth with a 160.260 mph. Santino Ferrucci's following run put him eighth and seventh out of the first nine runners with a 159.040 mph and 159.595 mph effort.
Alexander Rossi's run was far more successful with a 162.536 mph speed putting him a provisional third for Race 1 and 160.745 mph run for Race 2 putting him a provisional fourth. Marcus Armstrong's run put him sixth and third with 161.163 mph and 162.331 mph average speed times. Graham Rahal failed to match the pace of his teammates, setting a 160.651 mph to go eighth for Race 1 and a 160.309 mph to go seventh for Race 2.
Kyffin Simpson followed, setting a 161.065 mph speed to jump into seventh for Race 1 and a 160.313 mph to go into the same position for Race 2, as he went middle of the times from the first 13 drivers. Simpson's Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon was next on track, with the six-time champion going sixth for Race 1 with a 161.820 mph speed and fourth for Race 2 with a 162.153 mph speed.
Rinus VeeKay had a mixed pair of laps, setting a 160.978 mph to go only 10th for Race 1, before an improved second lap of a 161.776 mph put him a provisional fifth for Race 2. After 10 runs, Hauger's time was finally topped with Will Power setting a 163.220 mph run to go to the top of the times, with a 163.243 mph second lap speed putting him behind Schumacher in second by just 0.001 mph.
Power's time at the top for Race 1 did not stay for long though, with Scott McLaughlin shattering his time with a 165.536 mph speed, although he could not match that speed for Race 2 with a 162.560 mph speed putting him fourth. Felix Rosenqvist followed, with a 163.183 mph lap putting him a respectable fourth for Race 1 and a 162.667 mph speed for Race 2 also keeping him fourth.
Rosenqvist's countryman Marcus Ericsson was next on track, going a provisional ninth for both races with 161.896 mph and 161.623 mph efforts. Josef Newgarden went behind his teammate for Race 1 with a 163.771 mph effort but to the top for Race 2 with a 163.767 mph, finally displacing Schumacher after 18 runs.
Pato O'Ward was the next to run, slotting into second for Race 1 with a 164.019 mph lap and to the top for Race 2 with a 164.655 mph lap. David Malukas was the final Penske to run, moving into second for Race 1 with a 164.058 mph effort and into only 12th for Race 2 with a 161.615 mph lap.
Christian Lundgaard opted to use the same setup as his high-flying teammate but failed to reap the same rewards with a 162.573 mph first lap speed to move him a provisional ninth and a 162.087 mph lap to move him into 10th.
Kirkwood was the penultimate driver on track, his first laps since he collided with Rasmussen in Friday's only practice session. His rebuilt car could not provide the pace that he had hoped for with a 159.919 mph speed putting him a disappointing provisional 21st for Race 1 and a 159.234 mph lap even worse, putting him 23rd with Álex Palou still to run.
With McLaughlin, Malukas, Palou, VeeKay and Robb all taking engine penalties, O'Ward was guaranteed to start first for Race 1, but Race 2 was certainly still in play for Palou. A 164.147 mph put Palou into second for Race 1 prior to his penalty, with a 164.658 mph lap snatching the pole away from O'Ward for Sunday's race at the at the death by just 0.003 mph.
Here's how they line-up for both races:
Race 1
O'Ward
Newgarden
Power
Hauger
Rosenqvist
Foster
Lundgaard
Rossi
Grosjean
McLaughlin
Palou
Malukas
Schumacher
Ericsson
Dixon
Armstrong
Simpson
Rasmussen
Rahal
Collet
Kirkwood
Ferrucci
Siegel
VeeKay
Robb
Race 2
Palou
O'Ward
Newgarden
Schumacher
Power
Foster
Rosenqvist
McLaughlin
Armstrong
Dixon
Lundgaard
VeeKay
Ericsson
Malukas
Hauger
Rossi
Rasmussen
Simpson
Rahal
Grosjean
Collet
Ferrucci
Robb
Kirkwood
Siegel
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