'Pato who?' wins in IndyCar's return to the Milwaukee Mile, where the title could be won Sunday

WEST ALLIS – Pato O’Ward won in IndyCar’s return to the Milwaukee Mile after nine years away, hanging on Saturday in the first race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader weekend for his third victory of the season.

O’Ward led a race-high 133 laps and finished 1.8215 seconds ahead of 2014 Milwaukee winner Will Power.

“Wonderful race for us,” O’Ward said. “The car really came to life in the second stint, then it was a little gnarly after that. A lot of changing conditions. The track was getting quite a bit cooler.”

Conor Daly finished third and Santino Ferrucci fourth as Chevrolet-powered entries took the top four positions. Championship leader Alex Palou in fifth was the highest finisher among Honda entrants.

Who is Pato O’Ward, winner of the first Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250?

The 25-year-old native of Monterrey, Mexico, is in his fifth full season on the circuit, all with Arrow McLaren. The victory was O’Ward’s seventh in 87 NTT IndyCar Series starts.

O’Ward has been in the news in recent days as drivers and fans have reacted to the news that NASCAR will take its top two series to Mexico next season while IndyCar has yet to make a deal to do the same despite having an extremely popular Mexican driver in its midst.

The topic led to several humorous exchanges among the podium finishers from the moment O’Ward joined Power and Daly in the post-race news conference:

Power: “We should be in Mexico City, not NASCAR.”

O’Ward: “What?”

Power: “I say we should be in Mexico City.”

O’Ward: “Pato who?”

How did Pato O’Ward win Saturday at the Milwaukee Mile?

O’Ward started sixth, gained ground after making his first pit stop earlier than other leaders and then passed polesitter Scott McLaughlin on the front stretch on the start of the 119^th lap to lead for the first time.

O’Ward benefited from strategy again on the final stop when he again pitted from the lead on the 185^th lap and Colton Herta, who pitted at the same time, lost a wheel to bring out the final caution. When Power, Daly and Linus Lundqvist pitted, O’Ward was back in front, and he stayed there over the final 47 laps.

How did Conor Daly finish third?

After struggling mightily in practice, Daly took off like a shot at the start of the race, pitted ahead of the Herta caution and then followed through when Power barely sneaked past Santino Ferrucci for second in the final stint.

Daly made 51 on-track passes for position throughout the race.

“I honestly didn’t know how good we were,” Daly said. “The first lap I decided to just go where there was open space. Turns out that worked. Then, yeah, we just kept going. It was kind of slowly working our way forward.”

Daly’s only other IndyCar podium finish in 113 starts came on the Detroit Belle Isle circuit in 2016. This was the first top-three finish for Juncos Hollinger Racing.

How will Sunday’s IndyCar race be different from Saturday’s at the Milwaukee Mile?

With a start that’s three hours earlier, the drivers won’t be driving into the sun in Turn 4 as they did as afternoon turned into evening.

While the forecast calls a high of 73, about 10 degrees cooler, the race also starts at 2 p.m., about three hours earlier, when the frontstretch won’t be shaded the way it was from the start Saturday.

“Tomorrow it’s going to be quite a bit hotter than what it was today, at least how it ended,” O’Ward said. “Balances are going to change. Quick cars are going to evolve. We’ll see where we're at.”

Said Power: “Very difficult to know what you need here. I think the tire deg(redation) is so big that you start with one balance, you finish with the complete other side of that. I think everyone will be better tomorrow. They’ll know strategy, how the tires go off, they know how to pass, what lanes work. It will be a harder race, for sure.”

What happened with the NTT IndyCar Series championship race?

Power made up a few points on leader Alex Palou, who finished fifth. He still trails by 43, though, so it’s possible Palou can clinch the title Sunday. The most a driver can earn in one event is 54. Power holds the tiebreaker with three wins to Palou’s two.

The second round of the Milwaukee doubleheader is also the second-last race of the season. The season finale is the Music City Grand Prix on Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeed in Lebanon, Tennessee.

What happened in the Indy NXT race?

Louis Foster won the Indy NXT championship in style with the Nashville finale to spare, leading all 90 laps from the pole. He crossed the line 4.062 seconds ahead of Jacob Abel for his seventh victory of the season and Andretti’s sixth championship in IndyCar’s top development division.

Oconomowoc native Yuven Sundaramoorthy finished seventh.

When is the second half of the Milwaukee IndyCar doubleheader?

The green flag for the second Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250 race is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday.

Gates open at 10 a.m.

Driver introductions are scheduled for 1:25 p.m.

How much are tickets for IndyCar at the Milwaukee Mile?

Prices range from $45 for grandstand general admission to $110 for top reserved grandstand seats, plus fees.

There is no infield-specific ticket, but grandstand ticketholders do have access to the infield.

What channel is the Sunday Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250 on?

The television broadcast is on the USA cable network and also is to be streamed on Peacock.

The radio broadcast is to be carried by WOKY-AM (920).

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pato O'Ward wins first Milwaukee Mile IndyCar race of doubleheader