Pato O’Ward fended off a fierce Alex Palou challenge to take the first win of the IndyCar hybrid era. McLaughlin took a lonely third place at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Van Gisbergen in the NASCAR cup race at Chicago wasn’t so fortunate, punted out by a spinning car. Authorities red flagged the wet race.
Dixon on track.
The IndyCar race started badly for Scott Dixon whose car failed in the formation laps, leading to an early safety car intervention. Palou threatened to run away with the IndyCar race through the opening stages, leading by over six seconds but a slow pit stop brought the Arrow McLaren back into contention.
McLaughlin climbed to fifth early on while Armstrong dropped two places to 13th. He was relegated from fifth on the grid for an unapproved engine change in Iowa. Armstrong had Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden for company in the midfield.
Palou continued to build on his advantage at the front until pitting, with McLaughlin remaining out at the front until Lap 30, when he stopped and re-emerged third.
O’Ward began eating into Palou’s five-second advantage and shot to the front after his second pitstop. The gap between the pair fluctuated over the final 20 laps. O’Ward remained in front to take his second win of 2024 and jump to second in the IndyCar Series standings.
McLaughlin finished a lonely third, with fourth-placed Colton Herta eight seconds adrift.
Marcus Armstrong ran a three-stop strategy on his way to 17th, while Scott Dixon eventually completed just 40 of the 80 laps, the initial electrical glitch that shut down his engine on the formation laps proving a significant issue.
Dixon’s failure to finish impacts on his title hopes, with the six-time Champion now 71 points adrift of Palou in the standings. IndyCar returns to Iowa next weekend.
Meantime, Shane van Gisbergen’s chances of going back-to-back at the NASCAR Cup Chicago Street Race have ended early following a Stage 2 incident.
Last year’s race winner was running fifth when he was tagged by a spinning Chase Briscoe, who was caught out by the wet conditions. The nudge pushed van Gisbergen into the concrete barriers, causing significant damage to the right side of his car. The incident ended his race and left him stranded on track.
Van Gisbergen commented “Gutting. We were in the lead for a lot of that race, and I felt good taking off in the rain. When he just clipped me, there was nothing I could do.
“I’m disappointed. We had a really amazing Camaro there, and I felt like I was driving well within myself.”
Intensifying rain in Chicago saw the race red-flagged after the incident.
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