{"id":1377,"date":"2026-08-29T13:19:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T16:19:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=1377"},"modified":"2026-08-29T13:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T16:19:14","slug":"pato-oward-alex-palou-claim-poles-for-milwaukee-indycar-doubleheader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/indy\/pato-oward-alex-palou-claim-poles-for-milwaukee-indycar-doubleheader\/","title":{"rendered":"O&#8217;Ward and Palou claim poles for Milwaukee IndyCar doubleheader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key takeaways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>O&#8217;Ward inherits Race 1 pole:<\/strong> <strong>Pato O&#8217;Ward starts on pole for Saturday&#8217;s Race 1<\/strong> after faster drivers Scott McLaughlin, David Malukas, and \u00c1lex Palou serve 9-place engine penalties.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Palou secures Race 2 pole:<\/strong> <strong>\u00c1lex Palou edged O&#8217;Ward by 0.0003 seconds<\/strong> to take pole position outright for Sunday&#8217;s Race 2.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Championship rivals struggle:<\/strong> <strong>Kyle Kirkwood qualified 21st for Race 1 and 23rd for Race 2<\/strong>, while Christian Lundgaard will start 9th and 10th, putting Palou in prime position to seal the title early.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Pato O&#8217;Ward<\/strong> and <strong>\u00c1lex Palou<\/strong> shared qualifying honors at the <strong>Milwaukee Mile<\/strong> on Saturday, setting up a pivotal doubleheader weekend for the <strong>2026 IndyCar Series Championship<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In IndyCar&#8217;s unique twin-race oval qualifying format\u2014where Lap 1 determines the Race 1 grid and Lap 2 determines Race 2\u2014<strong>Scott McLaughlin<\/strong> (22.073s) recorded the absolute fastest lap for Race 1, followed closely by <strong>David Malukas<\/strong> (22.272s) and championship leader <strong>\u00c1lex Palou<\/strong> (22.260s). However, because all three drivers were assessed <strong>9-position grid penalties<\/strong> for unapproved engine changes, 4th-fastest <strong>Pato O&#8217;Ward<\/strong> (22.277s) inherited pole position for Saturday&#8217;s Race 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Palou bounced back decisively on his second lap, posting a <strong>22.191s<\/strong> to edge out O&#8217;Ward by a razor-thin margin of <strong>0.0003 seconds<\/strong> to claim pole position for Sunday&#8217;s Race 2.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The qualifying outcome severely damages the hopes of Palou&#8217;s primary title challengers. <strong>Kyle Kirkwood<\/strong>, trailing by 91 points, struggled with handling and qualified <strong>21st for Race 1 and 23rd for Race 2<\/strong>. <strong>Christian Lundgaard<\/strong> managed only <strong>9th and 10th<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Updated Race 1 title math &amp; grid analysis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the application of engine penalties, Palou will start <strong>10th on the grid<\/strong> for Saturday&#8217;s Race 1 (dropped from 2nd), while Kirkwood starts <strong>21st<\/strong> and Lundgaard <strong>9th<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Palou enters Saturday with a <strong>91-point lead<\/strong> over Kirkwood and <strong>110 points<\/strong> over Lundgaard. To clinch his fifth IndyCar championship on Saturday, Palou must leave Race 1 holding at least a <strong>108-point lead<\/strong> over second place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Palou clinches on Saturday if:<\/strong> He finishes inside the top 8 while keeping Kirkwood from making a massive charge from 21st. If Palou finishes <strong>5th or better<\/strong>, Kirkwood cannot mathematically prevent Palou from sealing the title on Saturday regardless of bonus points.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kirkwood&#8217;s elimination:<\/strong> Starting from 21st, Kirkwood must reach at least <strong>12th place<\/strong> just to keep his championship hopes alive into Sunday, assuming Palou stays around his starting position of 10th.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lundgaard&#8217;s situation:<\/strong> Starting 9th, Lundgaard must gain significant positions and hope Palou encounters trouble to avoid total elimination after Race 1.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Qualifying follows major paddock news, including <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/indy\/indycar-penalizes-palou-and-four-other-drivers-with-grid-penalties-at-milwaukee\/&amp;authuser=3\">five drivers receiving 9-place grid drops for engine swaps<\/a>, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/indy\/indy-car-refutes-barranquilla-mayor-and-states-race-deal-is-far-away\/&amp;authuser=3\">IndyCar refuting claims of a 2028 Barranquilla GP<\/a>, and <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?q=https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/indy\/ganassi-pays-tribute-to-zanardi-and-1st-title-with-special-livery-for-palou-at-laguna-seca\/&amp;authuser=3\">Chip Ganassi Racing revealing a Zanardi tribute livery for Laguna Seca<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Action at the Milwaukee Mile kicks off on <strong>Saturday, August 29<\/strong> with Race 1, followed by Race 2 on <strong>Sunday, August 30<\/strong>. <strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/\">GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/a><\/strong> provides complete live coverage of every session. Follow all updates on our <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/news\/\">news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Milwaukee Mile Doubleheader \u2013 Complete Starting Grids<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><td><strong>Grid Pos<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Race 1 Driver (Saturday, Aug 29)<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Team<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Race 2 Driver (Sunday, Aug 30)<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Team<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>1<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Pato O&#8217;Ward<\/strong><\/td><td>Arrow McLaren<\/td><td><strong>\u00c1lex Palou<\/strong><\/td><td>Chip Ganassi Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Josef Newgarden<\/strong><\/td><td>Team Penske<\/td><td><strong>Pato O&#8217;Ward<\/strong><\/td><td>Arrow McLaren<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>3<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Will Power<\/strong><\/td><td>Team Penske<\/td><td><strong>Josef Newgarden<\/strong><\/td><td>Team Penske<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>4<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Dennis Hauger<\/strong><\/td><td>Dale Coyne Racing<\/td><td><strong>Marcus Armstrong<\/strong><\/td><td>Meyer Shank Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>5<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Mick Schumacher<\/strong><\/td><td>Rahal Letterman Lanigan<\/td><td><strong>Scott Dixon<\/strong><\/td><td>Chip Ganassi Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>6<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Felix Rosenqvist<\/strong><\/td><td>Meyer Shank Racing<\/td><td><strong>Felix Rosenqvist<\/strong><\/td><td>Meyer Shank Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>7<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Louis Foster<\/strong><\/td><td>Rahal Letterman Lanigan<\/td><td><strong>Scott McLaughlin<\/strong><\/td><td>Team Penske<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>8<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Alexander Rossi<\/strong><\/td><td>Ed Carpenter Racing<\/td><td><strong>Rinus VeeKay<\/strong><\/td><td>Juncos Hollinger Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>9<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Christian Lundgaard<\/strong><\/td><td>Arrow McLaren<\/td><td><strong>Will Power<\/strong><\/td><td>Team Penske<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>10<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>\u00c1lex Palou<\/strong> <em>(Penalized)<\/em><\/td><td>Chip Ganassi Racing<\/td><td><strong>Christian Lundgaard<\/strong><\/td><td>Arrow McLaren<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>11<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Scott McLaughlin<\/strong> <em>(Penalized)<\/em><\/td><td>Team Penske<\/td><td><strong>Dennis Hauger<\/strong><\/td><td>Dale Coyne Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>12<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>David Malukas<\/strong> <em>(Penalized)<\/em><\/td><td>Team Penske<\/td><td><strong>David Malukas<\/strong><\/td><td>Team Penske<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>13<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Romain Grosjean<\/strong><\/td><td>Dale Coyne Racing<\/td><td><strong>Mick Schumacher<\/strong><\/td><td>Rahal Letterman Lanigan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>14<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Marcus Armstrong<\/strong><\/td><td>Meyer Shank Racing<\/td><td><strong>Alexander Rossi<\/strong><\/td><td>Ed Carpenter Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>15<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Scott Dixon<\/strong><\/td><td>Chip Ganassi Racing<\/td><td><strong>Louis Foster<\/strong><\/td><td>Rahal Letterman Lanigan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>16<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Kyffin Simpson<\/strong><\/td><td>Chip Ganassi Racing<\/td><td><strong>Kyffin Simpson<\/strong><\/td><td>Chip Ganassi Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>17<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Graham Rahal<\/strong><\/td><td>Rahal Letterman Lanigan<\/td><td><strong>Christian Rasmussen<\/strong><\/td><td>Ed Carpenter Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>18<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Marcus Ericsson<\/strong><\/td><td>Andretti Global<\/td><td><strong>Graham Rahal<\/strong><\/td><td>Rahal Letterman Lanigan<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>19<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Rinus VeeKay<\/strong> <em>(Penalized)<\/em><\/td><td>Juncos Hollinger Racing<\/td><td><strong>Marcus Ericsson<\/strong><\/td><td>Andretti Global<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>20<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Christian Rasmussen<\/strong><\/td><td>Ed Carpenter Racing<\/td><td><strong>Romain Grosjean<\/strong><\/td><td>Dale Coyne Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>21<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Kyle Kirkwood<\/strong><\/td><td>Andretti Global<\/td><td><strong>Santino Ferrucci<\/strong><\/td><td>A.J. Foyt Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>22<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Santino Ferrucci<\/strong><\/td><td>A.J. Foyt Racing<\/td><td><strong>Caio Collet<\/strong><\/td><td>A.J. Foyt Racing<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>23<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Caio Collet<\/strong><\/td><td>A.J. Foyt Racing<\/td><td><strong>Kyle Kirkwood<\/strong><\/td><td>Andretti Global<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>24<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Sting Ray Robb<\/strong> <em>(Penalized)<\/em><\/td><td>Juncos Hollinger Racing<\/td><td><strong>Nolan Siegel<\/strong><\/td><td>Arrow McLaren<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>25<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Nolan Siegel<\/strong><\/td><td>Arrow McLaren<\/td><td><strong>Sting Ray Robb<\/strong><\/td><td>Juncos Hollinger Racing<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>(Note: Scott McLaughlin drops to 10th, David Malukas to 11th, \u00c1lex Palou to 10th, Sting Ray Robb to 23rd, and Rinus VeeKay to 19th for Race 1 starting positions following engine penalties).<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions (FAQ)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1. Who won pole position for Race 1 and Race 2 at Milwaukee?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Pato O&#8217;Ward<\/strong> inherited pole position for Race 1 due to engine penalties for faster qualifiers. <strong>\u00c1lex Palou<\/strong> won pole position outright for Sunday&#8217;s Race 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. Where does \u00c1lex Palou start in Race 1 after his grid penalty?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Although Palou set the 2nd-fastest time in Lap 1 qualifying, his 9-position penalty drops him to <strong>10th on the Race 1 starting grid<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3. What does Kyle Kirkwood need to do in Race 1 to keep the title fight alive?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Starting from <strong>21st<\/strong>, Kirkwood must move up through the field and prevent Palou from expandin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pato O&#8217;Ward inherited Race 1 pole position following grid penalties for \u00c1lex Palou, Scott McLaughlin, and David Malukas, while Palou paced Sunday&#8217;s Race 2 qualifying by 0.0003 seconds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020313174,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Pato O'Ward","42wp_featured_image_credits":"IndyCar","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,306,110],"42wp_author":[14],"class_list":["post-1377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indy","tag-alex-palou","tag-milwaukee-gp","tag-pato-oward","42wp_author-daniel-balsa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1377"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1378,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1377\/revisions\/1378"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020313174"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1377"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=1377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}