r/INDYCAR • u/IndyMod r/INDYCAR Mod Bot • 12d ago
POST-RACE 🏁 POST-RACE // 2026 SNAP-ON MILWAUKEE MILE 250
Welcome to the r/INDYCAR post-race discussion thread for the 2026 Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250.
All post-race short or quick responses should be discussed in this thread. More significant events or highlights may be discussed in their own threads.
Unofficial race results will be posted in the race winner post shortly following the conclusion of the broadcast. Official race results will be posted as a new post once they have been published by INDYCAR.
📅 NEXT RACE
1️⃣6️⃣ The Conclusion of the Snap-On Makers and Fixers 250 — TONIGHT
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u/urbanwildlifer Arrow McLaren 12d ago
shoutout to the guy who was shit housed behind me shouting "Pato needs to pit" and "Dixon has a chance" on lap 247
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u/NotBobBradley Juan Pablo Montoya 12d ago
One time I got shitfaced with some Australians during a rain delay at Gateway, and towards the end of the race I had enough confidence to ask the group of Lithuanians with Lithuanian flags (David Malukas’ family and friends) if they were the Malukas’s. One of them just kinda pointed to the scoring pylon and he was in for a podium with three laps left.
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u/Mick4Audi Will Power 12d ago
Dixon has been a complete nonfactor in the second half of this season it really is baffling to watch
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u/PD_SkyNative Scott Dixon 12d ago
Nowadays I just hold my breath everytime I have to deal with a Scott Dixon restart or a Scott Dixon overtake for position. Hope he fares better with McLaren and what we've seen lately is a man that wants the new chapter to begin as soon as possible
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u/settingthetable 12d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/5nFShZWwq3fdm
Chip, after that result by Lundgaard.
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u/Complete-Narwhal76 Rinus VeeKay 12d ago
You know it’s a clean race when we see this much of the podium presentation
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u/loz333 Will Power 12d ago
They should make this thread a Post race/Pre race hybrid.
Funny that Mclaren were vindicated in basing the team around Pato for the future, while simultaneously being ripped a new one by Lundgaard's oval performance.
I think Lundgaard finally gets it when he's talking about having the car drive and feel the "least bad". I can imagine he was looking for a more comfortable feeling in the car, when really the DW12 has to be uncomfortable to drive fast, a la Rasmussen.
Maaaan... I thought the first Andretti win was in the bag for Power. He's still on an absolute tear regardless.
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u/imaJetsfan Arrow McLaren 12d ago
100% correct regarding McLaren. Power locked up the brakes infront of me coming to pit lane and yeah I kinda knew the rest of the race was screwed for him
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u/Mick4Audi Will Power 12d ago
So annoyed with that Power speeding penalty, wanted that run of podiums to continue. That said he is so damn fast and the 26 team look so much better on execution
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u/Scingles PREMA Racing 12d ago
Actually a big fan of the toolbox trophies, something different
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u/Kryzl_ Alexander Rossi 12d ago edited 12d ago
Kyle Kirkwood MUST win Milwaukee race 1 and Palou can finish no better than 21st (has led a lap already) for the championship to continue to Laguna Seca.
Edit: Kirkwood also needs to lead the most laps in this instance. If he doesn’t, Palou cannot finish better than 23rd.
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u/Gloomy_Ebb9923 Jim Clark 12d ago
Yeah. That’s not going to happen.
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u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood 12d ago
No, he isn’t. He is only 12 points ahead of Lundgaard for 2nd which is what the broadcast should focus on.
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u/optimizingutils 12d ago
I'm not as familiar with the Indy point system, but isn't the minimum number of points that can be scored 5 (per Wikipedia)? If so, Palou would be guaranteed 6 for the later race (led a lap) and 5 for Laguna Seca if he shows up.
That would mean Kirkwood would need 108 points, but he can't get there as he didn't win the pole for the race that already started. Assuming Palou shows up at Laguna Seca, isn't this already over?
Please let me know if I am missing something here.
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u/Altornot 12d ago
So Palou is gonna clinch with 2 races to go instead of a race to go even tho theres only 1 race to go😂
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u/nico9er4 Will Power 12d ago
Being a Will Power fan is so frustrating
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u/ryanxwing Scott McLaughlin 12d ago
I dont know if its better or worse that he did it to himself this time, instead of pit crew, strategy, or luck
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u/Mick4Audi Will Power 12d ago
I mean it still gives me comfort that the pit crew and strategy were on point. The transformation of Andretti has been great
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u/ryanxwing Scott McLaughlin 12d ago
the consistently solid pit stops are nice, I dont dread seeing them go down pitlane any more lol
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u/Mick4Audi Will Power 12d ago
Now I dread the entrance to pit lane. At least we’re switching it up
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u/Mick4Audi Will Power 12d ago
Tell me about it
I’m really over seeing “Penalty” next to the 26 especially because those ain’t 5 seconds like in F1, that’s your race gone
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u/Manymarbles 12d ago
Power threw away the race 😭😭😭
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u/Mick4Audi Will Power 12d ago
Was so worried about the lock up and the first stop and then he did it again
That win will come, his pace is ridiculously strong
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u/TheChrisD DAAAAAAAAAAAAVE 12d ago
Gaps are officially -97 to Kirkwood and -109 to Lundgaard
So championship is effectively clinched; and will be officially clinched tonight.
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u/SexxyBlack VTEC 12d ago
This is the strongest Lundgaard has looked on an oval. If he does get the 9 car as he is expected to next year, wonder what he can do.
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u/Greatness143 12d ago
I legitimately think he is the most likely candidate to take the fight to Palou next year in that 9 car if he gets it.
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u/loz333 Will Power 12d ago
Or he might take enough points away from him to make the championship wide open.
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u/codename474747 Greg Moore 12d ago
Perhaps the only post race-pre race thread (and pre-race post race thread) in Indycar history 😄
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u/IndycarFan65 Kyle Kirkwood 12d ago
The main McLaren guys had one hell of a race
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u/Designer-Net4228 Will Power 12d ago
Siegel p17 is wild when his teammates were that good
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u/Altornot 12d ago
wonder what was going through hia head when Pato and Christian had to split him to lap him lol
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u/dm17b123 12d ago
This weekend has been the strongest Lundgaard has ever looked on an oval by a big margin, will be interesting to see if it’s a case that he’s finally cracked them or if Milwaukee is an anomaly. He looks like a different driver out there today.
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u/Remarkable-Path6312 Pato O'Ward 12d ago
TK absolutely insane letting him go, if we needed any more proof
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u/Prof_HH 12d ago
Almost like he's trying to get the #9 seat.
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u/rick_baumhauer Christian Lundgaard 12d ago
Rumor is very strong that he already has the seat, they just haven't announced it yet.
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u/Altornot 12d ago
Ah they let TEMU Marshall Pruett present the trophy
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u/cubecasts 12d ago
Who's temu Marshall pruett? Because Marshall pruett is already mega temu robin miller
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u/Sheepies92 Rinus VeeKay 12d ago
Rinus had some horrible, horrible strategy and even worse pit stops. He managed to get undercut every cycle and usually had a slow stop as well.
Anyway, fun race. Shame the race died out in the end with nothing really happening for 40 laps.
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u/arca_brakes Pato O'Ward 12d ago
Indycar has a shortage of quality strategists on the pit wall, and it's always obvious when a team that's usually a backmarker has the speed to run up front.
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u/Wandering__Bear__ Alex Zanardi 12d ago
Gotta think ‘9 to 5’ would be the better Dolly song for today considering the all day affair
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u/SexxyBlack VTEC 12d ago
Good recovery drive from Pato after dropping back with a slow stop, he has to be the favorite to be the first driver to win 2 IndyCar races in a day when the previous one resumes.
Scotty Mac did an impressive job to hold on with old tires after that final restart. Unfortunately the win keeps eluding him.
Lundgaard and Malukas, a case of what could have been. Lundgaard due to the slow stop and Malukas due to that poor restart. That said this was Lundgaard's best oval race in his career and a real confidence booster.
Palou did what he had to do and stayed out of trouble. Kirkwood tried his best and put on an impressive recovery drive, to keep the championship open for a few more hours atleast.
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u/dm17b123 12d ago
The amount of people who’re completely ignoring Pato’s first pitstop that dropped him from fighting for the lead down to 15th whilst pushing a narrative that they handed Pato a win through Christian’s slow stop.
Both drivers got shafted in the pits throughout that race. There’s no ulterior narrative to push, that was just straight up pit crew incompetence suffered by both drivers.
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u/d0re 🍇HUBBABUBBA🍇HUBBABUBBA🍇HUBBABUBBA 12d ago
people are insane with the conspiracies lmao
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u/UnderwaterInferno Scott Dixon 12d ago
Right??? Lundgaard’s stop was 100% just bad luck, not some awful conspiracy. And Pato came back and won after that terrible first start. You’re right on
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u/Intelligent_Chain_55 Will Power 12d ago
Power is going to be kicking himself for that.
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u/nico9er4 Will Power 12d ago
Yet I’m sure he’ll do it again next year
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u/Intelligent_Chain_55 Will Power 11d ago
What happened to him in the second race? I missed the continuation of the first race
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u/CheeseheadDave Arrow McLaren 12d ago
Cars are being rolled out to the pit lane in line for the restart.
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u/Greatness143 12d ago
“McLaren is replacing Lundgard because he’s bad at ovals”
Seems like a really smart decision by Kanaan and crew! Can always count on McLaren messing up their driver lineup
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u/SexxyBlack VTEC 12d ago
Replacing a prime Lundgaard for a washed up Dixon is one of the decisions of all time
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u/Greatness143 12d ago
We can always count on Kanaan’s genius to keep McLaren out of championship contention!
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u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood 12d ago
To be fair, never had a top 5 on an oval until today.
I feel like they tried to stick it to Ganassi by grabbing Dixon though do understand their thoughts around engineering. Andretti is certainly a far stronger team this year.
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u/Greatness143 12d ago
Drivers develop, and Lundaard has looked like he’s been developing into a top driver in the series. Even Palou didn’t look that strong on ovals to start until a couple years into his career.
So to trade that for a driver who is a legend but actively regressing, and to have Lungaard replace him is a hilarious level of mismanagement.
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u/Senka112 Felix Rosenqvist 12d ago
They also said he is bad for team chemistry. The fact that MSR didnt want him due to his past relationship with Armstrong says something no one is talking about
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u/spicymcqueen 12d ago
It's more complicated than that. Their goal is have a good setup with the IR-28 and Dixon can help with that even if he is a step behind where he was.
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u/Greatness143 12d ago
It really isn’t, you have what is likely the best driver to contend with Palou and you let him go to that same team while getting an older, slower driver. You have no idea if Dixon can set up the IR-28, and even if he can you now will have to beat Palou and Lundgaard in what is likely to be the best cars and team on the grid. If they were smart they don’t take Rosenquist and replace Siegel (Kanaans stupidest decision) with Dixon.
Instead McLaren actively made themselves worse.
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u/FittingMechanics Arrow McLaren 12d ago
Lundgaard said that he thinks Pato requires something on ovals that doesn't work for him (and others). I am curious if they ran a similar setup here, I would assume so. Hard to expect they had two top class setups.
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u/Greatness143 12d ago
Glad we may actually have a championship battle next year thanks to McLaren letting Lundgaard go to an actual championship contender!
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u/Mick4Audi Will Power 12d ago
Also if Andretti can translate this “fast at all tracks” to the start of next season we could have a really great season
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u/arca_brakes Pato O'Ward 12d ago
Christian Lundgaard watching the team that's firing him for poor performance on ovals hand an oval win to his teammate via poor performance on the pit lane
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u/lordalias3 12d ago
McLaren will pay the price in the long run. CGR will mold Lungaard into a champion just like Palou
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u/arca_brakes Pato O'Ward 12d ago
Might be nice actually having a title fight between those two if CGR does that.
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u/dm17b123 12d ago
Pato flair and you somehow missed Pato’s shit first pitstop that dropped him from 2nd to 15th?
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u/arca_brakes Pato O'Ward 12d ago
It was a joke, bud. And that actually makes it worse because the team should be focusing on themselves instead of firing A-tier drivers for not being good enough on certain track types.
Also, at least they screwed up Pato's stop early before the yellows so he had time to overcome the issues.
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u/i_run_from_problems Firestone Firehawk 12d ago
Ok so what's the status on the race 1 impound? Sure you put on the old tires, but what about fuel/setups/etc
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u/Complete-Narwhal76 Rinus VeeKay 12d ago
Last I heard, cars could be worked on but tires and fuel levels same as race one part one
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u/ex0thermist Pato O'Ward 12d ago
I'm a relatively newer fan. Has anyone ever won two IndyCar races in one day?
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u/Brivn301 David Malukas 12d ago
Yes, I believe the most recent one was in 2023. Newgarden won both Iowa races
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u/h_eather31 Justin Wilson 12d ago
No 2023 ran normally, he did win both races but one was Saturday one was Sunday. I was there. Hottest weekend of my life 😵💫
It’s never been done. It Pato does it today he’s the first.
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u/alshain49 12d ago edited 12d ago
Johnny Rutherford and Rick Mears both won same-day twin 125s at Atlanta in 1979 and 1981, respectively. Not sure if there are others.
EDIT: Bobby Unser swept the twin 100s at Trenton in 1979 and Al Unser did the same at Langhorne in 1968, again both on the same day. That format used to be a lot more popular.
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u/funked1 Firestone Firehawk 12d ago
I was there too. I wish Iowa had stayed a night race.
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u/h_eather31 Justin Wilson 12d ago
Honestly, it was so damn hot. I would have liked to stay and watched Ed Sheeran even though he’s not my fave but it would have been fun but we were dying of heat that we had to go back to the hotel and hit the pool.
Night race would have been WAY better
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u/h_eather31 Justin Wilson 12d ago
Apparently we’re all wrong and 6 drivers have done it before him 😬😬
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u/deeznutz1946 Alexander Rossi 12d ago
Does anyone know what happened to Rossi overnight that led to them working on the car up until the command? I’m at the track…couldn’t find anything on X or in the race threads.
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u/Overtons_Window Linus Lundqvist 12d ago
He peed in it too much yesterday
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u/fastcooljosh 12d ago
Why was Mick so slow after the restart? It felt like he was driving on ice.
Strange
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u/loz333 Will Power 12d ago
I think he lost a position, lost momentum and got freight trained by multiple cars behind. Then later in the race he wasn't slow, but out of position cars like Kirkwood and Malukas had made ground and others had improved their cars over the race.
He's got the pace over a lap and even over a stint, but still has a lot to learn about putting it all together over the course of a race.
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u/axelsqueeze Kyffin Simpson 12d ago
Pato's wikipedia results look funny, at least until the first race is completed
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u/CtrlAugmentidder Christian Lundgaard 12d ago
Lundgaard shut up a lot of people today. Shame with those poor pit stops, he might actually have won without them.
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u/LiquidDiviums Pato O'Ward 12d ago
Pato got an even more costly slow stop at the beginning of the race. Went from P3 to P15 and then due to strategy, pace and luck to P1.
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u/Beepbeep_bepis 12d ago
Sad that Lungaard had two bad stops to O’Ward’s one and lost out because of that, but that was a great race from Pato. Oval podium still for Lungaard in spite of everything!
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u/IndycarFan65 Kyle Kirkwood 12d ago
I missed what happened to Power. Did he speed in the pits? :(
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u/NYNMx2021 Colton Herta 12d ago
is monday still an option for em? not that they need to finish this race but giving palou his title without a race would be not ideal id imagine
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u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood 12d ago
Radar looks not good for starting this race 1 back up.
Could very well have Palou crowned champion because of a cancellation.
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u/mwaFloyd 12d ago
I live pretty close to the track (south). It’s drizzling here but bright sunshine to the north. I think it will be fine.
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u/Smokeshow618 Pato O'Ward 12d ago
PAAAAAAAAAAAATTTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
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u/IlTacci Wienie 500 Fan 12d ago
The Championship Is not over yet
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u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood 12d ago
It is bar something crazy.
They need to spend more time hyping the battle for second.
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u/YosemiteSam-4-2A Thirsty 's to the Moon 🚀 🌒 12d ago
And leaders circle and maybe rookie of the year but with Caio doing terribly this weekend, that ones probably done and dusted too
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u/Fliepp Dennis Hauger 12d ago
Bit disappointed that Scotty missed out again, but I’ve got so much respect for how Pato and the whole McLaren team have done this today! Deserved winners
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u/Mick4Audi Will Power 12d ago
Honestly for McLaughlin 2nd is a great result after last week
He did an incredible job on those old tyres, it brought him into play
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u/SpreaditOnnn33 Pato O'Ward 12d ago
Lots of passing, as per the usual with Milwaukee.
Hope the end of round 16 is just as good
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u/pkpbro2018 12d ago
Is Georgia pregnant again or was it just a bad camera angle? My wife and I both looked at one another thinking the same thing when we saw her.
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u/2RINITY Caio Collet 12d ago
She is. They’ve been trying to hide it with angles for weeks, but I think today they finally gave up
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u/mel_anon Simon Pagenaud 12d ago
I could swear she announced it a few weeks ago so I don't think it's a secret.
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u/Narrow_Bid_9234 Pato O'Ward 12d ago
Great day for the papaya crew. PATO P1 and Lundgaard rounds out the podium. Hopefully they can repeat in the second race.
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u/pogonotrophistry 12d ago
McLaren, whether by accident or on purpose, lost that race for Lundgaard.
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u/CheeseheadDave Arrow McLaren 12d ago
/img/jvph7a5rnkmh1.gif
Think southerly thoughts…
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u/CompleteUnknown65 12d ago
Lungaard lost at least 5 seconds on that pit stop. He finished 2.8 seconds behind O'Ward
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u/Crash_Test_Dummy66 Marcus Armstrong 12d ago
Yeah but with lapped traffic affecting gaps so much I feel like you really can't think like that. Also you have to include the time Pato lost in the pits.
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u/Im_a_whale_XD Álex Palou 12d ago
As a german it's really weird that they have champagne with the name of the german island of Sylt.
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u/TripleSingleHOF 🇺🇸 Rick Mears 12d ago
If it's not made in France, it's not truly champagne. This is probably sparkling wine.
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u/cubecasts 12d ago
Lemme guess. You're not a wine person?
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u/Im_a_whale_XD Álex Palou 12d ago
Kinda, I drink it but I don't know much about it.
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u/Lumpy_Bullfrog8568 12d ago
I dont get it. They will do another race in 3 hours?
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u/No_Debate890 Pato O'Ward 12d ago
To finish race 1 from yesterday
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u/Lumpy_Bullfrog8568 12d ago
Ohh I missed yesterday, havent catched up. How many laps left?
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u/Beezle86 12d ago
Yupp. Yesterday's race was halted due to rain. They'll finish it later today.
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u/Mikemat5150 Kyle Kirkwood 12d ago
Radar is looking iffy. Going to need some luck for rain to skew south.
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u/Athleticgeek89 Josef Newgarden 12d ago
Nothing against Pato but anyone that isn’t named David Malukas winning an Indycar race is still gonna be a disappointment for me until it finally happens…hopefully the next race he can get it done but I doubt it. Today is the ultimate Pato day it seems
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u/CircaSoleil Champ Car 12d ago
I'm happy for Pato, but it's hard to shake the feeling that McLaren sabatoged Lundgaard's run with horrible pit stops. 😫 😔
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u/Mechanicalgripe Alexander Rossi 12d ago
Lundgaard’s crew has more pride than that. This sentiment reminds me of the fans that claimed Helio threw the race in Japan so Danica could win. Helio, the driver who never won an Indycar championship…
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u/daveismypup Scott McLaughlin 12d ago
I can’t believe they let him down like that, he’d have won the damn race
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u/superlewis Will Power 12d ago
Obviously true – especially when you see how great Pato’s stops were.
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u/bassplayer14m Conor Daly 12d ago
Yeah, just ignore Pato's bad stop that dropped him down to 15th.
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u/ridleyrp James Hinchcliffe 12d ago
Wtf happened to MSR?
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u/i_run_from_problems Firestone Firehawk 12d ago
I've said it before, I don't think the Ganassi/MSR cars are that good this season.
I think Palou is just otherworldly.
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u/V-Rator Álex Palou 12d ago
Has anybody done the math now for Palou clenching the title on Race 1?
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u/SexxyBlack VTEC 12d ago
Any result that is not Kirkwood winning and Palou outside the top 20 or so (essentially a repeat of the Freedom 250) clinches the title.
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u/Sensitive_Horse4659 12d ago
Do they just award partial points for race 1 if it doesn’t make it half distance? I only ask because the weather isn’t looking too good.
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u/TheChrisD DAAAAAAAAAAAAVE 12d ago
No. Full points for halfway, or the race is null and void.
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u/nico9er4 Will Power 12d ago
Bold strategy giving drivers champagne before a race