Christian Lundgaard became an oval racer Sunday.

Lundgaard (photo, top) earned his first oval podium in the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250, finishing third in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. His previous best oval finish was sixth, achieved last year at Iowa Speedway and Milwaukee Mile.

The Dane affirmed that breakthrough by finishing sixth in Saturday’s rain-delayed Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250, which resumed and was completed Sunday evening.

“I felt pretty good yesterday,” Lundgaard said. “I knew race two was going to be just fine. I think we probably have one of the fastest cars out there. We put it to use today, which was nice.

“I feel it’s unfortunate because we’re really good at mid-lane and Race 1.5 (the first race), and that’s good in race two where we’re really fighting for it. So, if we could have just merged those a little better, I think we potentially could have had a win earlier today. But good weekend overall. Obviously, we hauled in a bunch of points.”

Lundgaard leaves Milwaukee second in the championship standings, two points ahead of Kyle Kirkwood and four ahead of teammate Pato O’Ward entering the Sept. 6 Mission Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

O’Ward swept both races Sunday. Kirkwood was sixth and 15th, respectively, allowing Alex Palou to clinch his fifth NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship and take a 100-point lead over Lundgaard.

Lundgaard is a free agent at season’s end after Arrow McLaren announced last month that Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist will join O’Ward on the team in 2027.

Many series observers believe Lundgaard’s lack of oval success played a role in the decision for Arrow McLaren to drop him even though he is the team’s top point scorer this season.

Lundgaard didn’t think that motivated him this weekend, but it didn’t hurt.

“In many ways, it’s never anything I didn’t expect happening at some point,” Lundgaard said. “It’s been a weird situation.”

As for what made his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet come alive, Lundgaard believes it’s simple: It was faster.

Scott McLaughlin

McLaughlin Slightly Salty About Traffic

Scott McLaughlin left Milwaukee with his two-year winless drought intact. His last victory came here in 2024.

But that skid could soon snap, based on recent form.

McLaughlin (photo, above) used one fewer pit stop than his rivals to finish second in the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 and finished fourth in the second race of the day, the resumption of the final 126 laps of the rain-delayed Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 that began Saturday.

“Good, good couple races, so can’t be unhappy,” McLaughlin said.

But McLaughlin also leaves frustrated with how lapped traffic affected his fight with O’Ward for victory in the first race in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet and kept him from challenging for a podium in the second race in the No. 2 Clarience Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet.

So much so, McLaughlin chatted with New Zealand countryman Dixon after the race about Dixon racing McLaughlin hard and allowing Rinus VeeKay to slip by for third.

“He (Dixon) said he had a broken car, and he’s like my hero, so it’s kind of hard to be pissed,” McLaughlin said. “But coming off the corner, I was actually up top and had the run, and then he sort of came up and then just pulled the chute, and then just gifted Rinus (VeeKay) a podium there.

“I’m just frustrated. I want that (race-winning) trophy so bad. I just got screwed over a bunch today by lap cars. So, it just is what it is.”

McLaughlin has seven top-eight finishes in the past nine races.

Drivers Adjust Between Races

While Sunday evening’s continuation of the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 was 160 laps shorter than Sunday afternoon’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250, that didn’t stop drivers from absorbing enough during Saturday’s 90 laps to make adjustments between races.

“We learned enough to make a few changes,” McLaughlin said. “We made a lot of changes overnight. I was wrecking loose to start. Nearly spun at Turn 3. The car was a lot better as the race went on, which is good, which was well for the second race.”

McLaughlin admitted he didn’t sleep between races, but a cold shower and “semi-sort of ice bath” sufficed.

He also admitted that, despite finishing second, he couldn’t drink champagne on the podium with another race a few hours away.

The team also had to swap liveries, reverting to the Clarience scheme for the nightcap.

Nolan Siegel did the same, running Chevrolet colors on the sidepod for the first race and a white-and-papaya Kohler livery for Race 2.

Lundgaard admitted all he did was shower between races and was ready to go.

Kirkwood drank plenty of water after his cool suit failed in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.

A cool suit is a shirt drivers wear with tubes that circulate cool water to help keep them cool inside the car. When one fails, the water can become hot and stagnant, forcing a driver to endure significantly more heat.

Andretti Global driver Kirkwood was fine when he climbed out of the car but admitted he needed to hydrate to be ready for Race 2.

Pato O'Ward

Odds and Ends

  • The windy conditions at the track were treacherous for the drivers but helped keep rain to the south, allowing all 410 laps of racing to be completed Sunday. “The wind gust made it very unstable in the middle of Turns 1 and 2 and entry to (Turn) 3,” Palou said.
  • O’Ward (photo, above) admitted he’s going to buy next year’s teammate Dixon a goat to signify him being the greatest race car driver of all time (GOAT). Said O’Ward: “I’m going to deliver it to his front door. Kids probably going to be like, ‘Yeah, we got a dog.’”
  • O’Ward has five short-oval victories since 2019, second most behind Josef Newgarden’s 12. He also has six circle-track victories, fourth most among active drivers behind Dixon (25), Newgarden (20) and Will Power (10).
  • Honda earned its 12th manufacturers’ championship Sunday, including its second consecutive title.
  • David Malukas scored 225 points on ovals this season, most in the series. O’Ward (222), McLaughlin (201), Newgarden (179) and Palou (164) rounded out the top five point scorers in five races on such.
  • The INDY NXT podium was filled with INDYCAR SERIES well-wishers. Max Garcia’s win for Abel Motorsports was met with congratulations from Team Penske driver McLaughlin. Conor Daly, the oval coach for third-place finisher Jack Beeton, was in Victory Lane to congratulate him. Finally, Romain Grosjean was on the podium congratulating JM Correa on his second-place finish. Both drivers came through the European racing ranks.