MOTOR RACING: Alex Palou clinches fifth IndyCar title as Pato O'Ward sweeps Milwaukee doubleheader

Pato O'Ward had a day for the record book -- something Alex Palou knows all about.

While O'Ward won two IndyCar races in one day at the Milwaukee Mile, Palou did enough to clinch a historic IndyCar Series championship with one week to go Sunday in West Allis, Wis.

Weather delays forced the back-to-back race weekend into several schedule changes. Saturday's race, the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250, was interrupted by heavy rain and moved to a Sunday evening finish after the regularly scheduled race, the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250.

O'Ward claimed them both, making the native of Mexico the first driver since Rick Mears in 1981 to win two IndyCar Series races in one day. Mears captured both halves of a doubleheader at Atlanta Motor Speedway that year.

Palou took fifth place in the Milwaukee Mile 250 and landed 10th in the nightcap, securing enough points for his fourth consecutive series championship and his fifth in six years.

The 29-year-old Spaniard is the youngest driver in IndyCar history to win five season titles. New Zealand's Scott Dixon holds the record with six, while A.J. Foyt won seven championships in the open-wheel racing series that preceded IndyCar. Palou broke a tie with Dario Franchitti of Great Britain.

"I don't know what to say," Palou told Fox Sports in his post-race interview. "I owe everything to this team, man. Everybody at Chip Ganassi Racing, Honda, DHL, all our partners, but especially Chip ... Incredible, man. Just so proud of this team."

Palou went on to say with a grin that it was hardly a good day for him on the track.

"Today was a really bad race for us," he said. "We were suffering all the time, but I was like, ‘Just keep focused, keep on going.'"

Palou has won six races this season and finished second in one other. With only the season finale to come next week in Monterey, Calif., Palou has a 100-point lead over second-place driver Christian Lundgaard of Denmark.

As for O'Ward, after he won the Milwaukee Mile 250 by 0.7916 seconds over Scott McLaughlin, he held the lead for the resumption of the Makers and Fixers 250. O'Ward finished the job, leading 119 laps and besting David Malukas by 1.7535 seconds.

Rinus VeeKay of the Netherlands, McLaughlin and Christian Rasmussen of Denmark finished third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

In one afternoon, O'Ward tripled his win total for the season, capturing his second and third titles of 2026.

"I've dreamt of weekends like this before," O'Ward said, "having the doubleheaders just a couple times in my career and wishing, like, ‘I want to win both of them in a week.' And we got to win both in a day. That's definitely a dream come true for myself and I'm sure for the team."

-Field Level Media/Reuters