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Arrow McLAREN Milwaukee Mile Doubleheader: Race 2 Report

"It looked like we were on for a top-two day, but the timing of that late caution was pretty unfortunate for us"

Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team logo

After a celebratory Saturday night, the Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team returned to the Milwaukee Mile for Day 2 of its doubleheader weekend.

Pato O'Ward won Saturday's race, and all drivers felt confident going into the race with all starting in the top 11.

Quickly into the race, Nolan Siegel experienced a mechnical issue, forcing his crew to investigate back at the garage. Shortly before the 100-lap mark, Pato also experienced similiar symptoms. Ultimately, both cars suffered from a part-failure in the gearbox and had to retire from the race.

Alexander Rossi went on to, continuously running inside the top-three, poised for a podium finish. A yellow flag with 22 laps to go, allowed the field to come down pit lane and the No. 7 crew stepped up putting Alexander in a P2 spot. However, fresh tires surrounding the No. 7 car forced Alexander to fall back to P6 at the finish line.

Now, all that's left is the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. Hear from the drivers and Team Principal Gavin Ward following both races at the Milwaukee Mile.

Race Date Saturday, August 31 & Sunday, September 1
Rounds 15 & 16 of 17
Total Laps

Race 1: 250 Laps

Race 2: 250 Laps

Total Race Distance 250 miles / 402.34 km
Length 1.0 miles / 1.61 km
Number of Turns 4
Alexander Rossi
Starting Position - Race 2 6th  
Finishing Position - Race 2 6th  
Championship Position 9th 350 points

"We were having a great day until the last yellow when we didn't have any new tires to put on, and that put us in a tough spot in that last stint. It's unfortunate because I think we had a good shot to win that one. That last yellow really created a bad situation for us."

Pato O'Ward
Starting Position - Race 2 7th  
Finishing Position - Race 2 24th  
Championship Position 6th 419 points

"I think this weekend represents our year so far – the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. We won the first race, but then had a gearbox issue in the second race. It's a bummer because I thought we had another chance to take a win. But now we have one more to go in Nashville with the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, and hopefully we can help make a pretty special race."

Nolan Siegel
Starting Position - Race 2 11th  
Finishing Position - Race 2 25th  
Championship Position 23rd 142 points

"This was an extremely disappointing weekend. We had a lot of pace in the No. 6 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Arrow McLaren Chevrolet but we didn't really get to take advantage of it. Yesterday, I made quite a few passes and we made up spots on every exchange, but then we caught a bad yellow that sent us to the back. Today, we were running in the top 10 with a shot at fighting for a top five or a podium, but a gearbox issue ended the day. Chevrolet helped give us a lot of power, but we have no results to show and we are disappointed. Hopefully we do better in in the finale at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in two weeks."

Gavin Ward, Team Principal, Arrow McLaren, said:

"Ain't that the highs and lows of racing? We're still looking into the two gearbox-related failures that we had with Pato and Nolan. It appears to be a failure of a standard part within the gearbox, and we'll do everything we can to understand what we can do better as a team. Alex was doing a good job managing a race of attrition, and it looked like we were on for a top-two day, but the timing of that late caution was pretty unfortunate for us. Trying to manage tires across two days with qualifying and two races, we just didn't have as good of tires as some of our competitors there at the end. You roll the dice, and sometimes it doesn't go your way, but he did well finishing where he did."