He didn’t win, but Conor Daly still was one of the biggest stars of the show in the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250 on Saturday.

Daly made 51 on-track passes in 250 laps en route to his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES podium finish but the first for Juncos Hollinger Racing. The previous best finish for the team was fourth by Romain Grosjean on June 23 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Indiana native Daly joined JHR on Aug. 14, replacing Agustin Canapino, who left the team by mutual consent. It was a homecoming for Daly, who won the Star Mazda (now Indy Pro 2000) title with Juncos Racing in 2010.

“I think a very underrated group,” Daly said. “They're so smart. There's a lot of talented folks there. They deserve this, for sure, because it's been a very unlucky year for them. Obviously, I felt it the last two weeks. This is the first race we've been together where we haven't been spun at least once. That's positive. I think tomorrow can only be better, I hope.”

Gaining 22 positions in the race without competing on the 1.015-mile oval prior to this weekend was a sight to behold. Earlier in the day, he qualified 25th for Saturday’s race and 20th for Sunday, calling the two-lap qualifying effort “frightening.”

Without knowing how his car would handle in the race, Daly took a risk and shot to the outside lane at the start and catapulted himself 11 positions on the opening lap.

“The first lap I decided to just go where there was open space,” he said. “Turns out that worked. Then, we just kept going. It was kind of slowly working our way forward.”

Daly was met with hugs and an emotional celebration when he popped out of the black-and-green No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet on pit road after the race. One of those people greeting him was team owner Ricardo Juncos, who held back tears. Another was second-place finisher Will Power of Team Penske.

“Unbelievable,” Juncos said. “We knew the whole year, knocking on the door, we were really fast. I knew Conor could deliver for us. We put it together. Really happy. This is for the team, all the guys, for the engineers and Conor as well. He deserved these type of results.”

The outpouring of emotion was extra special for Juncos because his son, Leandro, helped call the strategy of Daly’s car.

“From sitting on Conor’s lap watching data in 2010 and now he’s working on strategy, Leandro, I love him obviously because he’s my son, but it’s absolutely brilliant on the strategy,” Juncos said.

Said Daly: “Feels like family. I won Ricardo’s first karting championship for him and got him his first INDYCAR podium. Feel like that’s got to count for something.”

Title Math Explained

Alex Palou leads Power by 43 points entering the second race of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s doubleheader Sunday (2:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network).

Palou’s title math is simple: He needs to outscore Power by at least 12 points in the 250-lap race Sunday to earn his third championship in the last four years for Chip Ganassi Racing. If Palou wins and leads the most laps, the race is over, regardless of Power’s finishing position.

If neither of those statistical criteria is met, the title duel moves to the final race, the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway.

Five drivers remain mathematically eligible for the championship, but the chances of third place Colton Herta (88 points behind Palou), fourth place Scott McLaughlin (-92) and fifth place and Saturday race winner Pato O’Ward (-101) are slim.

Dixon Places 10th in 400th Start

Scott Dixon slid into his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda Saturday at Milwaukee Mile for his 400th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start. Mario Andretti with 407 career starts, the only driver ahead of Dixon. Andretti made his 400th career start in 1994 at Toronto and finished fourth.

Dixon climbed seven positions to finish 10th in Saturday’s race. While not the result he wanted, six-time series champion Dixon reflected on the previous 399 races of his career.

“Good memories,” Dixon said. “Definitely some ups and downs throughout the years. But some good championships and some lost championships. Very lucky to be in the situation that I am and very glad to be able to keep competing at the top level. It’s pretty cool.”

His six championships trail the seven A.J. Foyt accumulated. Dixon has 58 wins, trailing only Foyt on the all-time victory list by nine. He has at least one victory in 22 seasons, the most ever. He has a 20-year streak of finding victory lane at least once per season.

Power Finishes Second in 300th Start

Dixon wasn’t the only driver celebrating a milestone start Saturday. Power became the 10th driver in series history to make his 300th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start.

“That’s a lot of mileage,” Power said. “A lot of fun memories, not just on the track but with the paddock and the people I worked with, the teams. I know so many people here now. It’s like a way of life to me. I’ve enjoyed it immensely.

“There’s been some very up-and-down moments, a lot of stress, but that’s life, in general. The older you get and the more time you spend doing this, the more you realize how lucky you are to do it, especially in a good team giving cars to win.”

Power finished runner-up Saturday in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet while joining Andretti, Dixon, Foyt, Helio Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Al Unser, Al Unser Jr., Michael Andretti and Johnny Rutherford with 300 or more starts.

Two-time series champion Power earned his 44th career victory on Aug. 25 at Portland International Raceway. That’s fourth best all time. He has won at least one race in 17 seasons, and his 16 consecutive season streak of accumulating at least one victory that ended in 2023 was second best.

His 70 NTT P1 Awards are the most in series history.

Tough Day for Newgarden in 200th Consecutive Start

Josef Newgarden made his 200th NTT INDYCAR SERIES start on April 21 at Long Beach. Saturday’s 250-lap race at Milwaukee was his 200th consecutive start.

Two-time series champion Newgarden missed the 2012 race at Baltimore due to an injury suffered in a crash at Sonoma Raceway the previous week. That’s the only race Newgarden has missed during his career.

Newgarden qualified second at Milwaukee in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet but a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change dropped him to 11th at the start. On Lap 147, he and Marcus Ericsson touched while battling for second place, resulting in both crashing into the Turn 2 SAFER barrier.

“I tried to give Ericsson the inside,” Newgarden said after finishing 26th. “I knew it would probably be hard to pass me from the inside, and next thing I know I was being pulled to the wall is what it felt like. It’s a bummer. We were doing a good job switching up the strategy like we needed to. Strategy was really key, and the crew was on it there.”

Ericsson thought he gave Newgarden room and couldn’t drive any lower into the corner.

“I felt like I was down on the inside, obviously, and he just turned down on me,” he said. “It’s slick out there, and I don’t feel like I could have done much more. He just kept turning into the corner. That’s the feeling from my car. I don’t feel like I could go much lower than that.

“Also, I’m having the momentum into the corner. He’s being overtaken. The clever move there is to give the room. I did that move a couple of times earlier in the race. It’s never been a problem.”

Newgarden will start Sunday’s race from the pole.

Jourdain Back at Milwaukee, 21 Years after Big Win

Michel Jourdain Jr. is among a star-studded list of nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES drivers to earn their first victory at Milwaukee Mile. Jourdain secured the victory on May 31, 2003, racing for Team Rahal.

The Mexican driver returned to Milwaukee this weekend to observe INDY NXT by Firestone driver Salvador de Alba Jr. compete. Jourdain, a veteran of 156 series starts, became teammates with fellow Mexican de Alba in 2015 in the NASCAR Mexico Series.

The two forged a bond that saw Jourdain help de Alba pursue an open-wheel path.

Jourdain smiled as de Alba celebrated a third-place finish Saturday but couldn’t forget his memorable night 21 years ago at the Milwaukee Mile.

“Every time I come here, it’s very special,” Jourdain said. “We had a special night and a special year. I came out of here leading the championship. Of course, that’s a night I won’t ever forget. Every time coming here, it’s impossible not to think of that night.”

Odds and Ends

• Louis Foster won the 90-lap INDY NXT by Firestone race at Milwaukee Mile, clinching his first championship. He beat second-place Jacob Abel by 4.3602 seconds to secure the sixth series championship for Andretti Global and the first since 2021 with Kyle Kirkwood. The next race is the season finale Sunday, Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway.

• HMD Motorsports driver Caio Collet clinched INDY NXT by Firestone Rookie of the Year honors Saturday.

• Several NTT INDYCAR SERIES cars featured a memorial sticker to Chuck “Wolfman” Lynn this weekend. Lynn, better known as “Chucky,” passed away earlier this week at age 71. Lynn was beloved by race fans, teams and drivers for his decades’ worth of experience selling newspapers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with his familiar cry of “PAPER!” known to all.

• The top five of Saturday’s race was filled with five different teams. Arrow McLaren, Team Penske, Juncos Hollinger Racing, AJ Foyt Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing comprised the top five finishers.

• Chip Ganassi Racing rookie driver Linus Lundqvist earned his second top-six finish in three races with a sixth-place result in the No. 8 American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. He finished third on Aug. 17 at World Wide Technology Raceway. He had one top-six finish in the previous 12 races.

• The Team Penske cars of Newgarden and McLaughlin will change liveries overnight. Newgarden will switch from the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet to Snap-On Team Penske colors while McLaughlin moves from the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet to Gallagher Team Penske colors. Team officials said the change of liveries will proceed well into the night, but the team brought in a specialist who was on site in St. Louis to help change liveries on the cars at World Wide Technology Raceway on Sunday, Aug. 18 (the day after the race) before the trucks left for Portland International Raceway for the Aug. 25 event.