IndyCar: Scott McLaughlin clinches under-the-radar championship

Indianapolis Motor Speedway remains the only oval at which Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin did not score at least one podium finish within his first two IndyCar starts.

Add the Milwaukee Mile to a list already consisting of Texas Motor Speedway, Iowa Speedway, and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

After struggling in traffic on Saturday in his first career start at Milwaukee and finishing in eighth place, despite having started from the pole position, the 31-year-old New Zealander bounced back on Sunday and won from the front row.

The win was the second oval win of the 2024 season for the driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet, and through six of the season's seven oval races, he has finished no lower than eighth place.

McLaughlin clinches IndyCar oval championship

McLaughlin finished in sixth place in the Indy 500, first and third at Iowa Speedway, and second at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway leading into this past weekend's doubleheader at the famed four-turn, 1.015-mile (1.633-kilometer) oval in West Allis, Wisconsin.

He entered the weekend one point ahead of teammate and Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden in the oval point standings. But Newgarden recorded back-to-back 27th (last) place finishes at Milwaukee due to crashes, allowing McLaughlin to open up a 69-point lead.

It doesn't get nearly the publicity it once did (maybe we need some more billboards), but with nobody else having been able to pass Newgarden for second place and only 54 points on offer in the oval season finale at Nashville Superspeedway two weekends from now, McLaughlin is officially the 2024 IndyCar oval champion.

McLaughlin clinches oval championship, but he's also effectively eliminated

Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou, the overall championship leader by 33 points over Team Penske's Will Power, is this year's road and street course champion, with no further road and street courses on this year schedule. The 2024 season featured 10 of such races.

The total of seven oval races on this year's 17-race calendar is the highest since 2011.

McLaughlin sits in third place in the overall standings, 50 points behind Palou. With five points guaranteed to all drivers who compete in the season finale, McLaughlin is effectively eliminated from title contention.

We have to say "effectively" because he is eliminated as long as Palou takes the green flag at Nashville, and as we saw Sunday, nothing is guaranteed. We literally almost saw Palou not start the race on Sunday, though based on our understanding of the rules, he still would have been credited with five points.

Having said that, from a sportsmanship standpoint, I don't think we're going out on a limb by saying that McLaughlin isn't sitting around clinging to his mathematical title hopes and hoping anything disastrous prevents Palou from starting the season finale in two weeks. The only way he has a chance is if Palou doesn't compete.

Nashville set to host IndyCar title decider

The 2024 IndyCar champion is set to be crowned in the relocated Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, September 15.

Both Palou and Power are trying to win their third championships, with Palou going for three in four years. Since 2010, Power has been championship eligible heading into 10 of the 15 season finales.

No driver has become a three-time series champion since Scott Dixon, now a six-time champion, in 2013.

NBC is set to provide live coverage of the season finale beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET two Sundays from now, so start a free trial of FuboTV and don't miss it!