Pato O’Ward has officially declared The Milwaukee Mile his personal living room, and to prove it, he has moved a brown leather recliner, a coffee table, and a standing lamp onto the victory lane podium, where he now receives visitors between races.
The Arrow McLaren driver swept both ends of the Milwaukee doubleheader on Sunday, becoming the first IndyCar driver since 1981 to win two races in a single day, and he has taken the achievement as a mandate to redecorate. “This is my home now,” O’Ward told reporters while adjusting a throw pillow that reads ‘Racing Is Family.’ “Anyone who wants to challenge me here has to take off their shoes at the door. That’s the rule.”
Track officials have already installed a welcome mat at the entrance to turn one, and a coat rack has been bolted to the outside wall of the pit lane. O’Ward’s crew has been seen vacuuming the asphalt between practice sessions, and a neighborly dispute has broken out with Chip Ganassi Racing over who is responsible for trimming the hedge along the backstretch.
“He’s been leaving his racing gloves on the radiator and expecting us to fold them,” said a visibly frustrated Alex Palou, who clinched his fourth straight championship over the same weekend but now finds himself treated as an uninvited guest. “Yesterday he asked me to wipe my feet before entering the podium. I was wearing racing boots.”
O’Ward has announced plans to host a housewarming party at the track next Saturday, with a potluck in the infield and a strict dress code of pajamas for all attendees. “I’ve already picked out the curtains for the victory lane,” he said. “They’re checkered, obviously.”