Pato O'Ward dominates Milwaukee and displays his popularity with 1st win on an oval since 2022

WEST ALLIS, Wis. (AP) — Pato O'Ward remained in the headlines Saturday by winning the first race of a doubleheader at the Milwaukee Mile, where he has spent the weekend questioning IndyCar leadership for allowing NASCAR to beat the series to a race in Mexico City.

O'Ward, from Monterrey, Mexico, is IndyCar's most popular driver and desperately wants to race in his home country. Instead, NASCAR said this week it will race in Mexico City next June and O'Ward is miffed that there's no longer room for IndyCar.

The situation escalated when IndyCar CEO Mark Miles said the Mexico City promoters have felt the series and O'Ward are not popular enough to warrant anything but a lease agreement to stage the race themselves.

That irritated O'Ward, who has organically and steadily built his fanbase and is probably second only to Formula 1 driver Sergio Perez in popularity in Mexico.

His response was Saturday's win at Milwaukee, his third win of the year but first on an oval since Iowa Speedway in July 2022. The three wins are the most in one season for an Arrow McLaren Racing driver and came hours after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, his F1 counterparts, swept the front row in qualifying for Sunday's race in Italy.

O'Ward led 133 of the 250 laps.

The victory overshadowed the championship battle between points leader Alex Palou and Will Power, who started the race in a 54-point deficit to the reigning IndyCar title holder.

But Power finished second to cut Palou's lead to 43 points with two races remaining, both on ovals.

Conor Daly, who was out of a ride earlier this season but hired last month to finish the year for Juncos Hollinger Racing, finished third in JHR's first ever podium finish. It was Daly's first podium since 2016 and he celebrated on the podium by pouring the celebratory champagne all over his face.

Chevrolet swept the podium in IndyCar's return to Milwaukee for the first time after an eight-year absence.

Santino Ferrucci, who was running second late, gave up position to Power as his A.J. Foyt Racing team has an alliance with Power's Team Penske group. Daly used the moment to squeeze his way through and Ferrucci fell to fourth.

Palou finished fifth and is still in control of the title race, which wraps up after Sunday's second race at Milwaukee and then next month with the finale at Nashville Superspeedway. Palou has never won an oval, while Power has 10 career victories on ovals, including one at Milwaukee.

Power has also raced before at Nashville, while Palou has not. Both drivers are seeking a third IndyCar title. For Palou, it would be his third in four years, while Power won the 2022 title in between Palou's two campaigns.

Palou twice was boxed in on pit stops by Power, who was in the stall in front of him. The Penske strategy forced Palou to get aggressive to get around Power's car — and he needed to take an evasive maneuver when one of Power's tire changers was awfully close to the edge of the pit box as Palou pulled around his title rival.

He was actually monetarily penalized for “hitting another team's equipment” as he pulled away.

IndyCar races Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile in the second part of a doubleheader weekend.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

FILE - Will Power, of Australia, prepares to drive during qualifications for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

FILE - Alex Palou, of Spain, prepares to drive during a practice session for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Thursday, May 16, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

FILE - Pato O'Ward, of Mexico, talks with staff members before the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Sunday, May 26, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

Pato O'Ward dominates Milwaukee and displays his popularity with 1st win on an oval since 2022

Pato O'Ward dominates Milwaukee and displays his popularity with 1st win on an oval since 2022

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Three Americans, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were arrested Saturday after Venezuelan officials accused them of coming to the South American country to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.

The arrests were announced on state television by Diosdado Cabello, the nation's powerful interior minister. Cabello said the foreign citizens were part of a CIA-led plot to overthrow the Venezuelan government and kill several members of its leadership. In the television program, Cabello showed images of rifles that he said were confiscated from some of the plotters of the alleged plan.

The arrest of the American citizens included a member of the Navy, who Cabello identified as Wilbert Joseph Castañeda Gomez. Cabello said that Gomez was a former navy seal who had served in Afghanistan, Iraq and Colombia. Spain's embassy in Venezuela did not reply to a request for comment on the arrests of its citizens.

The U.S. State Department late Saturday confirmed the detention of a U.S. military member and said it was aware of “unconfirmed reports of two additional U.S. citizens detained in Venezuela.”

“Any claims of U.S. involvement in a plot to overthrow Maduro are categorically false. The United States continues to support a democratic solution to the political crisis in Venezuela,” the statement said.

The announcement of the arrests comes just two days after the U.S. Treasury imposed sanctions on 16 allies of Maduro who were accused by the U.S. government of obstructing voting during the disputed July 28 Venezuelan presidential election, and carrying out human rights abuses.

Earlier this week, Spain's parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the winner of the election, angering Maduro allies who called on the Venezuelan government to suspend commercial and diplomatic relations with Spain.

Tensions between Venezuela's government and the U.S. have increased as well following the election, whose result sparked protests within Venezuela in which hundreds of opposition activists were arrested.

Venezuela's Electoral Council, which is closely aligned with the Maduro administration, said Maduro won the election with 52% of the vote, but did not provide a detailed breakdown of the results.

Opposition activists, however, surprised the government by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the nation's voting machines. The tally sheets collected by the opposition were published online, and they indicate that Gonzalez won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Despite international condemnation over the election's lack of transparency, Venezuela's supreme court, which has long backed Maduro, confirmed his victory in August. Venezuela's attorney general then filed conspiracy charges against Gonzalez, who fled to Spain last week after it became clear he would be arrested.

Maduro has dismissed requests from several countries, including the leftist governments of Colombia and Brazil, to provide tally sheets that prove he won the election. Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, has long claimed the U.S. is trying to overthrow him through sanctions and covert operations.

The Maduro administration has previously used Americans imprisoned in Venezuela to gain concessions from the U.S. government. In a deal conducted last year with the Biden administration, Maduro released 10 Americans and a fugitive wanted by the U.S. government to secure a presidential pardon for Alex Saab, a close Maduro ally who was held in Florida on money laundering charges. According to U.S. prosecutors, Saab had also helped Maduro to avoid U.S. Treasury sanctions through a complex network of shell companies.

FILE - Socialist Party President Diosdado Cabello gives his weekly press conference, in Catia La Mar, La Guaira, Venezuela, Aug. 19, 2019. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)

FILE - Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro addresses government loyalists gathered at the presidential palace in support of his reelection one month after the presidential vote, in Caracas, Venezuela, Aug. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)