Musings From the Weekend: What Happened to the Love of Racing?

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking. 

There was a Daytona race that did not go to overtime, and there was a four-wide finish for first as the playoff field was set for the Cup Series. A relief driver won and probably should get credit for his efforts. The biggest news from the week in NASCAR was the schedule was released and the Truck Series will be joining IndyCar at St. Petersburg in 2026. MotoGP visited a new circuit. There was some late-race drama in Germany. Virginia hosted a GT-only party. Christian Rasmussen took a stunning victory, but we stare at the final week of the IndyCar season, and there is a question that I have had bouncing around my head.

What Happened to the Love of Racing?

It is something when two series are experiencing existential crisis simultaneously, and neither realize it. 

NASCAR went through another week contemplating its championship format, who is championship-eligible, what constitutes a good season, what it means to be a champion and whether it is doing things the right way. 

IndyCar entered its penultimate race of the season as its final two races happen over consecutive weekends with a championship already decided and wondering what the draw will be for these races since the biggest prize is already claimed. 

Those who are proponents of NASCAR's current format and want the championship to be guaranteed to be decided as late as possible used IndyCar's current state as evidence against a full season aggregate to decide a champion. If the system was that popular, then people would tune in for the IndyCar race from Milwaukee. Since the IndyCar championship was already decided, is there any reason to tune in? 

Such a mindset does bother me because if you are a fan of a series or motorsports in general, what happened to tuning in for the series and the race itself?

We all care about the championship and it is the overarching prize for the entire season. It does keep us watching until the very end, but motorsports holds a unique place in the sports world. The championship could be decided, but each race can stand on its own. The points are one thing, but each race has a winner and do not require the full championship picture to convey importance of that event. Each team is trying to win whether or not the championship is within reach or not. It is competition and a chance to be the best, even if only for one day.

The championship might be claimed, but no one is mailing it in. 

In IndyCar's case, all 27 cars showed up to Milwaukee even though Álex Palou could not be caught, and we saw one of the best races of the season. Palou has nothing to race for except pride and a place in history. He went at 100% and had an incredibly dominant day. Christian Rasmussen could not win the championship and has not been mathematically eligible to win the champions for quite some time, but he didn't just toil around in 15th for 250 laps.

Each race is a chance to beat the competition and take that pride in winning on that day. Every driver and engineer and crew member go into a race looking to be better. They aren't thinking about what they have. They are looking for what it will take to get more on that day. 

As we saw at Milwaukee, Palou still wanted to stomp the competition even if he has nothing left to prove this season. Rasmussen still took a chance at an opportunity to win a race. To some, there is nothing left to play for, but all that mattered to Palou and Rasmussen was this one day. They wanted to win that race and they put on a breath-taking battle. They didn't need the allure of a championship to race hard and try to beat one another. 

We love when a championship goes the distance. It is special to see two or three or four drivers push each other and be near equals over a six or seven or ten months. The drivers push each other and raise the bar on the competition, but sometimes one driver is head and shoulders above the rest. We saw that with Palou this season, but that same ability to thrash the competition is what made A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Bobby Unser and Rick Mears the legendary figures we currently revere. In some seasons, you just have to appreciate greatness. 

For some, a decided championship makes the races irrelevant. I have never felt that way. I have never felt like there isn't a reason to tune in because the championship was over. I watched Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen all have seasons where the final result was inevitable, and yet there was still a reason to watch the next race. I didn't know what was going to happen. There was a strong inclination on how the result might go, but what happens between the green flag and the checkered flag is not pre-determined. We will find out what will happen in real time, and it could be incredible. 

If you love motorsports then I would believe you can see a race for what it is on its own. It is a race. A grid of cars will line up and complete over a scheduled distance. Who cares what will happen in the championship? Let's just enjoy that day. And even if the race winner cannot win the championship, we never see them celebrate any less. It is still meaningful. It is still earned. No one gets out of the car and acts like they won a race where most were not trying. Everyone is still chasing a victory. 

Where did that love of racing go? 

The status of the championship shouldn't be that much of a determining factor over whether or not you will tune in. I understand why people would feel differently, but there are only a finite number of races each season. A series might have 20 races if we are lucky. IndyCar cannot seem to have any more than 17. Choosing to skip two is missing 10% or more of the season. It isn't baseball where there are over 2,000 games. It isn't basketball or hockey where there are over 1,000 games. It isn't even the NFL with its 272 regular season games, 285 if you include the playoffs. If you just watch IndyCar, Formula One and the NASCAR Cup Series, you only have 77 chances to watch. Add in MotoGP grand prix and you still have not hit 100 races. 

Each series must have a fan base that will love a series no matter what is at stake. In the 21st century, that is likely harder than it has ever been. I cannot know what it was like to watch races in the 1960s or 1970s, but it is easy to believe that was a time period where people went because they just loved seeing the cars on track. They wanted to these speed machines in person and be in awe. There were so few opportunities to see them. Motorsports wasn't all over the television screen. The chance to watch on television or see it in person was special. You couldn't let the championship get in the way of watching the drivers push the limits of speed and safety. 

We are spoiled, not only in our abundance of access to series all around the globe, but in ability to indulge in these series to a point where we believe we know everything, from which technical regulations lead to less than thrilling racing to how races should be lined up on the schedule to maximize viewership. At some point, it might be easier to step back and enjoy what happens on the racetrack. 

It is ok that the championship might be decided though there are still races to run. You can watch. You can enjoy it. There is no need for it to feel like a waste. It might be better to tune in and just have to worry about what happens over those 200 or 250 laps without much care of the larger picture. 

Champion From the Weekend

Dennis Hauger clinched the Indy Lights championship with a runner-up finish at Milwaukee.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Christian Rasmussen, but did you know...

Marc Márquez won MotoGP's Hungarian Grand Prix, his seventh consecutive victory and his tenth of the season. Márquez also won the sprint race, his seventh consecutive weekend sweep and his 13th sprint race victory in 14 races. David Alonso won the Moto2 race, his first Moto2 victory. Máximo Quiles won the Moto3 race, his second victory of the season. Mattia Casadei swept the MotoE races.

Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup race from Daytona, his second victory of the season Connor Zilisch is credited with victory in the Grand National Series race after Parker Kligerman finshed first on the track driving in relief. It is Zilisch's seventh victory of the season

Salvador de Alba won the Indy Lights race from Milwaukee, his first career victory.

The #3 Corvette of Alexander Sims and Antonio García won the IMSA race from Virginia International Raceway. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Philip Ellis and Russell Ward won in GTD.

The #48 VDS Racing Oreca-Gibson of Esteban Masson, Charles Milesi and Oliver Gray won the  4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The #8 Team Viraga Liger-Toyota of Daniel Nogales, Rik Koen and Julien Gerbi won in LMP3. The #59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin of Erwan Bastard, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Clément Mateu won in LMGT3.

Ayhancan Güven swept the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Sachsenring.

The #23 NISMO Nissan of Katsumasa Chiyo and Mitsunori Takaboshi won the Super GT race from Suzuka. The #7 CarGuy MKS Racing Ferrari of Rikuto Kobayashi and Zak O'Sullivan won in GT300.

 

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar ends its season in Nashville.

Formula One returns from its break with a trip to the sandy beaches of Zandvoort.

NASCAR opens its playoffs with the Southern 500 while the second division makes a final trip to Portland.

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup will race at the Nürburgring.

The World Rally Championship makes its first visit to Paraguay.

First Impressions: Milwaukee 2025

1. One spritz of rain with just over 40 laps to go completely flipped IndyCar's penultimate race of the season from Milwaukee. Álex Palou had this race in the bag. It was set to be one of Palou's most dominant performances of the season, but a quick spritz turned the race upside down, and produced a first-time winner in Christian Rasmussen almost from out of nowhere. 

For some reason, the top three drivers, Palou along with Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden, did not come to the pit lane under that final caution despite all the teams having a set of tires remaining. Every other lead lap car stopped, and it set up a thrilling finish, the likes we haven't really seen since Iowa 2014. 

Palou and company would have some buffer of the lapped cars to those on fresher tires, but with just over 30 laps to go when the race restarted, they would eventually lose that protection and it would be down to whether or not time would be on their side. 

Patricio O'Ward was in fourth, the first car on new tires, but Alexander Rossi quickly dispatched O'Ward. However, as they battled with traffic, Christian Rasmussen clawed his way forward and passed both O'Ward and Rossi, and Rasmussen was soon the leader of those on new tires. 

Rasmussen got through Newgarden and he was up to second ahead of McLaughlin with 20 laps to go. It felt like time was on Rasmussen's side, but Palou tried his best to outrun the Dane. However, the tire advantage inevitably swung in Rasmussen's favor. Palou did all he could to hold off Rasmussen, but Rasmussen made his move and took the lead with 15 laps to go.

Palou fought back and kept it close, but the tires were gone. Paou was never going to have enough to counter the pass Rasmussen had completed. 

However, Rasmussen might have been his own worst enemy and greatest obstacle to victory, pushing the car to the limit as he has become known for doing. He kept making risky moves, including lapping Felix Rosenqvist to the outside on exit of turn two. The tires were in his favor, but this race was not settled strictly because it was unclear if Rasmussen, in an unknown position, would step over the edge and cost himself the greatest day of his career. 

Despite the twitches and the quick reactionary moves, Rasmussen held on and took a stunning victory to make him the 300th winner in IndyCar history. 

He drove really well in this race and was competitive. He was making passes, and he actually had to comeback from a pit lane speeding penalty early, but that occurred under caution and all he had to do was going to the rear of the field. This was going to be a top ten day for Rasmussen, but it would not have been a victory without a brief spritz of rain. 

It is ironic enough that Rasmussen wins this race two weeks after he was under a microscope for his driving at Portland. He has essentially completed two full seasons in IndyCar, and what has stood out the most about Rasmussen is his aggression. He will put a car on the limit and take a competitor with him. There is never say die attitude from Rasmussen, but at times it can come off as unwarranted and risky to others on the track. There are plenty who are not thrilled to see him on track because he can be a little reckless. 

Over his two years, Rasmussen has had good oval races, but he has mostly been mid-pack. That is kind of where Ed Carpenter Racing has been for an extended period of time. The form hasn't been the strongest on the road courses, but when it comes to ovals, Rasmussen has shined. This year alone he has been one of the best on ovals. Entering this race, three drivers had finished in the top ten of all four oval races, Patricio O'Ward, Palou and Rasmussen. Rasmussen had an aggressive drive lead to a podium at Gateway, but I don't think anyone saw a victory coming this season, not with the competition in this field. 

Rasmussen looked good, but when you consider what the first 200 laps of this race looked like, it required an act of God for Rasmussen to win this race. It appears the Almighty wiped the sweat from his brow on this sabbath, and those drops fell on the Milwaukee Mile, blessing Rasmussen to accomplish the unthinkable.

2.  Why didn't Álex Palou stop for tires? With 40 laps to go and under caution, it felt obvious to take tires. This final stint was going to be 54 laps, a little longer than most had drive all race. Taking tires under the caution would have meant at most 32 green flag laps would be run on this new set. 

All I can think is Palou's team didn't want to be caught as the only driver to come in and restart 15th after leading all race. However, if Palou was the only car on new tires with 30 laps to go, I think he would have had a great shot of driving back to first before the checkered flag.

There was nothing Palou could do when Rasmussen got around McLaughlin. Palou drove probably the hardest he has driven all season, and the fact he was still within two seconds of Rasmussen at the checkered flag is impressive, but this one got away because Chip Ganassi Racing did not bring in Álex Palou for a set of tires that just said their unused. 

If Palou stops, I still think a dozen other drivers stop and at worse Palou is restarting fourth or fifth. It is a shame that this one got away. Gone is a potential share of the record for most victories in a season, but that is a champagne problem for Palou and company. It has still been a great season, one of the best we have ever seen in IndyCar.

3. Scott McLaughlin still held on for third on his older tires.

This is one of those cases, and we see it once or twice a season on a road or street course, where the winner had the alternate strategy but then the next two or three drivers ran the typical strategy, and it seems like either was the right choice.

We had this last year with Scott Dixon at Long Beach. Dixon won stretching the fuel, but the next five drivers ran hard and finished ahead of the next driver who was stretching fuel, and that was Will Power in sixth. Did Scott Dixon run the right strategy or was Dixon the one guy to make it the alternate work while the other strategy appears to have been better considering the rest of the finishers behind the winner?

I think taking tires was the right choice. After all, there was over nine seconds between Palou in second and McLaughlin in third. McLaughlin wasn't close to victory, but he benefitted from some of the lapped cars and only Rasmussen made it through them in a quick fashion. By the time Alexander Rossi and Patricio O'Ward got through the traffic, their tires had lost their edge and McLaughlin could hold on for a podium and a good day.

4. Considering Alexander Rossi sprinted immediately to victory lane and met Rasmussen with his helmet still on, I doubt Rossi feels any regret that he didn't win this race and blew a chance to be the man driving into victory lap, though he was positioned to be that guy. Rossi was the top driver on the new tires until Rasmussen came blazing through. Rossi couldn't even pass McLaughlin. If he couldn't pass McLaughlin, Rossi wasn't going to win this race. 

What Rossi is most excited about is he spent the entire race in the top ten and pushing for a top five result. He stopped early on the first pit cycle and it took him from the bottom of the top ten into the top five. He had to fight a bit, but he drove a stellar race. 

Perhaps age played a role and a level of aggression you don't have after years of experience and knowing better allowed Rasmussen to take the risks required to win this race. Maybe Rossi knew better while Rasmussen had no clue and acted on instinct. 

5. Patricio O'Ward came out of the pit lane first under that final caution, and he was fourth at the restart, but O'Ward lost that advantage immediately, and once it was gone, he was settled for a fight just to finish in the top five and not go for the victory. 

O'Ward took a risk like the rest of them. The opportunity was there for fresh rubber and an extra pit stop would be the only way to win this race. If that caution doesn't come out and O'Ward finishes fifth, no one is looking at it as a disappointing result. We shouldn't either.

6. Christian Lundgaard had likely his best oval race. Lundgaard stopped early on the first pit cycle and jumped into the top ten, and he spent the rest of the race in a top ten spot. It was a good day. Sixth might have been a little better than expected. He needed a day like this though as he continues to develop on ovals.

7. Josef Newgarden slipped from third to seventh on his older tires. Newgarden made a nice save that cost him a few spots though. This one hurts because Newgarden should have been on the podium today. My question is if Team Penske had two of the top three, more specifically, if it had second and third, why didn't it split its strategies and have one car take tires while the other stayed out? 

I don't understand how Penske missed that. Newgarden has had a wretched season. Why not roll the dice and be on the offensive in the closing laps? With ten or 15 laps to go, I could understand not stopping, but there was going to be about 30 laps to go when the race restarted, and those tires the top three had on were asked to go a little longer than anyone dared earlier in the race. The safe strategy was stopping. 

This stinks because it was a missed opportunity, and one the likes of Tim Cindric would not have overlooked. 

8. David Malukas salvaged his day with an eighth-place finish. Malukas ran well and was in the top five. Then in the middle of the race, an air gun issue caused Malukas to lose a lap as the team could not get the right front tire secured in a quick fashion. He spent much of the second half of the race outside the top fifteen. However, IndyCar's overly forgiving wave around rules got Malukas back on the lead lap and he could benefit from taking tires on that final caution. He drove to finish eighth but this will feel like a missed opportunity.

Malukas led early from Palou, but Palou had the better car. Malukas wasn't beating Palou in a straight-up fight. Nobody was beating Palou straight-up today. Either way, Malukas likely believed he should have been competing for a podium spot and finishing ahead of at least one Team Penske driver. Instead, he finished ahead of none. It was a good recovery for something that was out of his control.

9. Scott Dixon didn't have the best day and he finished ninth. It felt like Dixon was between 12th and 14th this entire race. He never really went forward after starting 14th due to his grid penalty. He didn't make any big moves in this race. It never was quite his day. 

10. Marcus Armstrong pulled out a miraculous tenth-place finish because the team decided not to stop with just over 100 laps to go, the only car not to stop under that caution. Armstrong went from first to about ninth in a lap and he was down to 17th in about ten laps. It looked like the dumbest decision of the season, and he was going to finish a lap or two down in 18th after being just outside the top ten for most of the race.

However, that spritz blessed more than just Rasmussen. Armstrong was back on the lead lap, he could take that extra set of new tires, and he was able to drive to a top ten finish. The team "tried something different" by not stopping under that caution when staying out meant it was still a two-stop race from that point. It was a ballsy choice when it was clearly going to fail. The pit stand caught a break today. 

11. Colton Herta was 11th and Kyle Kirkwood was 12th. This was a better day than these results will show for each driver. Herta drove up to sixth from 24th on the grid, and he appeared to be a contender for a top five finish. Kirkwood spent most of the race in the top ten. However, both drivers lost spots in that final pit cycle and it appears both drivers were elbowed out of the top ten in the sprint to the finish. I am surprised it happened to Herta because he was moving forward the entire race.

It has been an odd end of the season for Andretti Global. Herta wasn't confident in his car after practice, was upset about his qualifying spin but brushed it off because he felt he wasn't going to be starting that well anyway, and then he was probably one of the best four or five drivers on track today, only to be freight-trained in the final sprint to the finish. 

Kirkwood drove well today but not great. He was going to finish eighth or ninth without that last caution. Not a great day, but a fine day, however Kirkwood has won three times this season and he hasn't been close to a victory since he won at Gateway.

We haven't even mentioned Marcus Ericsson was nowhere to be seen and finished 19th. I don't know what went wrong for Andretti Global in the second half of the season. On the surface, it doesn't appear they did anything drastic to cost the team its form.

12. Conor Daly probably should have finished in the top ten as well, but pit stops are Juncos Hollinger Raicng's kryptonite. Daly was in the top five in the early going, then he dropped to the lower part of the top ten after this first pit stop. He didn't have a good final stop when basically the entire field stopped. Daly drove well, but there is a limit of what he can get out of Juncos Hollinger Racing. 

I guess I should mentioned Sting Ray Robb was 23rd to cover JHR's entire day. It was a typical Sting Ray Robb performance. Slow. A lap down. At least he didn't get more attention than that.

13. Santino Ferrucci was 14th, and that was a generous result for Ferrucci, which is something we do not say often about him on ovals. Ferrucci wasn't good this weekend. He didn't have the speed, and David Malukas was quicker from the very start of practice. Ferrucci probably should have been 18th, 19th or 20th. He lost a lap. The only reason Ferrucci had a chance to finish this well was IndyCar's wave around rules. If drivers could not make a pit stop after taking the wave around, every oval race would have at least two or three drivers finishing about five to six spots worse than they actually end up.

14. Rinus VeeKay spent a fair amount of this race in the top ten, and VeeKay would have been better that 15th without that final caution. He lost all his ground in the final pit cycle. At the start of the season, I would have felt better about a 15th for VeeKay and Dale Coyne Racing, but they have been competitive across the board, and VeeKay started 11th today. These are a few too many points lost. It could have been worse, but it is ok to be upset that this should have been better.

15. Let's run through the field. Devlin DeFrancesco was 16th in a race where I honestly never noticed him, but that means he did nothing wrong. DeFrancesco was a spot ahead of his teammate Louis Foster, who was the first car to finish one lap down. Foster went the longest on the first pit cycle, but that trapped him a lap down for most of the race. He was actually a two laps down for a good portion. 

Graham Rahal had a half spin early in the race, it cost him ground, but he never recovered, finishing two laps down in 24th. I don't know what happened because Rahal qualified tenth. I understand that first stint being difficult because his tires were likely shot after that move. I don't know why Rahal didn't stop for tires after that. My guess is the team didn't want to get caught out if there was a late caution, but either way, Rahal fell like a rock and never looked quick after that incident. It was strange because he sounded hopeful after qualifying.

16. Robert Shwartzman was 18th, so he only lost one point in the rookie of the year battle to Louis Foster. At least we will have that to watch at Nashville. Shwartzman didn't do anything notable today. Good because it meant he didn't wreck. Bad because it meant he was slow. 

Callum Ilott lost an engine, which ended his top ten finish streak. That was always going to end today because neither Prema car was particularly quick. 

17. Kyffin Simpson was 20th. I don't know which Kyffin Simpson to believe. I think we can acknowledge Simpson got a few breaks to finish fifth in Detroit and third in Toronto, but there have been races where he has legitimately been about tenth, 11th or 12th. But then he has races like this where he wasn't any good. Ovals are definitely something he struggles with. 

18. Jacob Abel completed 248 laps and finished 21st. That is about as good as it can get for Abel at the moment. 

Felix Rosenqvist never looked quite right after his qualifying accident yesterday. That car was never right. It was slow. Rosenqvist had to suffer to finish 22nd. 

19. There were two notable accidents. Will Power got into the wall in turn two attempting to overtake the lapped car of Kyffin Simpson, and that damage led to Power spinning in turn four. Power was in a top five position at the time. 

I don't know if Power can do anything to save his job, but throwing away a top five run was likely not the best choice. However, it is another race where something went wrong for a Penske car. At least one of them has been snake-bitten in every race this season. 

Nolan Siegel spun exiting turn four on the opening lap and he will be scored with zero laps completed for this race. Siegel gets his fair amount of attention for everything he is not doing. He isn't any better than where he was a year ago when was wrapping up running the final ten races with Arrow McLaren. I am sure it can get better next year, but I would not be surprised if it doesn't in 2026. No glimmer of hope is breaking through.

When you consider how short of a leash some other drivers have gotten with McLaren, it would surprise no one if McLaren showed the Siegel family the door in the offseason and hired a third driver it thought could run with O'Ward and Lundgaard. At the moment, Siegel is not even close to those two. 

20. This was another great Milwaukee crowd. I acknowledge that due to the size of the grandstands, and grandstands that were covered with tarps, that was likely about 20,000 people, which is still good, but I think this event has a chance to grow even more. The people have bought in, but I believe IndyCar can get more out of this race. Road America gets more than double this on race day and that is an hour further north. 

IndyCar is heading in the right direction with Milwaukee, but the goal for 2026 is for all those covered grandstands in turn one to be open and filled with people.

21. I kind of wish Milwaukee was 50 laps longer and I kind of wish Milwaukee was the season finale. Nashville Superspeedway is 45 minutes outside of Nashville. Let's not act like IndyCar is giving up some grand location if it flipped Nashville to be the penultimate race. Both are drawing about the same size crowd, Milwaukee likely has more potential growth, and we have seen some pretty good racing over two years at Milwaukee. The fans love the fair vibe, and I think IndyCar can take that to the next level. It seems like a fun race just to be at, and if it was the finale, it could be the big party to end the season without having to do much more. All the infrastructure is already there because of the fairgrounds. That is a great foundation to start with and I think a great way for IndyCar to end the season would be with a 300-lap race at a historic venue. 

Embrace the history you have, IndyCar! Give this legendary venue its chance to shine. Hell, make the finale 400 laps and go wild! People would love it. 

22. I want to end circling back to Christian Rasmussen and his victory. 

This is the beauty of IndyCar. 

In any race, pretty much any team can pull out a strategy and drive to victory. 

Rasmussen wasn't the best driver today, but he was probably one of the five best. When the race was shaken up with an unexpected caution, Rasmussen could take on an alternate strategy and drive to the front and steal a victory. This wasn't all luck. The luck was the caution. Passing all those cars and beating Álex Palou required skill even with fresher tires.

It was Rasmussen today but it could have been Alexander Rossi. It could have been Felix Rosenqvist or Marcus Armstrong with Meyer Shank Racing. It could have been Conor Daly at Juncos Hollinger Racing. It could have been David Malukas or Santino Ferrucci with A.J. Foyt Racing. 

When you consider this season we saw Graham Rahal lead the most laps and likely have a great shout for victory at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and Felix Rosenqvist was chasing down Palou at Road America, we are looking at a season where the smallest of teams still have a shot when everything clicks on their best day. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing has been struggling for years, but its best day isn't capped at potentially finishing eighth. It can be on the podium and fighting for a victory. Ed Carpenter Racing has been through its share of troubles, but it has found something where it can be a force on the ovals, and if it falls right it can drive to a win.

We are coming off one of the most dominant seasons we have ever seen for a driver in IndyCar, and yet we can still see a first-time winner for a mid-pack team and it isn't just because of a timely caution or a freak rainstorm. 

Yes, I realize both those things happened today, but Rasmussen didn't win because only because of those things. Rasmussen got a shot and could drive to the front. For all the amazing things he has done this season, in a single race he can use his talent to take a car to the front and beat the other 26 cars competing, and driving for Ed Carpenter Racing isn't keeping him from being the best. 

Many times this season we have gone into a race thinking we knew what was going to happen and Álex Palou ended up winning like we expected, but IndyCar is still capable of these days, and that is beautiful. 

23. Let's see if we can continue this high into the final week of the season. In less than seven days, the checkered flag will wave for the final time at Nashville Superspeedway, and the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season will be over.

Morning Warm-Up: Milwaukee 2025

Álex Palou won his sixth pole position of the season after Palou had a two-lap average of 162.971 mph (44.8422 seconds) around the Milwaukee Mile, and this is the 12th pole position of his career. He has won eight times from pole position in his IndyCar career. Palou enters this weekend with the championship already secured. This is the 45th time since 1946 that an IndyCar championship has been clinched with races in hand. In 13 of the first 44 occasions did the champion-elect win a race after clinching the title. Sébastien Bourdais was the most recent driver to do it. Bourdais won the 2007 Champ Car finale from Mexico City after he had locked up the title in the previous race. 

 

David Malukas was 0.1978 seconds off his first career pole position. Instead, Malukas will start second for the third time in his career. He started second at Detroit earlier this season and finished 14th, partially due to a penalty for contact that sent Palou into the turn one barrier. Malukas has two top five finishes this season, both on ovals. All five of his top five finishes in his career have come on ovals. He has never had more than two top five finishes in a season. This will be Malukas' 60th career start. Eighteen drivers scored their first career victory in their 60th start or later.

Patricio O’Ward will start third after he was 0.2472 seconds slower than Palou. This is the third consecutive race O'Ward is starting in the top five. O’Ward is coming off his worst result of the season, a 25th at Portland largely due to electrical issues. He has finished in the top five of all four oval races this season, including podium finishes in three of the events.

Scott McLaughlin is the best Team Penske starter in fourth. McLaughlin was 0.3363 seconds off pole position. McLaughlin won the second race of last year's doubleheader from second on the grid. Nineteen times has a driver won consecutive Milwaukee. The most recent driver to do it was Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012 and 2013.

Will Power will start fifth, his sixth consecutive race starting in the top ten. Power enters as the most recent IndyCar winner. He led 78 laps on his way to winning at Portland. Prior to Portland, Power had only led four laps in the first 14 races. He has not won consecutive races since he swept the Indianapolis races in May 2018. He was second in the first race of last year’s Milwaukee doubleheader. 

Kyle Kirkwood has his best starting position on an oval in sixth. Kirkwood's previous best was tenth at Gateway. Though he won at Gateway, Kirkwood’s average finish of ovals this year is 19.25, largely due to his disqualification at the Indianapolis 500. This dropped him from sixth to 32nd. Based on where he finished on the road, Kirkwood’s average result is 12.75.

Josef Newgarden will start seventh. Newgarden has won from seventh starting spot six times with four of those coming on ovals. In Newgarden's seven oval starts since his most recent victory, his average finish is 16.428 with four finishes outside the top twenty. He finished 26th and 27th in last year's Milwaukee doubleheader. 

Conor Daly is starting to Newgarden's outside on row four. Prior to his accident last week at Portland, Daly had not retired from a race due to an accident since the second race of the 2021 Texas doubleheader when Daly was caught in an opening lap accident. It had been 61 consecutive starts without retiring due to an accident for Daly. 

Christian Rasmussen is starting a spot behind Daly in ninth, one race after the two infamously came together at Portland. This is only the second time Rasmussen has started inside the top ten this season. He started tenth at Detroit. Rasmussen has finished in the top ten of all four oval races this season. The only other drivers to do that are the top two in the championship, Álex Palou and Patricio O’Ward.

Graham Rahal rounds out the top ten. This is the fourth time in five races Rahal is starting in the top ten. Rahal is coming off his first top five finish in two years after he was fourth at Portland. He has not had consecutive top five finishes since he was fifth in both Belle Isle races in 2021. Rahal's best oval finish this season was 11th in the first Iowa race. His average oval result is 17.25.

Rinus VeeKay starts just outside the top ten in 11th, his best starting position on an oval this season. VeeKay started 18th or worse in the first four oval races. Last season, VeeKay had five top ten finishes in seven oval races. This year, he has only one top ten finish in the first four oval races. While VeeKay was second at Toronto three races ago, he has finished outside the top ten in four of the last five races.

Alexander Rossi starts next to VeeKay on row six. This is the fifth consecutive oval race Rossi is starting between 12th and 15th. He started 12th at Indianapolis 500 and 12th at Gateway. Gateway is only oval race where he finished better than his starting position, finishing 11th. Rossi has not finished in the top ten in his last five oval starts. His most recent top five finish on an oval was fifth in last year’s Indianapolis 500. 

Marcus Ericsson takes 13th on the grid. Ericsson has finished outside the top twenty in three of the last four races. Thanks to his post-race penalty at the Indianapolis 500, his best classification from an oval race this season was 13th at Gateway. Last year, Ericsson went from 16th to fifth in the second Milwaukee race.

A nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change knocks Scott Dixon from fifth to 14th on the grid. This is Dixon's third grid penalty of the season. The first was at Detroit. He went from 16th to 11th in that race. At Toronto, Dixon had to start 17th and he finished tenth. Dixon has finished on the podium in the 16th race of the season for four consecutive seasons. He hasn't won the 16th race of a season since 2015 when he won the Sonoma season finale. 

Devlin DeFrancesco starts in the top fifteen for the second consecutive race as the Canadian will start 15th at Milwaukee. This is his best start on an oval this season. His previous best was 16th at the Indianaplis 500.  DeFrancesco won one oval race during his Road to Indy career. It was at Gateway on August 29, 2020. 

Marcus Armstrong will be to DeFrancesco's outside on row eight. Armstrong has finished in the top ten of the last three oval races. Last year, he was 21st and 26th in the two Milwaukee races. He was three laps down in race one and only completed six laps in race two. Last week, Armstrong signed an extension to remain with Meyer Shank Racing for the 2026 season. 

Christian Lundgaard leads an all-Arrow McLaren row nine as Lundgaard has Nolan Siegel starting to his outside. While Rasmussen started eighth at the Indianapolis 500, his average starting spot on ovals this season is 16.4 With runner-up finishes in the last two races, Lundgaard could become the 14th driver in IndyCar history to have three consecutive runner-up finishes. The most recent driver to do it was Hélio Castroneves in 2008.

Nolan Siegel is 18th. This is the third consecutive race Siegel is starting outside the top fifteen and the eighth time in 16 races he is starting outside the top fifteen. Siegel competed in six oval races last season, and he had an average finish of 15.5. Through three oval starts this season, Siegel's average finish is 18.667.

Sting Ray Robb has his best starting position since Mid-Ohio in 19th. Robb has finished on the lead lap in the last two races, and he was 14th at Portland. It was his third time finishing in the top fifteen this season. Robb’s best oval finish this season was 20th at Gateway. Last year, he finished 23rd and 18th in the two Milwaukee races. Robb had an accident in the final minutes of final practice yesterday evening.

Robert Shwartzman rounds out the top twenty on the grid. This is his fourth consecutive race starting 20th or worse. Shwartzman has two top ten finishes in the last three oval races. He went from 24th to tenth at Gateway, and he was ninth in the second Iowa race after starting 11th. With two races remaining, Shwartzman is six points behind Louis Foster in the Rookie of the Year battle.

Santino Ferrucci starts 21st for the second consecutive race. At Portland, Ferrucci's race only lasted two laps after starting 21st. It is the 15th time this season Ferrucci has started outside the top ten. Only one driver finished in the top five of both Milwaukee races last year. That was Ferrucci, who finished fourth both days. He started 19th and 12th in those two races.

Jacob Abel takes 22nd on his grid, his best starting position on an oval this season. Abel will drive the #50 Miller Lite Honda this week, a slight number change from his #51 entry. This is to recognize the 50th anniversary of Miller Lite. Abel had Miller High Life as his sponsor when he failed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500. He has had an accident end three of his last five races.

Callum Ilott will start 23rd, one spot better than where Ilott has started in the last two races. Ilott enters Milwaukee with three consecutive top ten finishes. It is the longest top ten streak of his IndyCar career. Prior to this three-race stretch, Ilott had only five top ten finishes in his entire IndyCar career. His only top ten finish on an oval was ninth at Texas in April 2023.

Colton Herta spun on his first qualifying lap, but he was able to keep the car out of the barrier. However, Herta will start 24th due to the incident and after grid penalties are applied. This is his worst starting position since Herta started 27th at the Indianapolis 500 in May, which was the worst starting position of his IndyCar career. In his first six seasons, Herta has finished in the top five of the penultimate race four times with another finish of sixth. 

Félix Rosenqvist spun and hit the barrier in turn four on his first qualifying lap. Grid penalties for others will move Rosenqvist to 25th starting position. Prior to Milwaukee, Rosenqvist had not started worse than seventh on an oval. This is his first time starting outside the top twenty since he started 22nd at Road America last season. Rosenqvist has not had a top five finish in his last six starts after opening the season with four top five finishes in the first nine races.

Kyffin Simpson has a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, and this will move Simpson to 26th starting spot. After finishing in the top ten in three of four races, Simpson has finished outside the top ten in four of the last five races with three of those results being outside the top fifteen. No driver has won from worse than 25th in a Milwaukee race.

Louis Foster was unable to complete a lap at speed in the first practice session due to an engine issue. Foster only ran three instillation laps in the first practice session before qualifying. A subsequent engine change has resulted in a nine-spot grid penalty and Foster will start in last for the Milwaukee race. While he had an accident at Gateway, Foster has finished no worse than 14th in the other three oval races this season.

Fox’s coverage of the SnapOn 250 from the Milwaukee Mile will begin at 2:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 2:20 p.m. The race is scheduled for 250 laps. 

Track Walk: Milwaukee 2025

The 16th and penultimate round of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season has the 27-car grid moving into the Milwaukee Mile for what will be the 116th race at the historic circuit. Last year, Patricio O'Ward and Scott McLaughlin split the doubleheader weekend. This year, there will only be one race on Sunday. In the most recent race, Will Power won at Portland for his and Team Penske's first victory of the season, and the 45th victory of Power's career. Power became the fifth different winner this season. There have been three different winners across the first four oval races. The one repeat winner is our champion-elect Álex Palou.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 2:00 p.m. ET on Sunday August 24 with green flag scheduled for 2:20 p.m. ET.
Channel: Fox
Announcers: Will Buxton, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Georgia Henneberry and Jack Harvey will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Saturday:

First Practice: 11:00 a.m. ET (60 minutes)

Qualifying: 2:00 p.m. ET 

High-Line Practice: 4:45 p.m. ET (30 minutes)

Final Practice: 5:30 p.m. ET (60 minutes)
Sunday:
Race: 2:20 p.m. ET (250 laps)

FS2 will cover all practice sessions. FS1 will cover qualifying with race coverage on Fox. 

Palou Chasing History

The championship is already secured for Álex Palou after he finished third at Portland with Patricio O'Ward suffering electrical issues within the first quarter of the race, leaving O'Ward ten laps down. With the result, Palou became the first driver to clinch the championship with multiple races remaining since Cristiano da Matta won the 2002 CART championship with three races to spare. It was the 45th time since 1946 that an IndyCar championship has been clinched early.

Though the title is clinched, Palou's fourth of his career and third consecutive, he still has a bit of history in his sights over the final two races. Entering with eight victories, Palou could tie the single season record for victories if he wins the final two events. Ten victories has not been seen in a single season since Al Unser did it in 1970. A.J. Foyt set the record when he won ten times in the 1964 season. 

Along with Foyt and Unser, the only other time a driver has won nine times in a season was Mario Andretti in 1969. A ninth victory for Palou would not only put him in that esteemed company but it would make him the first driver to win over half the races in a season since Sébastien Bourdais won eight of 14 races in the 2007 Champ Car season. 

One more victory would give Palou the 20th of his career, and he would become the 24th driver to reach that milestone. Palou is currently level on the all-time win list with Jimmy Murphy, Jimmy Bryan and Sam Hornish, Jr. 

Palou hasn't only been the best being first to the checkered flag, he has also been the best at being first on the grid. With five pole positions, Palou has already clinched the honors of most pole positions in the season. No other driver has more than two, but with one more pole position, Palou could become the first driver with six pole positions in a season since Will Power in 2017. Palou has already reached 11 career pole positions. One more would put him tied with Parnelii Jones for 30th all-time.

If you have won eight races, you have likely led a lot of laps, and Palou has led the most laps this season. He has led 568 laps through the first 15 races. It is actually easier to list the races Palou did not lead this season as he led a lap in 12 of them. The three he didn't lead were Long Beach, Detroit and Gateway. He enters this weekend having led a lap in seven consecutive races.

With 475 laps left to run this season, in theory Palou could end the season with as many as 1,043 laps led. Only three times has a driver led at least 1,000 laps in a single season. Al Unser has the record with 1,527 laps led in the 1970 season. Four years prior to that, Mario Andretti became the first driver with 1,000 laps led in a season. Andretti led 1,142 lap. The most recent season with someone leading a four-figure lap total was in 1992 when Michael Andretti led 1,136 laps. 

Palou has led 28.68% of the laps run this season. If he maintains that batting average through the checkered flag at Nashville, he would end with 704 laps led. No one has led at least 700 laps in a single season since Dario Franchitti led 884 laps in 2011.

In the career record book, Palou is four laps away from the 1,500 laps led milestone. He would become the 29th driver to reach that milestone. The next three drivers ahead of Palou in all-time laps led are Tony Stewart (1,515), Ryan Hunter-Reay (1,562) and Parnelli Jones (1,596).

Victories, pole positions, laps led, why not set a mark on the record book when it comes to podium finishes as well? Because Palou has already done that. His third-place result in Portland was 11th of the season. It is only the 20th time since 1946 that a driver has finished on the podium at least 11 times in a season. Only six times has a driver stood on the podium 12 times in a single season. The most recent was Scott Dixon in 2008.

Newgarden's Nightmare Continues

While there has been a lot to celebrate for Palou, Josef Newgarden has been floundering for the entire 2025 season, and the two-time champion and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner is on pace for his worst season since his rookie year in 2012. 

After he was spun in the chicane at Portland and lost two laps in an effort to restart his career, Newgarden has finished outside the top twenty in seven of 15 races this season. He has finished outside the top ten in the last three races. With an average finish of 16.2667, Newgarden is well on his way to his second-worst season on average finish. Only his rookie season was worst at 18.214. The good news is it cannot be his worst season. If Newgarden finishes 27th in the final two races, his average finish on the season will be 17.529. 

Average finish aside, Newgarden is still 18th in the championship, one point behind Kyffin Simpson and only 19 points ahead of Conor Daly. 

Newgarden has not finished outside the top fifteen in the championship since he was 23rd in his rookie season. He has not finished outside the top ten of the championship since he was 13th in 2014, which is also his last winless season, and Newgarden still has a zero in the victory column with two races remaining. Beyond victories, Newgarden is set to have his fewest podium finishes since 2018 and his fewest top five finishes since 2014. He has only five top ten finishes. The only time he had fewer than seven top ten finishes in a year was his rookie year when Newgarden had zero.

The last two races taking place on ovals favor Newgarden, but Milwaukee might be the more likely place for victory than the Nashville finale next week. Newgarden has led a lap in only five races this season. Three of those have been short ovals. He had led 25 laps at Gateway before being caught in the path of a spinning Louis Foster while in first place. He led the first 232 laps in the first Iowa race before Patricio O'Ward jumped ahead of Newgarden through the pit cycle. Newgarden led another 72 laps in the second Iowa race where poorly timed cautions shuffled Newgarden out of the battle for victory and down to tenth.

Though this has been an agonizing season for the American, Newgarden enters the final two race weekends with a chance of making a bit of history of his own. He has won an oval race in nine consecutive seasons. No driver in IndyCar history has ever won an oval race in ten consecutive seasons. Newgarden is tied with Bobby Unser and Johnny Rutherford for most consecutive seasons with an oval victory. Unser did it from 1968 to 1976. Rutherford did it from 1973 to 1981.

Newgarden also enters this weekend with 17 oval victories in his career, which is 13th all-time. One more will put him in a tie with Hélio Castroneves for 12th.

If there is any other bright side for Newgarden it is a fair number of championship positions are still within reach. He is only seven points behind Graham Rahal in 15th and 18 points behind Christian Rasmussen in 13th. With 108 points left on the table, the most points Newgarden can end the season on is 347. Last season, 347 points would have been good enough for 11th and it would have been good enough for 12th in 2023.

Newgarden's last eight victories have all come on ovals. He has won on five different ovals in his IndyCar career. If there is any reason for optimism, it is Newgarden should at least be starting from a good position. In the three oval races where he was allowed to fully participate in qualifying, Newgarden has started in the top five of all of them and he was on pole position for the first Iowa race. He started on pole position for the second Milwaukee race last season.

American Woes

It isn't has only been a rough stretch for Newgarden. The American drivers across the board have been struggling into the final stretch of the IndyCar season. 

While Kyle Kirkwood won three of the first eight races, Kirkwood has not had a top five finish in the last six races and he has finished outside the top fifteen in four of the last five races. At Iowa, he was 26th and 18th. Kirkwood has fallen from a potential championship challenger to Palou to fifth in points.With two races remaining, Kirkwood is still the only American race winner in 2025.

Colton Herta does enters Milwaukee with three consecutive top ten finishes, but Herta has not finished better than third this season. His average oval finish is 16th with his best result being 13th in the first Iowa race. He has only led 18 laps this season, 11 of which came at Detroit. 

David Malukas does make it three American drivers in the top ten of the championship, but Malukas has only four top ten finishes this season. He is only two points ahead of Scott McLaughlin in 11th. Malukas has finished outside the top ten in four of the last six races, however, during that stretch he did finish fourth the second Iowa race. 

There are three Americans clustered together in 14th, 15th and 16th in the championship. 

After finishing eighth in the first Iowa race, Santino Ferrucci was tenth in the championship and he had four top five finishes and five top ten finishes in a six-race stretch. Since then, Ferrucci has finished 15th, did not start at Toronto after an accident in the warm-up, 22nd and 27th. Ferrucci is on 253 points, seven points ahead of Graham Rahal and nine points ahead of Alexander Rossi.

Rahal and Rossi are probably the two Americans feeling the best after the last race at Portland. Each driver scored their first top five finish of this season in the Rose City. Rahal was fourth and Rossi was fifth. For Rahal, it was his first top five finish in 34 races. For Rossi, it ended the longest top five finish drought in his career at 22 races. 

Conor Daly's three top ten finishes this season have all come on ovals, and he is looking to leap up from 19th in the championship over the final two races. Daly's best three starting positions of the season have also come on ovals. He started in the top ten in both Iowa races. Outside of ovals, Daly's road/street course average finish will go down as 18.636 for the 2025 season. 

Nolan Siegel has fallen out of the top twenty in the championship as Siegel has not finished in the top ten in any of the last six races, and in one of those races he did not start. He missed the second Iowa race after an accident in the first race of that weekend. Siegel is 13 points behind Marcus Ericsson in 20th. 

Sting Ray Robb and Jacob Abel take two of the bottom three spots in the championship. Robb is on 160 points, 15 points ahead of Devlin DeFrancesco. Abel has scored 107 points from his 14 starts. Robb is coming off his second-best finish of the season as he was 14th in Portland. Abel has finished outside the top twenty in his last three starts, and in seven of the last eight races. However, the one race that breaks up that stretch was an 11th in the second Iowa race. 

There have been at least two American winners in the last 14 IndyCar seasons, and American drivers have combined to win at least four races in eight consecutive seasons. The last time fewer than three American drivers finished in the championship top ten was in 2014 when Ryan Hunter-Reay was sixth and Marco Andretti was ninth. 

Manufacturers' Battle

The drivers' championship was claimed at Portland, and the manufacturers' championship might be the next thing to be sealed with a race to spare. 

Honda has won 12 of 15 races this season, and with two races remaining, it has 1,389 points and a 212-point lead over Chevrolet. 

Chevrolet has found its way onto the board, and it has won three of the last five races. Though Honda has won three oval races this season, Chevrolet has won 20 of 31 oval races since the introduction of the aero kit in 2020. Prior to the start of this season, Chevrolet had won 13 of the last 15 oval races.

Last year at Milwaukee, Chevrolet not only swept the weekend, it thrashed Honda. In the first race of the weekend, Chevrolet took the top four positions. Over the two races, Chevrolet drivers combined to lead 427 of 500 laps. 

Dating back to IndyCar's previous stint at Milwaukee at the start of the DW12-era, Chevrolet has won six consecutive Milwaukee races and is unbeaten at the one-mile oval since 2012. Over those six races, Honda drivers have combined for only three podium finishes out of a possible 18, and six top five finishes out of a possible 30.

With only two races remaining, both manufacturers are running out of representatives that can score points to the manufacturers' championship. Any entry that has exceeded the four-engine limit for the season is ineligible to score points.

That is particularly noteworthy for Chevrolet. At Portland, Chevrolet saw three entries take on their fifth engine of the season. Those teams were the #2 Team Penske Chevrolet of Josef Newgarden, the #7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Christian Lundgaard and the #14 A.J. Foyt Racing entry of Santino Ferrucci. Prior to Portland, the only Chevrolet entry ineligible for manufacturer points was Christian Rasmussen in the #21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.

For Honda, the only entry ineligible for manufacturer points at Portland was Chip Ganassi Racing's #9 Honda for Scott Dixon. Dixon took on his fifth engine at Detroit and then took on his sixth engine at Toronto. 

At Portland, every other Honda was on their fourth engine of the season, meaning it is likely we will see a few Honda entries take on their fifth engine at some point over the next two race weekend. 

For Chevrolet, there were actually two teams that were still on their third engine of the season entering Portland. Those were A.J. Foyt Racing's #4 Chevrolet for David Malukas and Juncos Hollinger Racing's #77 Chevrolet for Sting Ray Robb. The other eight Chevrolet teams were all on their fourth engine of the season in the most recent race. 

With the final two races being oval events, the grid penalty for taking on a fifth engine increases to nine spots compared to six spots on road and street courses. 

Ahead of the first Milwaukee race last season, six teams took a grid penalty for going beyond the four-engine limit. Four of those six penalties were to Chevrolet teams. There were no grid penalties ahead of the second Milwaukee race. There were five grid penalties taken at last year's Nashville finale, four of which were for Chevrolet teams.

Indy Lights

We are down to two races remaining in the 2025 Indy Lights season, and only two drivers are alive for the championship, but there is a good chance the title could be decided in Milwaukee. 

Dennis Hauger scored his sixth victory of the season at Portland with Caio Collet finishing second, and this has Hauger on 523 points, 54 points ahead of Collet. If Hauger leaves Milwaukee 54 points ahead of Collet, he will clinch the championship with a race to spare. Essentially, all Hauger needs to do at Milwaukee is finish ahead of Collet and the championship is his.

While Collet has won three times this season, Hauger clinched the tiebreaker with his sixth victory at Portland. Collet has finished in the top five in ten consecutive races. His only finish worse than fifth this season was 19th at Barber Motorsports Park when throttle issues forced the Brazilian to retire. Hauger has finished outside the top five twice this season. He was eighth in the first race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and early contact in the second Laguna Seca race left the Norwegian in 16th. 

This will only be the third oval race of the season. At Gateway, Hauger led early, but faded and Lochie Hughes took the victory ahead of Myles Rowe, Collet, Salvador de Alba and Hauger. At Iowa, Hauger again led early, but Rowe passed him and scored his first career Indy Lights victory. De Alba rounded out the podium while Collet was fourth.

Things are spread out beyond the top two in the championship. Lochie Hughes is third on 401 points, 22 points ahead of Rowe. Josh Pierson rounds out the top five on 337 points with de Alba 16 points behind Pierson. 

Callum Hedge has used three consecutive top ten finishes to lift him to seventh in the championship, and Hedge is only seven points behind de Alba. There is a 70-point gap between Hedge and Niels Koolen, who has finished in the top six in three of the last four races. 

Koolen will be fighting off Jack William Miller for eighth. Miller is only six points behind the Dutchman while Jordan Missig is another six points behind Miller in tenth. 

Indy Lights will race at 11:35 a.m. ET on Sunday August 24. The Indy Lights race is scheduled for 90 laps. 

Fast Facts

This will be the 13th IndyCar race to take place on August 24, and the first since Takuma Sato won at Gateway in 2019. 

Four previous Milwaukee races were held on August 24. In 1941, Rex Mays led all 100 laps from pole position, in what was the second IndyCar race held at the Milwaukee Mile. In 1947, Ted Horn won with 21 laps led as Emil Andres dropped to fifth despite leading 79 laps and leading with 11 laps to go. In 1952, Chuck Stevenson scored his first career victory from 11th on the grid, leading 95 of 200 laps. IndyCar's most recent visit to Milwaukee on August 24 was in 1958. Rodger Ward was victorious.

There have been five different winners in the last five Milwaukee races. 

Álex Palou won at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in June. The most recent driver to win at Road America and the Milwaukee Mile in the same season was Michael Andretti in 1996. Andretti also swept the Wisconsin races in 1991. Andretti is the only driver to win at both tracks in the same season.

This will be the ninth Milwaukee race scheduled for a 250-lap distance. 

Only once in the last six Milwaukee races did more than 12 cars finish on the lead lap.

The most lead lap finishers ever in a Milwaukee race was 15 in the 2015 race.

The average starting position for a Milwaukee winner is 4.513 with a median of third. 

Eleven of the last 14 Milwaukee races have been won from a top five starting position. Two of those Milwaukee races were won from 11th, and Patricio O'Ward won the first race of the doubleheader from sixth.

Thirteen of 115 Milwaukee races have been won from outside the top ten.

Seven of the top ten finishes in the second race of last year's Milwaukee doubleheader started outside the top ten with four of those drivers starting outside the top fifteen. 

The average number of lead changes in a Milwaukee race is 4.714 with a median of five.

The second race of last year's doubleheader had 13 lead changes, the most ever for a Milwaukee race. 

Five of the last six Milwaukee winners led the most laps.

Ryan Hunter-Reay led all 250 laps in the 2004 Milwaukee race.

The fewest laps led by a Milwaukee winner is nine. Joe Leonard led the final nine laps in the June 1970 race.

The average number of caution laps in a Milwaukee race since 1972 is 3.983 with a median of four. The average number of caution laps is 29.372 with a median of 28.

There have been two caution-free races at Milwaukee, in June 1976 and June 1982.

Predictions

This is the weekend where Josef Newgarden avoids all bolts of lightning, and he wins with over 175 laps led. Patricio O'Ward will finish ahead of Álex Palou. Will Power will have another top five, and Andretti Global has a top five finisher, but one Andretti Global driver will have a costly pit stop that loses them many positions. Marcus Armstrong will not hit anyone from behind, especially on a restart. Along with Newgarden, another driver outside the top ten in the championship will lead at least 40 laps. The first caution will not come before the first round of pit stops, and there will be no cautions in the middle of a pit cycle. At least one driver gets his first top ten finish on an oval. Sleeper: Alexander Rossi.

Musings From the Weekend: When You Find Out Who Your Friends Are

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking... 

Marc Márquez broke his duck at the Red Bull Ring, sweeping the weekend after he had never won at the Austrian circuit prior to this weekend. It was the sixth consecutive weekend sweep for Márquez, and his ninth grand prix victory of the season. Sunday's race was also the 1,000 premier class race. Who knew? The NASCAR Truck playoffs field is set. The Cup had a less controversial finish at Richmond than last year. It rained at Road America, disrupting SRO America competitions. I am not much of a golf fan, but ponying up to LIV Golf seems like the wrong decision. Then again, when has IndyCar ever ponied up to anyone good? Either way, this will be a big weekend for IndyCar especially with the championship wrapped up.

When You Find Out Who Your Friends Are

IndyCar is staring at two dead-rubbers to conclude the 2025 season. 

Álex Palou has locked up the championship. What remains are two races which will set the rest of the championship positions, but really there is little difference between second and 22nd in the IndyCar championship. Milwaukee and Nashville will take place. There will be race winners. The record book will update, but from the layman's perspective, there is not much of a reason to tune in for the remaining two races of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season.

This is when IndyCar will find out who its friends are. 

It is an interesting scenario for IndyCar. No championship to be decided. Nothing earth-shattering could happen. Two races are scheduled not to run head-to-head with NASCAR. And this is coming at the end of a season where viewership has been... well... it depends on how you read the numbers. 

Four of 15 IndyCar races have exceeded one million viewers this season. Eight other races have drawn between 700,000 and 800,000 viewers. Based on averages, and including an Indianapolis 500 that drew over seven million viewers, this season is on par with the 2022 and 2023 seasons, which saw a comparable number of races on network television. The median number of viewers this season is 734,000. 

Every time the number has not been favorable for IndyCar, there has been an excuse. 

NCAA tournament. The Masters' Tournament. Formula One race. NASCAR race. 

Other than the Indianapolis 500, the bright spots this season have been the season opener from St. Petersburg, which led into a NASCAR Cup race, and Gateway, which was moved from the afternoon to primetime on a Sunday night to partially avoid going against the Canadian Grand Prix and the NASCAR Cup race from Mexico City. In terms of the next two weeks, this is the clearest real estate IndyCar has gotten all season. 

But with nothing to play for, will people still tune in? 

They are races after all, and if you are bored on a Sunday afternoon, you may fancy to see who will come out on top at Milwaukee or who will end the season with a victory in Nashville. With the way this season has played out, the interest will also be about seeing who will end 2025 without a victory. 

Is it as simple as just not running against NASCAR will help with viewership? If the viewership goes up and we see some of the better rated races of the season even though the prize has been claimed, then at least IndyCar can end on a high note. People will tune in, but these are the same people who prioritize a NASCAR Cup race over an IndyCar race. It doesn't matter that the final 30 minutes of the IndyCar race will overlap with the first 30 minutes of a three-hour Cup race and they would only miss the nothingness that happens in stage one, they are tuning in for every lap of the NASCAR race. That is enough to shift IndyCar viewership by nearly 300,000 people. 

If the lack of stakes means those people decide it is not worth their time, then we know what IndyCar is shooting for. If there is anything we have learned from this season it is about 750,000 people will tune into an IndyCar race no matter what. That is the core audience. It will be there every week. It isn't the biggest crowd. It seems a little smaller than a few years ago, but that is at least where IndyCar knows it stands. It is all about growing from there. 

Understandably, IndyCar will want that bump even though the championship is over. It could really use it to end the year. This is foreign territory for IndyCar as no championship has been clinched this early since 2002 in CART with Cristiano da Matta, a very different time to 2025 with one series and a season that is over before the month of September begins. Having the championship decided one race early is one thing. The championship might be over, but there is only one race left. You mind as well tune in before the six-month offseason. Two dead-rubber races, that might be asking a lot. You can fake interest once. It is faking it twice that is exhausting. 

The hope is history can draw people in. Palou has the championship, but if he sweeps the final two races he will tie the record for most victories in a season. Only two drivers have won ten races, A.J. Foyt and Al Unser. That's it. That's the list. How about that for company? Not to mention it hasn't happened in 55 years. Even nine victories would be historic. Only one other season has seen a driver win nine races, and that was Mario Andretti. 

It is something nobody has seen in contemporary IndyCar racing. It is a season we celebrate these all-time greats for achieving. It is what made them heroes and why their legends are still told today. At some point, IndyCar must embrace the greatest out there now because the series cannot live on the folklore of Foyt, Andretti and Unser forever. If you are 30 years old, you never saw any of those three race. Think about the current nine-year-old. How the hell can he or she feel compelled to something that happened before their mothers and fathers were born? 

That is why we must celebrate the drivers of today. We should be in awe of what Palou has accomplished, and even what Scott Dixon, Will Power and Josef Newgarden has accomplished. These should be the stories we tell for years to come and share with our sons and daughters, and then our grandchildren after that. 

History is being asked to do a lot of heavy-lifting in the instant gratification generation. People care about now. There is no long-term outlook or care about how special this moment will be in the future, even though nostalgia is used like a recreational drug. Everyone loves to use the record book when it comes to making an argument, but when we are seeing something unprecedented in the last half-century, the appreciation isn't there. Most do not seem to care. They would rather you call them when next season comes around. 

I would say people need excitement to be interested, but IndyCar is the same series that bragged about the number of consecutive seasons with the championship coming down to the final race, and had some legitimately stunning title deciders, and that didn't really build a substantial fanbase, now did it? That leads us to the concern for these next two weeks.

If viewership is significantly less than that 750,000-ish core audience IndyCar has been drawing for each race, I guess the viewers have made their voices heard, by taking their eyeballs elsewhere. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Marc Márquez, but did you know...

Diogo Moreira won the Moto2 race from Austria, his second victory of the season. Ángel Piqueras won the Moto3 race, his third victory of the season. Matteo Ferrari swept the MotoE races.

Austin Dillon won the NASCAR Cup race from Richmond. Corey Heim won the Truck race, his seventh victory of the season.

The #91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG of Philip Ellis and Jeff Burton and the #34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG of Mikaël Grenier and Michai Stephens split the GT World Challenge America races from Road America. Mike David Ortmann won the only GT4 America in the #4 JMF Motorsports Aston Martin. Saturday's race was cancelled due to rain and will be made up at the next round at Barber Motorsports Park. Memo Gidley and Ross Chouest split the GT America races.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar has its penultimate round of the season from Milwaukee.

NASCAR closes out its regular season in Daytona.

MotoGP has its first visit to Balaton Park in Hungary.

IMSA will have a GT-only race at Virginia International Raceway. 

The European Le Mans Series ventures to Spa-Francorchamps.

The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters will be at the Sachsenring. 

Super GT has a race at Suzuka.

Is Chip Ganassi Racing the Greatest Team in IndyCar History?

It has likely been a modest championship celebration at the Chip Ganassi Racing shop in the aftermath of Álex Palou clinching his fourth IndyCar championship with two races remaining. Everyone is happy, but there are still two races to go. The focus will be winning those races. A larger celebration can follow in September when there will be at least six full months until the next race. 

While partying responsibly and noting what Palou's title means for the his legacy amongst the greatest drivers of all-time, it has quietly been ignored that this is Chip Ganassi Racing's 17th championship as a team, and that is level with Team Penske for the most all-time. 

For the last 20 or 25 years, we have been comparing Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. Penske has long been the standard in American open-wheel racing. It has done everything with the utmost attention to detail. It is not only the best team on the track but the best operating team off the track, "Penske Perfect" if you will. 

As we moved deeper into the 21st century, Chip Ganassi Racing started to take the fight to Penske. It soon became clear every championship came down to who would be better, Ganassi or Penske? After all, the two teams have combined to win the last 13 championships and 17 of the last 18. We go into every IndyCar season asking who will be champion, but inside we know it will be one of five or six drivers. 

The records Team Penske had set felt further out of reach. After all, Team Penske has been competing in IndyCar for over 50 years. The numbers are staggering. From race victories to pole positions, they are numbers no other team is truly close to. Most organizations are barely over a decade old. Almost a third of the teams only started competing full-time in IndyCar in the last five years. It is hard to hit triple-figures in some of these categories when your organization has competed in fewer than 100 races. 

Team Penske's mark at the top appeared to be safe for a very long time. Except, it appears, in one category. 

We never really acknowledged Chip Ganassi Racing's success on a historical level. We knew Ganassi was winning championships and head and shoulders above most of the competition. It almost became anticipated that on the stage at the end of the season would be Ganassi with Dario Franchitti or Scott Dixon or now Álex Palou. What we didn't realized was what all these Astor Cup presentations meant. We weren't really counting and until this weekend it went largely unnoticed how close Gannasi was to Penske. 

Now they are equal. 

Not only are they equal, but Ganassi has reached 17 championships in a little over half the time it took Penske to hit that mark. This is only Ganassi's 36th season in IndyCar. That still makes it the third-oldest team (hello, Dale Coyne Racing in second), but that means Ganassi has been winning a championship at a rate of nearly one every other year.

Team Penske's 17th championship came only three years ago in what was the organization's 55th season competing in IndyCar. 

When it comes to championship, not only are the organizations level, but Ganassi is winning them at a much faster rate, and it does not appear likely the Ganassi organization will be slowing down anytime soon. 

Anytime you see a record for most championships matched or surpassed, the question becomes about who is the greatest team. It is easy to look at who has the most champions and declare that is the team that is best. 

Last year, the Boston Celtics surpassed the Los Angeles Lakers for most NBA championships with 18, a swing in the favor for the folks from Bean Town against their long-time, cross-country foes. 

This past May, Liverpool won the Premier League title, its 20th time winning the championship in England's top league, moving it into a tie all-time with Manchester United. Soccer is a little more nuanced as there are the domestic competitions in each country as well as continental competitions, and Liverpool has been the European champions six times, more than any other English club.

American football is a little messy as the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots are tied for the most Super Bowl championships (six), but when you consider the entire 100-plus year history of the NFL, the Green Bay Packers have the most championships (13). Bragging rights exist for both.

Motorsports is different, the same way soccer differs from basketball and both differ from American football. Championships matter, but there are races within championships and those totals matter. Then there are more prestigious races and victories in those carry more weight than 10 or 20 victories in lesser celebrated races, and in some cases those prestigious race victories are seen as greater than a championship. This is the case for multiple disciplines of motorsports, IndyCar include. 

Is Chip Ganassi Racing the greatest team in IndyCar history? 

It is level on championships with Team Penske, but with 17 titles in 36 seasons versus Penske's 17 in 58 seasons, it understandable to give Ganassi the edge in that department. 

The next thing people look at in IndyCar is Indianapolis 500s. Many look at that before championships, but in this context, we look at it second. Team Penske is the all-time leader and by far the all-time leader. Penske has won the race 20 times since its first attempt in 1969, though Penske has only competed in the race 51 times thanks to failing to qualify in 1995 and then the split from 1996 to 2000. 

Ganassi is pretty far off Penske in this case. Ganassi picked up its sixth Indianapolis 500 victory this past May with Palou, it was Ganassi’s 32nd year competing in the race. Even if you account for the almost two-decade difference, Penske is still ahead. Penske had 14 Indianapolis 500 victories in its first 32 Indianapolis 500s. Give a point to Penske. 

What about total race victories? 

Longevity will give Team Penske the edge. It has the most IndyCar victories with 245 after Will Power's triumph at Portland this past weekend. However, Chip Ganassi Racing is likely a little closer than you realize. With nine victories this season, Chip Ganassi Racing is exactly 100 victories behind Team Penske. It has won 145 times, comfortably in second as third is the defunct Newman-Haas Racing on 107. Andretti Global is the next closest on 77. 

When it comes to winning percentage, Penske has won 28.128% of its 871 races contested. Ganassi has won 23.237% of its 624 races contested.

If there is one last thing to consider it is since reunification in 2008, when there was finally one IndyCar series and everyone was back together competing on the same terms. In those 18 seasons, Chip Ganassi Racing has won 12 championship. Team Penske has won five. Andretti Global and Ryan Hunter-Reay are the outlier. 

Since reunification, three different Ganassi drivers have won at least three championships. Scott Dixon has won five, Álex Palou has now won four, including three consecutive, and Dario Franchitti won three consecutive championships. Penske's five titles have come from three different drivers. Josef Newgarden and Will Power each won it twice. Simon Pagenaud won it once. 

Ganassi has now won six of the last eight championships. Penske's last six championships stretch back to 2006. The only stretch that rivals what Ganassi has done is what Penske did almost 50 years ago. It won six championship in seven years over 1977 to 1983, which spanned the USAC-CART split. Penske would win seven of nine championships if you extend that period to 1985, and it would win eight of 12 titles from 1977 to 1988. 

There is a bit of a difference in those time periods, as the championships have changed from oval-heavy series to road/street course-heavy series and teams are now all using the same chassis while Penske was building its own chassis for most of those championship seasons and sometimes competing against three or four or five different chassis manufacturers. 

There doesn't have to be one right answer. The fate of humanity is not relying on us coming to a consensus on what is the greatest team in IndyCar history. It is right to acknowledge how great these two organizations have been, and how each stand out in their own greatness. At this moment, Chip Ganassi Racing has gone on a run that cannot be ignored and has placed itself at the top, which we long assumed would only have one inhabitant for a very long time.

Musings From the Weekend: Some Random Thoughts

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking...

There was a first-time winner in Japan, and a championship has tightened up. There was a usual winner in Germany, and a championship flipped. Grass and gravel run-off must be brought back to Watkins Glen. It was a great weekend for Antipodean drivers around the world. That does seem to be a normal thing though. Some hardware was handed out in Portland. Álex Palou clinched his fourth IndyCar championship with a third-place finish. Will Power got Team Penske's first victory of the IndyCar season, and Will Power was on my mind this weekend long before he was victorious.

Some Random Thoughts

Coincidentally, these thoughts are all driver-related as 2025 is nearing its ends and soon all that will be left to talk about is what will 2026 look like. There has been a lot of noise but no action when it comes to next season, but with all the talk something must be true. 

Are We Really Watching the End of Will Power?

I still cannot get over that we are in the middle of August and we are not sure if Will Power will have a ride for the 2026 season. 

Contract negotiations have been at the forefront of the 2025 season for Power, and they have only become more in focus as the championship was essentially clinched in May and we were left with three months of deadrubber events. 

What we know is Power does not have a contract for the 2026 season, and Team Penske's unofficial development driver David Malukas is the intended replacement. 

This has not been a great season for Team Penske across the board. From the off-track issues with illegally modified pieces leading to the dismissals of Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski and Kyle Moyer, to the on-track struggles the team has not seen since 1999. Team Penske has been a mess in every department, and it isn't one driver that has been the disappointment. If anything, Power has been the one bright spot.

Power has been the top Penske driver in the championship for most of this season. Yesterday, he got Penske its first victory of the season in race 15 of 17. He has been the better finisher for most of this season. His qualifying form has gotten back on track and he won his first pole position in nearly two years. This is also a driver who is only three years removed from his most recent championship, which is also Team Penske's most recent championship. 

Results suggest that replacing Power will not be the winning move, but away from the results, Power will be 45 years old at the start of next season. We are closer to the end of his career than the start, and Penske's recent history has been to make a move a few years early rather than a few years too late. 

Juan Pablo Montoya was phased out of the organization after the 2016 season where he was eighth in the championship after finishing fourth in 2014 and lost the championship on tiebreaker in 2015. Montoya was 41 years old at the time.

Hélio Castroneves was transitioned to sports car racing after the 2017 season as the IndyCar program contracted to three cars and the Acura DPi program expanded. Castroneves was 42 years old, but he had finished in the top five of the championship in six consecutive seasons and in nine of the previous ten years. 

If anything, Power has been racing on borrowed time by Team Penske standards. 

It must be acknowledged that Power hasn't been the same clinical Will Power. Though his victory yesterday means Power avoids his second winless season in three years, he has only won multiple races once in the last five seasons. While he won the title in 2022, that is sandwiched between a ninth in 2021 and a seventh in 2023 when he didn't win a race. Yesterday’s victory vaulted Power up to sixth in the championship from ninth. He also went nearly two full calendar years without a pole position, and he hasn't won a pole position on a road or street course since the 2022 season finale. It is reasonable to realize there has been a dip in form. 

What doesn't sit right is Power has been swinging in the wind for months now and is about to be shuffled out for a driver who does not appear to be better on paper. 

When Montoya lost his full-time ride, it was lost to Josef Newgarden, who was competing for championships with Ed Carpenter Racing and was a multiple race winner, and he also ended up fourth in the championship despite racing half the 2016 season with screws in his shoulder holding a broken collarbone together. Castroneves lost his full-time seat when Penske scaled down to three full-time cars, a number the team was more comfortable with running than four. 

For all the flashes from Malukas, it is hazier on whether or not he will be an upgrade over Power and lift Team Penske. All the issues with Team Penske stem from the uncertainty behind the scenes. This isn’t a Team Penske with Tim Cindric leading the way where all three cars are the most prepared for success. It is doubtful Team Penske will right everything in the offseason and we can feel confident Team Penske will roll into the track and be one of the team’s to beat. 

Malukas is on pace for his best season in IndyCar. It is also a season where he has only four top ten finishes from 15 races. Marcus Armstrong, Rinus VeeKay and Christian Rasmussen all have more. While Malukas has shown good qualifying pace, the trend has seen him falling back and not running competitively. 

At some point, it will be time for Power to move on, but at Team Penske, Power does not get to make up the terms of his end. The team decides as it did for Montoya and Castroneves prior, but I don't think anyone thought Power would be shuffled out when it still feels like he is the best option out there for the organization. 

The Lack of a Silly Season

As I was thinking about this on Friday, Racer Magazine's Marshall Pruett wrote an article on silly season, and it was exactly what I was thinking. 

The only thing we have heard around silly season this year is the Power/Malukas dilemma at Team Penske. 

Have you heard rumors of any other drivers moving or any teams making a change? 

Pretty much everyone else is locked in with status quo from 2025 to 2026. The only other rumblings appear to be what happens with the three real paid seats in IndyCar (Sting Ray Robb, Devlin DeFrancesco and Jacob Abel), and does Meyer Shank Racing have the money to keep Marcus Armstrong? And I guess if Conor Daly has the funding to remain at Juncos Hollinger Racing. If Power stays at Team Penske, we are going to be looking at a rather silent offseason. 

Who is even out there? 

Dennis Hauger was dominating the Indy Lights championship, but that has become more of a fight in recent weeks. Hauger's victory at Portland certainly appears to have swung the momentum back in his favor with two races remaining. Hauger was the only Indy Lights driver anyone was considering as a full-time IndyCar option in 2026 for much of this year, and even with Caio Collet's recent success, no one has mentioned Collet as a potential IndyCar driver next year. 

Besides Hauger, the only driver on the outside getting any attention was Théo Pourchaire, and even that has been rather subdue attention, mostly limited to an acknowledgement earlier this year that Simon Pagenaud was helping Pourchaire look for a seat in IndyCar. 

That's it. That is the list of drivers on the outside looking to be in come 2026. 

There also doesn't seem to be a big wave of drivers looking to get into IndyCar at the moment. Besides Toby Sowery and Linus Lundqvist, who has competed recently that seems to want to be in IndyCar? Hunter McElrea? Has anyone been stumping for Hunter McElrea to have a full-time seat? 

I guess Sowery along with Jüri Vips are in a game of musical chairs at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing as both are reserve drivers for RLLR and that is one of the few teams where a seat could be open. But there is no buzz of young talent darting around the paddock looking for opportunities for next year. It has been all quiet on the European front in potential interest.

Maybe we get a few surprises, but it feels like outside of what could happen at Team Penske what changes do come will hardly register on the Richter Scale.

Where are the next generation of Indianapolis 500 one-offs coming from?

This is something I noticed when looking at the championship standings. 

Of the Indianapolis 500 one-offs from this year, who do you think is the youngest? 

The answer is Jack Harvey, and he is 32 years old. Then you had Kyle Larson, who will most likely never race the Indianapolis 500 ever again, at 33 years old, and then four of the other five drivers are over 40. Marco Andretti is still only 38 years old, by the way.

But you had 44-year-old Ed Carpenter, 44-year-old Ryan Hunter-Reay, 48-year-old Takuma Sato, and 50-year-old Hélio Castroneves competing at Indianapolis this year. They all probably have at least one more Indianapolis 500 in them, but there is a chance they all don't have two. 

Indianapolis 500 one-offs go through a natural cycle. A few age out and then there is always someone there to fill the role, whether that be another driver transitioning from full-time career to one-off in May to a young driver who has the funding for May though not a full season, but when you consider this year's group of one-offs, a great majority of them transitioned from full-time driving a while ago. 

Andretti has not been full-time since 2020. Castroneves did return to full-time driving in 2022 and 2023, but he had been a part-timer for the four seasons prior to that. Carpenter hasn't been full-time since 2013, but he stopped running all the oval races at the end of last year when he had Christian Rasmussen run the final three oval events in 2024. This was Carpenter's first season running Indianapolis only. Sato was last full-time in 2022. Hunter-Reay was last full-time in 2021, though he ran the second-half of 2023 for Ed Carpenter Racing. 

Harvey is in a limbo phase of his career. He was practically full-time last year. He has been on television this season except for Indianapolis. He is still only 32 years old. He could be an Indianapolis-only driver for the next four or five years, but of this year's group, he is the only one you can feel confident will be around in four or five years' time. 

In recent years, things have shifted away from the drivers who have some IndyCar experience but are always around for Indianapolis. It could be we are just in a part of the cycle where we don't see those drivers getting rides, but in a few years they could be back and we will go through the better part of a decade with them around. 

But think of the drivers we don't see who were once fixtures. 

Sage Karam made nine consecutive starts at Indianapolis while trying to get back in the series full-time and it has been over three years since he last competed. Karam is only 30 years old. 

It has also been three years since J.R. Hildebrand's last Indianapolis 500 attempt. Hildebrand had made 12 consecutive starts at Indianapolis while also getting a few extra races here and there and was last full-time in 2017. Hildebrand is also 37 years old, and it seems like he is fine not being in the driver seat and working on a timing stand to help a top team. 

Pippa Mann attempted Indianapolis for nine consecutive years with a smattering of other IndyCar starts over that near-decade career. She hasn't been entered for Indianapolis since 2019. 

Charlie Kimball could have fit this mold, but he failed to make the 2021 race in an extra car for A.J. Foyt Racing. It was really Kimball's only attempt as a true one-off entry. He is now 40 years old. 

Along with Kimball, there have also been lost drivers such as Spencer Pigot, Gabby Chaves, Carlos Muñoz, RC Enerson and Oliver Askew, who never became those regular Indianapolis one-offs either. You can even throw Ed Jones into that boat if you want. 

Stefan Wilson is the closest to someone being that regular. Over eight years, Wilson made five attempts at Indianapolis. He would have also made five starts if he had not suffered broken vertebrae in that Monday practice accident six days before the race in 2023, his last appearance at the Speedway. 

James Hinchcliffe could have been this driver, but he turned to broadcasting after 2021 and fully stepped away from driving. Simon Pagenaud could have also been this driver, but the effects from his accident at Mid-Ohio in 2023 linger and keep him from returning to competition. 

There will be somebody around who will get these seats. Someone will find the funding and take the chance to race in the Indianapolis 500. We are not going to have the day where we are struggling to find 33 drivers willing and able to race the Indianapolis 500. 

Jay Howard went six years between Indianapolis appearances from 2011 to 2017. Buddy Lazier was on the sidelines for three years and then returned with his own team. There is still a world where the likes of Pigot or Chaves or Askew make a return, but we are at a crossroads and we will soon see familiar faces who have been some of the best to race at 16th & Georgetown no longer there and who steps in with the plans to only race on that one weekend in May is currently unclear.

Champion From the Weekend

You know about Álex Palou, but did you know...

Jack Jeffers clinched the U.S. F2000 championship with finishes of second, first and second from Portland

Winners From the Weekend

You know about the Will Power, Dennis Hauger and Jack Jeffers, but did you know...

Max Garcia swept the USF Pro 2000 races from Portland. Thomas Schrage (race one) and Teddy Musella (race three) won the other two U.S. F2000 races.

Shane van Gisbergen won the NASCAR Cup race from Watkins Glen, his fourth victory of the season. Connor Zilisch won the Grand National Series race, his sixth victory of the seaosn. Corey Heim won the Truck race, his sixth victory of the season. 

Jack Aitken and René Rast split the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from the Nürburgring.

Broc Feeney (race one and three) and Will Brown (race two) split the Supercars races from Queensland Raceway.

Ayumu Iwasa won the Super Formula race from Sportsland SUGO, his first career victory. 

Ryan Timms won the 64th Knoxville Nationals.

Coming Up This Weekend

MotoGP returns from its summer break with the Austrian Grand Prix.

NASCAR will race in Richmond.

GT World Challenge America is at Road America.