Track Walk: Laguna Seca 2026

The 18th and final race of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season will be a 95-lap affair around Laguna Seca. After a two-year spell in Nashville, IndyCar returns to Monterey, California for the season finale. This will be the 12th time Laguna Seca has hosted a season finale, and it is the sixth time the championship has been clinched prior to Laguna Seca hosting the finale. Plenty of positions are still undecided in the championship, and there are a few close battles that will have our attention. This is also the final weekend for a drivers with certain teams, crew members as well. Some are moving on and know where there future will lead them. Others are not sure what exists beyond this weekend, make it a little more poignant.

Coverage

Time: Coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday September 6 with green flag scheduled for 3:05 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

Friday:

First Practice: 5:00 p.m. ET (75 minutes)

Saturday:

Second Practice: 1:05 p.m. ET (75 minutes)
Qualifying: 4:35 p.m. ET

Final Practice: 8:10 p.m. ET (30 minutes)
Sunday:
Race: 3:05 p.m. ET (95 laps)

Palou's Encore

Álex Palou is already champion. Palou locked up the title in Milwaukee with a rather pedestrian weekend, but it was enough for the Catalan driver to take his fifth career title and his fourth consecutive. Palou joined Sébastien Bourdais as the only drivers to win four consecutive championships. With five championships, Palou sits third all-time behind only A.J. Foyt's seven championships and Scott Dixon's six championships. 

When the checkered flag waves, Palou will have led the IndyCar championship after 69 of his 116 career starts. That is 59.482% of his career. Only A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti have led the championship after more races, 81 and 71 respectively. When it comes to percentages, Palou is essentially alone at the top. Among drivers who started at least 30 races, the next closest is Nigel Mansell, who led the championship for 45.161% of his 34-race IndyCar career. If you increase the minimum starts to 50, Juan Pablo Montoya is second to Palou, having led the championship for 30.927% of his 97-race career.

This historic season extends beyond the championship lead. Palou has six victories and, with his victoy at Portland, he became the third driver in IndyCar history to win at least six races in consecutive seasons, joining Mario Andretti and Sébastien Bourdais. This season Palou became the 18th driver to reach 25 career victories. He is on 51 podium finishes, the 22nd driver to reach the half-century mark. With 673 laps led this season, Palou has led 2,402 laps in his career, and he surpassed Juan Pablo Montoya for 24th all-time in laps led in the Sunday afternoon race from Milwaukee. 

Palou's pole position for the Sunday afternoon race from Milwaukee was his eighth of the season. It is the most pole positions for a driver since Will Power had eight pole positions in 2011. One more pole position would make Palou only the fourth driver to win at least nine pole positions in a season. A.J. Foyt had ten pole positions in 1965. Mario Andretti and Danny Sullivan won nine pole positions in 1966 and 1988 respectively. His pole position from Milwaukee was also the 20th of his IndyCar career, the 16th driver to reach said milestone.

Where will Palou cap off his fifth championship season? His best track. 

Nobody has come close to Palou's record at Laguna Seca. In five starts, Palou has finished second, first, third, first and first. He has led 250 laps out of a possible 475 laps. The last two years has seen Palou win from pole position, though he was shuffled out of the lead for a fair portion of the 2024 race due to pit strategy. He still went on to lead over half the race.

Another victory would be Palou's third consecutive and fourth overall at Laguna Seca. He would join Bobby Rahal as the only drivers to win at least three consecutive Laguna Seca races, and Palou would match Rahal's record of four Laguna Seca victories. Rahal won four consecutive years from 1984 to 1987, all on the original perimeter Laguna Seca track configuration. Of the 16 tracks on the schedule, Palou is at least tied for the most victories at four circuits (Barber Motorsports Park, Detroit, Road America and Portland).

Coincidentally, the only time Palou has won the season finale in his career was 2022 at Laguna Seca, the last time Palou has not ended as champion. He has finished in the top five in four of the last five season finales. In 2024, Palou was 11th at Nashville. 

A Battle For Second

The title has been decided but the good news is the battle for second is incredible tight with 23 points covering four drivers entering the final race, and four points cover second, third and fourth in the championship. 

Christian Lundgaard enters the finale in second. Off the back of five consecutive top ten finishes and eight top ten finishes in the last nine races, Lundgaard has taken second on 507 points, 100 points behind Palou. Lundgaard had the best oval weekend of his career, and it could not have come at a better time. Lundgaard was third in the Sunday afternoon race, his first career top five finish on an oval let alone his first podium finish. In the conclusion of the race that started Saturday, Lundgaard took sixth place. It is the first time Lundgaard has had consecutive top ten finishes in oval races. 

Lundgaard snagged second from Kyle Kirkwood, but the Dane is only two points clear of the American. Kirkwood's Sunday afternoon race was encouraging with a sixth-place finish from 24th on the grid. In the resumption of the Saturday race, Kirkwood did not have the same speed and he ended up 15th. In the last six races, Kirkwood only has two top five finishes while also having two results outside the top ten. No matter what happens at Laguna Seca, Kirkwood will end the season not having consecutive top five finishes since he opened the year with five consecutive top five results. 

A doubleheader sweep in Milwaukee has put Patricio O'Ward in play for second in the championship. After Road America, O'Ward was fifth in the championship, 57 points off of second, 117 points off of Palou in the championship lead. Entering the Laguna Seca finale, O'Ward is a spot better in the championship, but he is only four points out of second. He has won three of the last six races, and three victories matches his most in a season. 

Twenty-three points behind Lundgaard is David Malukas, who had a pair of top five finishes in Milwaukee buck a rough run of form. Malukas had three consecutive results outside the top ten prior to the Milwaukee weekend. Not only has Malukas remained in play for second, but last weekend clinched Malukas a top five championship finish, and it clinched him top Team Penske driver for the 2026 season. Scott McLaughlin is a spot behind Malukas, but McLaughlin is 56 points back with only 54 points on the table. Josef Newgarden is eighth, a further 20 points behind Malukas. 

Among these four drivers at Laguna Seca, O'Ward has the best record. Five starts, five top ten finishes, five times starting in the top ten, and he has an average finish of 6.8. Lundgaard has finished in the top six three times in four starts, including finishing second last year to Palou. Kirkwood and Malukas have struggled at Laguna Seca. Malukas has never finished better than 13th in four starts at the circuit. While Kirkwood was fifth in 2024, he has finished 16th or worse in his other three starts.

Battles Elsewhere

Second isn't the only place where drivers are fighting for championship positions. 

Malukas has locked up the top Penske driver, but the other two Penske drivers would like to finish sixth. McLaughlin is 20 points ahead of Newgarden. McLaughlin went fourth and second in Milwaukee, the first time McLaughlin has had consecutive top five finishes since a three-race running spanning the end of last season and the start of this season. He was third in the final two races last year and then opened 2026 in second at St. Petersburg. 

Newgarden has not had a top five finish since he was second at Nashville, a five-race drought without a top five finish. His only top five finish on a road or street course was fourth at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May. He hasn't had a podium finish on a road or street course since he was third in the 2025 St. Petersburg season opener. 

Marcus Ericsson has thrown his hat into the ring for a sixth place championship finish. With six consecutive top ten finishes, Ericsson is only 21 points behind McLaughlin for sixth and a point behind Newgarden. With 11 top ten finishes, it is Ericsson's most since he had 14 in 2023. One more top five finish would be his fifth of the season, matching Ericsson's most in a season. He had five top five results in 2022. 

McLaughlin is on track for a four-spot improvement in the championship from last season. It will be his fifth consecutive season finishing in the championship top ten. Newgarden missed out on the championship top ten last season. This will be his 11th time finishing in the championship top ten. Ericsson has finished 15th and 20th the last two seasons. The best Ericsson has finished in the championship is sixth, where he finished in three consecutive seasons from 2021 to 2023. 

Rinus VeeKay is sitting in tenth, and the Dutchman is on the verge of his career-best championship finish and Juncos Hollinger Racing's first championship top ten finish. VeeKay is on 364 points, 13 points ahead of Will Power, and only 13 points behind Felix Rosenqvist for ninth. VeeKay has four top ten finishes in the last five races. Power had three consecutive third-place finishes before suffering two finishes outside the top ten at Milwaukee. 

Rosenqvist has a 28-point cushion to being outside the championship top ten, but the Swede has not finished better than 20th in the last four races. Season finales are not Rosenqvist's strong suit either. In seven season finales, he has only two top five finishes and an average finish of 13.285 with three results of 18th or worse. Rosenqvist is hoping to hold on for this second consecutive finish in the championship top ten.

VeeKay's previous best championship finish was 12th in 2021 and 2022. He cannot finish worse than 11th. Power has finished in the championship top ten in 16 consecutive seasons. Andretti Global has not had three cars finish in the championship top ten since 2020.

Dixon's Ganassi Goodbye

We arrive to Laguna Seca on the verge of Scott Dixon's final start with Chip Ganassi Racing. A 25-year member of the organization, Dixon agreed to join Arrow McLaren for the 2027 season in July.

Dixon signed with Chip Ganassi Racing on May 29, 2002 after PacWest Racing, the home for his first 23 starts, closed due to financial difficulties. His first Ganassi race was June 2, 2002 at Milwaukee driving the #44 Target Lola-Toyota. He qualified fourth and finished sixth. Four drivers entered this weekend were not born when Dixon made his first Ganassi start (Dennis Hauger, Louis Foster, Kyffin Simpson and Nolan Siegel).

It took Dixon 17 starts to score his first victory for the team, but it came in Dixon's Indy Racing League debut as Ganassi fully committed to the IRL ahead of the 2003 season. At the end of that season, Dixon had his first championship. 

Five more championships followed, as did 57 more race victories. His six titles and 59 victories are both second all-time behind only A.J. Foyt. Dixon's 434 starts is the all-time record. Laguna Seca will be Dixon's 412th start at Ganassi. He hasn't missed a race in over 22 years, a record streak of 371 consecutive starts. Dixon has led the second-most laps in IndyCar history (6,991), he has most podium finishes (146), and he is the only driver to surpass the 200 top five finish milestone, sitting on 218 entering this weekend.

This exit is not coming at a high point. It is actually a historic low for Dixon. 

There is a great chance Dixon will finish outside the championship top ten. He had finished in the top six of the championship for 20 consecutive seasons prior to 2026. For Dixon to crack the championship top ten, he must win the race with Rinus VeeKay finishing last with no bonus points and Will Power finish 12th or worse with no bonus points. If Dixon takes a maximum points victory, it opens up some wiggle room. It would allow VeeKay to finish no better than 22nd and Power could finish as well as tenth.

Dixon has yet to win a race this season, and his streak of 21 consecutive seasons with a race victory is on the verge of ending. Dixon's lone podium finish was third at Long Beach. In 2002, 2004 and 2005, Dixon had only one podium finish, but Dixon has finished at least first or second in every season he has been in IndyCar.

After the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, Dixon ranked sixth in the championship, tied with Patricio O'Ward on 148 points, 89 points off the championship lead, but Dixon held the tiebreaker thanks to that third in Long Beach. His average finish in the first six races was ninth. In the last 11 races, Dixon has one top ten finish, seventh at Washington, D.C., and his average finish is 15.363.

Since IndyCar returned to Laguna Seca in 2019, Dixon has the third-best average finish at 6.667 behind only Álex Palou (1.667) and Romain Grosjean (6.25). Dixon was the winner of the 2023 Laguna Seca race. He won from 11th and led the final 20 laps. In the last four Laguna Seca races, Dixon has started no better than tenth. 

The $1.7 Million Dollar Rookie Battle

The 2026 season has ended up with a rather unexpected rookie of the year fight, and it is more valuable than anyone likely expected. Any of the three rookies that started this season could finish as the top rookie. Whichever one does end up on top will likely clinch his team a Leader Circle spot for the 2027 season, a $1.7 million share of the championship prize money that goes to the top 22 teams in the championship. For the other two, no additional funding will be rewarded.

Dennis Hauger has been the top rookie since the very start of the season. Hauger opened 2026 qualifying third at St. Petersburg, and on debut he finished tenth. No one else has been the top rookie in the championship since. However, Hauger's results never quite matched his start of the season. While he had two top ten finishes, including an eighth at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and four top fifteen finishes in the first six races, Hauger has not finished in the top ten since. He has only four finishes in the top fifteen in the last 11 races.

This has dropped Hauger to 22nd in the championship, the final driver in a Leader Circle spot with one race remaining. 

Eighteen points behind Hauger is Mick Schumacher, who started the season suffering a wrist injury in an opening lap accident at St. Petersburg. Schumacher has carried that injury throughout he season, and his form was atrocious through the first four-plus months. In the first 11 races, his best finish was 16th. He had an average finish of 20.181. In the last six races, Schumacher has an average finish of 14.1667 with four finishes in the top fifteen, including his first career top ten finish, an eighth at Nashville. 

Caio Collet had been the driver on the cusp of a Leader Circle spot for most of the last two months. While Collet scored his first career top ten finish with a ninth place finish at Washington, D.C., he has finished 19th or worse in five of the last six races. The Brazilian has dropped to 24th in the championship, and he is 30 points outside the Leader Circle entering the final race. 

Hauger has a healthy margin. While clinching the final Leader Circle spot regardless of what the other two competitors does would require the Norwegian to score at least 37 points, third place with at least two bonus points, that would mean Schumacher would have won the race with the maximum 54 points. Schumacher has stated in the top ten only once on a road or street circuit. That was tenth at Markham. 

Head-to-head this season, Hauger has finished ahead of Schumacher nine times, but Schumacher has gotten the better of Hauger in the last three races. The most spots Schumacher has finished ahead of Hauger was nine at Gateway and nine at Milwaukee. Five of the eight races Schumacher has bested Hauger were ovals. The other three were by three spots at Road America, by one spot at Mid-Ohio and by four spots at Washington, D.C.

Collet must finish third to have any shot at the Leader Circle spot. He did start eighth at Road America, his best starting position of the season. 

Last season, Hauger's Dale Coyne Racing entry and Schumacher's Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing entry were two of the three cars to finish outside the Leader Circle spots. Collet's A.J. Foyt Racing entry was 11th in the entrants' championship last year. The #77 Juncos Hollinger Racing entry missed out on the Leader Circle last year, and it will miss out this year as well.

Hauger could become the third Dale Coyne Racing driver to win rookie of the year. Alex Lloyd did it in 2010 and Ed Jones did it in 2017. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing could claim its second consecutive rookie of the year and its third in five seasons with Schumacher. A.J. Foyt Racing has never produced a rookie of the year.

Indy Lights

We have reached the final round for the Indy Lights season, and all that remains is a doubleheader at Laguna Seca. With 108 remaining on the table, it is technically a six-driver battle for the championship in the final weekend, but it will likely be one of three drivers. 

Only 29 points cover Nikita Johnson, Enzo Fittipaldi and Tymek Kucharczyk with two races remaining. 

Johnson re-took the championship lead with a fifth-place finish at Milwaukee while Fittipaldi finished seventh. This put Johnson on top with 505 points, three more than Fittipaldi. Kucharczyk dropped to 12th in the final results and he is 29 points behind with two races to run. 

Johnson has not won a race since the third race of the season at Barber Motorsports Park. However, he hasn't finished worse than eighth this season. While Johnson has seven podium finishes, four of those came within the first five races. Fittipaldi leads the series with four victories, including sweeping the Mid-Ohio doubleheader. However, Fittipaldi has also finished outside the top ten in four races this season. Kucharczyk opened the season with seven consecutive top five results and 12 consecutive top ten finishes. In the last three races, the Polish driver has finished 18th, fourth and 12th.

Max Taylor is still alive at 77 points back. Taylor has three consecutive top five finishes, but his only victory remains at Arlington. Alessandro de Tullio is riding eight pole positions into the season finale, but de Tullio is 99 points behind Johnson. De Tullio has two victories but he has also been outside the top ten in four races. Lochie Hughes is 103 points behind Johnson and he will be eliminated the moment Johnson or Fittipaldi takes the green flag for the first race this weekend. Hughes won the first Road America race this season. 

Myles Rowe is seventh in the championship on 353 points, two ahead of Jack Beeton. Juan Manuel Correa is ninth on 339 points after finishing runner-up at Milwaukee. Milwaukee winner Max Garcia rounds out the championship top the on 337 points, 20 points clear of two-time winner this season Matteo Nannini. 

Johnson could become the first Indy Lights champion for Cape Motorsports in its fifth season of competition. Cape's previous best championship finish was fifth with Salvador de Alba in 2024. Fittipaldi or Kucharczyk could become the third champion for HMD Motorsports. Linus Lundqvist and Christian Rasmussen won the title for HMD in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

The penultimate race of the Indy Lights season will be at 6:38 p.m. ET on Saturday September 5, and it is scheduled for 35 laps or 55 minutes. The final Indy Lights race will be at 12:38 p.m. ET on Sunday September 6, and it is scheduled for 30 laps or 50 minutes. 

Fast Facts

This will be the 17th IndyCar race to take place on September 6, but the first since Dario Franchitti won at Vancouver in 1998. 

That was Franchitti's second career victory and it came three weeks after Franchitti scored his first career victory at Road America.

Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden are the only active drivers with multiple season finale victories. Dixon won the finales in 2010 and 2015. Newgarden won the 2020 finale and last year's finale.

Simon Pagenaud is the most recent champion to cap off his season with a victory in the final race. Pagenaud did that in 2016 at Sonoma. Pagenaud is also the most recent driver to win consecutive season finales. He won the final race of 2017 as well, which was also held at Sonoma.

Álex Palou's only victory in 2022 came in the final race from Laguna Seca. This is the most recent time a driver had their first victory of the season come in the finale. 

Since 1946, 13 times has the season finale produced a first-time winner. The most recent was Ed Carpenter at Kentucky in 2011.

Bobby Rahal has the most victories in IndyCar history to have never won a season finale. Rahal won 24 races in his career. Emerson Fittipaldi won 22 times, but Fittipaldi never won a season finale either. Patricio O'Ward has the third-most victories all-time without a season finale victory with 12.

The average starting position for a Laguna Seca winner is 3.035 with a median of first. 

Eighteen of 28 Laguna Seca races have been won from pole position. 

Twenty-four of 28 Laguna Seca races have been won from a top three starting position. 

The average number of lead changes in a Laguna Seca race is 3.428 with a median of three. 

Four of the six Laguna Seca races since 2019 have had at least six lead changes. Prior to this stretch, only three of the first 22 Laguna Seca races had at least six lead changes.

Last year's race had two lead changes. Álex Palou led the first 25 laps, Nolan Siegel led the next 11 laps, and Palou re-took the lead and led the final 59 laps.

The average number of cautions in a Laguna Seca race is 2.178 with a median of 1.5. The average number of caution laps is 8.535 with a median of eight.

The last three Laguna Seca races have had at least five caution periods. Prior to 2023, only once in the first 25 races at the track had more than four cautions. That was the 2001 race, which had eight cautions.

The 2023 Laguna Seca race had a record-tying eight cautions and a record-breaking 35 caution laps.

There have been six caution-free races at Laguna Seca, most recently in 1997.

This season, there has been an average of 12.4705 lead changes per race with a median of eight.

This season, there has been an average of three cautions per race with a median of three. The average number of caution laps this season has been 22.294 with a median of 23.

This season, the average starting position for a race winner is 3.705 with a median of third.

Predictions

Álex Palou, and it will be Álex Palou with the Alex Zanardi tribute livery. It could be Álex Palou with 95 laps led from pole position and let's throw the fastest lap in there to boot. Scott Dixon ends his Chip Ganassi Racing tenure with a top ten finish. Josef Newgarden will start outside the top ten and finish at least six spots better than where he started. Will Power will take tenth in the championship. Marcus Ericsson keeps his top ten finish streak going into 2027. Dennis Hauger wins rookie of the year and he will gain a spot in the championship. There will be fewer than three cautions. Sleeper: Romain Grosjean.

Musings From the Weekend: That Wasn't Ideal

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

It turned out to be win-and-in after all in NASCAR's regular season finale from Daytona. It was also another big weekend for first time winners. The MotoGP grid could be in trouble. Trackhouse had a rough weekend on multiple continents. Filming took place in Monaco. It was a busy weekend in Wisconsin, and perhaps needlessly so. Though I don't know if it hurt anyone. Patricio O'Ward swept the Milwaukee doubleheader, the first driver to win multiple races in a days since Rick Mears in 1982. Álex Palou clinched his fifth IndyCar championship and fourth consecutive title. IndyCar's penultimate race weekend of the season ended with sunshine, but it did not quite go as planned. 

That Wasn't Ideal

We made it through IndyCar's doubleheader weekend from Milwaukee, though it was more obnoxiously difficult than anyone had hoped.

Saturday rain delayed the start of the opening race, and a second shower caused a red flag. IndyCar waited as long as it could to complete the race on its scheduled date, but the weather won out on Saturday causing a clustered Sunday with more racing than anticipated for the final day of the weekend. 

The first plan was to resume the delayed IndyCar race at 9:00 a.m. Eastern (8:00 a.m. local), and there would be an hour and 25 minutes to complete the race. The checkered flag would wave at the end of lap 250 or 10:25 a.m. Eastern, whichever came first. From there, the rest of Sunday would take place as scheduled with a 1:20 p.m. green flag for what was the second scheduled race. 

The rain continued into Sunday morning, and it was apparent "Plan B" would not happen. The decision was made to delay the conclusion of the first 250-lap race until 6:00 p.m. Eastern.

None of it was ideal. It is rather frustrating when weather cannot cooperate and a schedule cannot be followed. The waiting is the hardest part. It is at least bearable when a timetable can be kept. 

It is easy to look at this weekend and say IndyCar did everything wrong. It was a lose-lose situation. We can acknowledge things could have probably been done better. 

There was not much that could have been done on Saturday. The rain came between qualifying and race. Unless the race started at 11:00 a.m. local, this was not a case of starting earlier would have solved all the problems. The showers were on and off all day and night on Saturday. Even if temporary lights had been brought in for Milwaukee, this race might not have made it the full distance, and is it really worth stretching a 250-lap race over nine or ten hours just to get to halfway for the race to be official? 

Also, IndyCar isn't bringing in temporary lights unless it is going to use temporary lights. That is not an expense to have as a safety net in case it rains. It is never going to be an option unless IndyCar wants a night race at Milwaukee. Let's rule that out for the future.

Sunday could have been handled better from the start. Resuming a race at 8:00 a.m. local is incredibly stupid. It is even more so when people will attempt to attend only to find out the resumption has been delayed until the evening. 

If 6:00 p.m. Eastern was always an option, IndyCar should have just chosen 6:00 p.m. Eastern from the start. It does cause a clunky scenario where a full race is taking place with another race to complete. It would be nice if one race could be put to bed before starting another, but it didn't work out that way. IndyCar didn't want to use its Sunday television window to complete the final 60% of a race and delay a full race until later that evening for cable television. That is understandable. Attempting to rush the completion of a race at 8:00 a.m. local is utterly foolish. 

It is a lose-lose situation, but there is a worst option. IndyCar is disrespecting the spectators and itself running at 8:00 a.m. local on a Sunday. It is hiding its race running at that hour, viewing it as a chore it is attempting to get out of the way versus a proper race it cares about and should celebrate. Such an early start only makes it harder for everyone to watch, from those at home and the track, and the viewing experience should not be a chore. Running over 400 laps in one day means it will be a long day no matter what, but starting first thing in the morning is ridiculous. 

A more accommodating schedule existed and IndyCar should have considered that first and not looked to get the racing over with as quickly as possible. 

IndyCar should have kept the regular Sunday schedule intact, and allowed spectators to keep their Sunday morning routine, and added the race resumption to the end of the day. The spectators plans should not have been altered from a 10:30 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. arrival. The plan should have been to run the scheduled race first with a 12:20 p.m. green flag and then have the afternoon where spectators could watch the USF Pro 2000 race in the interim and hit the concession stands before the 5:00 p.m. local resumption. It was always going to be an eight or nine-hour day but it is a much easier eight or nine-hour day arriving just prior to noon than arriving just after sunrise. 

We should hold ourselves from chasing hyperbole over what this meant for IndyCar and calling it a disaster. We had two Toronto races on the same day in 2014. We all lived. It wasn't that long ago a Texas race began in June and ended in August. IndyCar didn't collapse in on itself after that weekend. Two weeks ago, we had a weekend where an entire practice day was lost due to incomplete course construction. It is never the end of the world. IndyCar is going to be just fine. 

This weekend wasn't ideal. It could have been better, but the schedule is going to be jumbled whenever it rains at an oval. If IndyCar knew this was going to be the forecast, it probably would not have scheduled Milwaukee for this weekend. The series cannot control the weather or know what Saturday will be the one with persistent showers. 

I do not believe everything must be turned upside down because of this one weekend. Doubleheaders are still a great value for the fans, and it is the better weekend format, especially for ovals. For as much as IndyCar oval racing has been celebrated since the introduction of the DW12 chassis, it hasn't been attracting fans like flies to honey. They are still the toughest weekends to sell, especially when one day of the weekend is practice and qualifying and a lot of down time. Two races help make it a more full weekend. A strong argument can be made that outside the Indianapolis 500 every oval weekend should be a doubleheader. It would allow for a greater presence in a market, give more to sell to the spectators and it would be another race on television. There are inherent risks in such a weekend. Rain does make it much more complicated should it occur. 

How can we solve some of the complications? 

More could be done to accommodate doubleheader weekends. The schedule is not perfect, but doubleheaders could be scheduled so there is an off-week either before or after. This year, there was supposed to be an off-week before. Then Washington, D.C. was added. There are only so many things IndyCar can control with its calendar, but it can position a doubleheader so it has enough time before or after to lessen the burden on teams. 

Every team should start a doubleheader weekend with a new engine, and it should be in the regulations. If everyone is starting with a new engine, there are no advantages, there is no need for any grid penalties, and teams wouldn't need to change engines between races. It would decrease the work necessary between the races and hopefully give the teams less work post-race Saturday. If teams must change engines between races then it would be a grid penalty but everyone would start fresh and start the weekend knowing it shouldn't need to do it on Saturday evening.

Each team should have a backup car ready to go, engine fitted and everything, in case of emergency on a doubleheader weekend. It would require more preparations, but a doubleheader is a different weekend. The regulations should accommodate the teams in case there is an accident, especially if both races must take place in the same day. Milwaukee was an odd circumstance where an accident in the first race could have meant a team could not resume the other race. Ninety-nine times out of 100 we are never in this scenario, and that wasn't the case this weekend, but for the one time it happens, IndyCar should allow the teams to be ready so no one misses a race. 

Communication must improve between the series and spectators. This isn't just a doubleheader issue. This is across the board when it comes to delays. When the weather is bad, sometimes it is clear there is no update. If we are onto our fifth consecutive hour of rainfall, guess what? The status has not changed. With any weather delay, it is very fluid. There is no set plan until track drying commences. You can lay out a plan but that doesn't mean it can be followed accordingly. Weepers furthered delays on Saturday evening. You cannot plan for weepers. 

Where IndyCar dropped the ball is stretching out Saturday to a point where we all knew it was a race to sunset, which really meant getting to halfway and whatever number of additional laps beyond halfway was gravy. By the time IndyCar announced its plans, there was about 75 minutes to sunset and the cars weren't even close to being pushed to the grid. Any onlooker with half a brain could have figured out we were going to see at most 40 minutes of racing if Saturday evening's plan stuck. We would have cleared lap 125 and been able to call it a night, but we would have been lucky to reach lap 150 in that case. 

It wouldn't have been the first race called early due to darkness and it would not be the last. The entire decision-making process felt dragged out and to the benefit of no one watching in the stands or at home. 

Should there be a hard out on a race day even if there is daylight remaining? IndyCar would not win anyone over if it changed its regulations to make an official race only need two completed laps like in Formula One. No one would have been satisfied only seeing a 90-lap race that may pay half-points. It would solve a problem but it wouldn't make anyone happy. 

Maybe there should be a cap on how long a delay can be. If a race is not restarted in two hours or three hours it will be finished the following day. It sounds good on paper but we know there will be scenarios where such a stipulation would not make things better, like if a track has lights, or if a delay happens at 1:15 p.m. after 15 laps of a 250-lap race were completed and the rain will end at 3:00 p.m. with sunset not until after 8:00 p.m. You can write a logical regulation but there are instances where common sense will be the way to go even if not written down. 

It is easy to be angry, and frustration is understandable. There is a limit on how devastating any disruption will be to the course of life. IndyCar didn't catch two breaks this season when it really could have. Nashville was delayed a day after being scheduled to follow the World Cup Final. Milwaukee became a hectic weekend after IndyCar drew considerable amount of attention from the Washington, D.C. race. If IndyCar had not scheduled a race at either of those times, a fair number of people would have been upset over those decisions. 

Life is always lose-lose when you are looking for something that was not perfect. I am not going to fall in that boat. Even with everything that happened at Milwaukee on Saturday, two full races still got in. Sunday turned into a beautiful day for racing, and IndyCar showcased itself at its highest on track. There are still things that should be taken away from this weekend and adjustments made for the future. 

It is important to keep perspective. IndyCar has been regularly running doubleheaders since 2013. This was only the second time the first race was delayed and both races had to be held on the same day. Doubleheaders have been held at Iowa, Gateway, Texas and even at Milwaukee prior to this weekend and this was the first time the Saturday race was postponed.

More times than not, things will stick to the schedule. Every now and then, it will not. That is not the end of the world even if you are led to believe otherwise. 

Champions From the Weekend

You know about Álex Palou, but did you know…

The #48 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Lucas Auer clinched the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup championship with a fourth-place finish in the 3 Hours of Nürburgring.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Patricio O'Ward, but did you know...

Marc Márquez won MotoGP's Aragón Grand Prix, his fourth victory of the season, and Márquez won the sprint race as well. Alonso López won in Moto2, his first victory since the 2024 season opener in Qatar. Máximo Quiles won in Moto3, his seventh victory of the season.

Ryan Preece won the NASCAR Cup race, his first victory in 249 career starts. Ryan Siege won the NASCAR Grand National Series race, his first career victory in 424 starts.

Max Garcia won the Indy Lights race from Milwaukee, his first career victory. Thomas Schrage won the USF Pro 2000 race.

The #007 Comtoyou Racing Aston Martin of Marco Sørensen, Mattia Drudi and Nicki Thiim won the 3 Hours of Nürburgring.

The #29 Turner Motorsport BMW of Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg won the GT World Challenge America race from Road America. The #33 Blackdog Racing McLaren of Tony Gaples and Michael Cooper and the #028 RS1 Porsche of Spencer Pumpelly and Luca Mars split the GT4 America races. Memo Gidley swept the GT America races.

Sami Pajari won Rally del Paraguay, his third consecutive victory.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar closes its season at Laguna Seca.

Formula One has its first visit of the season to Italy. This will be to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix.

The 77th Southern 500.

The FIA World Endurance Championship will cook for six hours in Austin.

World Superbikes extended summer break ends with a round at Magny-Cours.

First Impressions: Milwaukee 2026 Race One

1. Call it a clean sweep for Patricio O'Ward, though the victory in the first race from the Milwaukee Mile came after taking over a day to complete and after a fumbled restart from leader David Malukas. For the surprise that came from O'Ward's victory in the Sunday afternoon race, we can comfort he had one of the best cars of the weekend with this performance. A little stumble from a competitor may have helped O'Ward in this one, but he capitalized on the opportunity and blew through to the lead, never looking back. 

This has been an odd season for O'Ward as he started the season regularly finishing in the top five, it was just never better than fourth or fifth. This is his third podium finish of the season. All his podium finishes have been victories. Three victories is a great season, nine times out of ten, and I think this has been a great season for O'Ward. It has been strange to say the least. 

2. We will pause on going through the rest of the field to acknowledge Álex Palou clinched his fifth career IndyCar championship, and his fourth consecutive with a tenth-place finish. Palou didn't have to do more than ride around today. That goes for both races. It was that way prior to the weekend. He may have coughed up 42 points with a messy Washington, D.C. race, but he wasn't going to do that again. All he needed was clean days. He didn't do anything wrong. Tenth was enough. It helped that the rest of the competition was not perfect. 

We will discuss Palou's legacy later. We have an entire offseason. We were content on Palou had clinched this title after Detroit. Through eight races he had four victories, six top five finishes and seven top ten finishes. Prior to last week, he had finished in the top five of every race this summer. No one was close to matching that output. It is no longer good enough to be great in IndyCar. You must be flawless to beat Palou. They all know it. None have been able to do it.

3. Back to the finishing order, David Malukas took second when it looked he was on his way to his first career victory. Malukas had strategy play in his favor as he had a pit stop before the red flag yesterday and he had the speed later in a stint to maintain a gap to the field. When Malukas had to make his pit stop, he had the tire advantage and carved his way through the field and back into the lead when everyone else had to stop. It looked like Malukas was firmly in control. 

Then the final restart happened. A stutter in the engine allowed O'Ward to fly up the inside into turn one and that was curtains. Malukas remained close but O'Ward eventually pulled away. Lapped traffic never went in Malukas' favor. Overall, fourth and second on the day is a great day. This was Malukas' sixth career runner-up finish and his fourth of the season. It is deflating to be this close and have it not come through.

4. Rounding out the podium was Rinus VeeKay, who used the lapped car of Scott Dixon as a pick to pass Scott McLaughlin in the closing laps. VeeKay had the car at the end of the race to threaten for a great finish, and the Dutchman got it. This has been an outstanding season for VeeKay, and it is on the verge of being a career-best. He was brilliant this weekend and was running with the big boys. There is something special here.

5. Scott McLaughlin comes home in fourth. Malukas went fourth-second. McLaughlin goes second-fourth. McLaughlin didn't need strategy help to get this finish. He didn't quite look as strong as O'Ward and Malukas. A podium would have been a respectable result. I said this a few weeks ago but this feels like where McLaughlin is stuck at the moment. Really good, but not quite the driver to beat.

6. Christian Rasmussen capped off the day with a fifth-place finish. Rasmussen needed this weekend. It has been an underwhelming season. There have been more bad results, some of his doing, some of the team's failings, than you would have expected. We know the oval speed is there. It didn't always show or get the finishes this season. It stood out in Milwaukee. It likely will be enough to secure a Leader Circle position. It is a small victory. It should be a starting point for next season.

7. If you were told on Wednesday, "Christian Lundgaard would finish third and sixth at Milwaukee," you likely would have called it poppycock. Well, it happened. Lundgaard drove two solid races at Milwaukee, and the driver being shown the door at McLaren due to his oval form ended with the best oval races of his career. He has a comfort with Milwaukee. He was comfortable with Iowa as well. There are more than two ovals and Iowa isn't on the schedule. Lundgaard probably still has some mental barrier he must break down especially with quicker ovals, but he is getting there. I am sure Chip Ganassi Racing will get him over that hump. 

8. That extra set of tires did come in handy for Josef Newgarden, the only problem is Newgarden slipped down the running order early in this race resumption and was fighting from behind. It also didn't help that over 15 cars were on the lead lap so the likelihood of riding those tires to an improbable victory was slim-to-none. It was surprising how much Newgarden struggled with the balance of his car this weekend. He has never had a grip on Milwaukee since it returned to the schedule in 2024, which is odd because when IndyCar left, Newgarden had two incredible drivers in 2014 and 2015. A lot can change in a decade. 

9. The top Honda was Marcus Ericsson in eighth. Ericsson had a racy car at the end but it never came close to cracking the top of the field. This was by far Honda's worst race of the season. I don't think they were particularly bad. It was more misfortune today than anything else. If Palou had more to race for, he might have been more of a factor. 

10. In ninth was Marcus Armstrong. Armstrong and Meyer Shank Racing took fuel just before the race restarted. This group was throwing things at the wall in terms of strategy in both races. In this one, it led to a ninth-place finish. It gets Armstrong off the snide. He can head to Laguna Seca with an increase in confidence. 

11. We will cover all of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing here because Louis Foster and Mick Schumacher were 11th and 12th respectively. Graham Rahal was 23rd, three laps down. For a banged up driver, Foster drove stellar this weekend. He was icing his hand as he is still carrying the knocks from the Markham accident. I am surprised he drove this well at Milwaukee considering how off he was at Washington, D.C.

Schumacher overcame a spin after slight contact with Dennis Hauger to finish 12th. We are all surprised Schumacher did this well on ovals. We all expected that he would improve but I don't think we expected him to be starting as well as he did and being a threat for top tens, especially with this team. 

Which leads us to Graham Rahal. I don't get it. You don't get it. It doesn't make sense that the 20-season veteran is one of the slowest cars on the track while his teammates are pushing for the top ten. RLLR had its oval woes for a half-decade or so. Rahal appears trapped in a bottle with all the oval suffering the team went through. We saw Rahal run well on ovals earlier this season. I don't get where it went while everyone else at RLLR took a step forward.

12. Nolan Siegel took 13th, and Siegel benefitted from Will Power's caution. Siegel was running long on that stint and was still on the lead lap in eighth while needing to make a pit stop. When Power, McLaughlin and Lundgaard came upon the slower car of Siegel, Power went to the outside and ended up in the marbles. Power hitting the wall allowed Siegel to make a free pit stop and finish on the lead lap. Power was not particularly happy after that on. 

Siegel was in the way for much of these two races. He has been better this year, we cannot deny that. We started this season with Tony Kanaan saying Siegel had to push for the championship top ten to retain his ride. We knew Siegel would never come close to that. He is closer to 20th than tenth. I don't know if he will get another opportunity in IndyCar. We can do a post-mortem after the season is over. From the beginning, this felt like an unnecessarily rushed move. Everyone is being proved correct on that thought.

13. There was brief thought during the afternoon race that Ed Carpenter Racing is the biggest fraud in the series as it has somewhat frequently shown great pace in practice only for both of its cars to be struggled to run in the top fifteen during the race. Rasmussen somewhat disproved that. Alexander Rossi did no favors against that allegation. Rossi dropped like a rock after this race restarted. He didn't crack the top ten in either race. He has one top ten finish in the last five months. Where have you been, Alex? Should we put your face on a milk carton?

14. We covered in the First Impressions for the afternoon race that the points were not there for Kyle Kirkwood to keep the championship alive into Laguna Seca. If the afternoon race was a brilliant drive, this conclusion was burning your hand on the hot plate. We ended yesterday thinking Kirkwood was on the move and the afternoon race proved it. In the resumption, Kirkwood struggled on that set of tires. He lost ground and never recovered. He nearly caught the Schumacher caution at the right time but he was a hair later entering pit lane. The team took a gamble putting on slightly used tires and it did not net him any more positions. I think Kirkwood was better than 15th. I wish we got two uninterrupted Milwaukee races. I don't think Kirkwood would have been 15th if this race ran in its entirety yesterday. 

15. Kyffin Simpson and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the lead lap finishers. In two races in one day, I don't think I heard Simpson's name once. I am not sure where Rosenqvist went in this one. Yesterday looked very promising and he vanished in thin air in both races today.

16. Scott Dixon was a lapped car that Rinus VeeKay used as a pick to finish third. That is a sentence you did not expect to be reading when this season started. Dixon was never competitive this weekend. It was hard to watch those closing laps. It has been hard to watch this entire season. 

17. Pretty much everyone from 19th on back was caught a lap down when the red flag came out yesterday and they remained a lap down through the checkered flag today. Romain Grosjean couldn't work his magic like he did in the afternoon race. Santino Ferrucci was a disappointment. Dennis Hauger got screen time for nudging Schumacher into a spin. Sting Ray Robb didn't do anything wrong but he didn't do anything great either. We covered Graham Rahal. 

I am sure all five of these drivers are thinking they would have been better off leaving after the afternoon race and they all would have been home before the delayed race resumed. 

18. Add Caio Collet as the sixth driver who likely wishes he did not restart this race. Collet was already off the lead lap and slow. Pinballing off Josef Newgarden and into the front straightaway barrier was the final nail Collet did not need in his coffin. Newgarden was quick and Collet was in no man's land. The brief brush with greatness put the Brazilian in the barrier and mercifully ended his weekend. 

It was never going to get better. I think it is safe to think Collet will be making his final start with A.J. Foyt Racing at Laguna Seca. The Brazilian money might be enough for him to stay, but it sounded ominous after the last few races. It has flipped drastically from where we were only a few months ago. That is professional motorsports.

19. This was a classic Will Power weekend. Blinding speed, incredible car that can work its way through traffic, lost result because of something absurd. In the afternoon race, it was Power speeding on pit entry for the final stop. In this race, it was coming upon Nolan Siegel, who was trudging along on old tires hoping for a timely caution and who inadvertently helped cause said timely caution. There is a world where Power finishes first and fifth this weekend or second and seventh. Instead, it is 14th and 25th, and that three-race run of third-place finishes feels might far away. 

20. This was a longer day than expected. This was a longer doubleheader than expected. Considering the first race that took the green flag this weekend did not end until after 7:00 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, you cannot say this was a smooth weekend. We will go into greater depths tomorrow. It wasn't IndyCar's greatest weekend. It was far from the worst either, but it had its frustrating moments and while the series cannot control the weather, it didn't handle what it can control the best either

With that said, we should acknowledge two 250-lap races were completed this weekend. The weather on Sunday was nice, even if there was a threat of rain as the evening race resumed. The event still looked good for all the hiccups, and Milwaukee is a track IndyCar should be at, and others agree as the series has a contract through 2030 to race at the facility. No tracks are lining up to host IndyCar. Anyone that is willing to give a four-year deal is one worth sticking with. 

21. These races were fun today. There was plenty of action. It isn't a high-speed oval. It isn't two-by-two for ten rows. The speeds aren't pushing 230 mph, but these drivers are on the ragged edge and there is a substantial amount of precision in the passes that are made. They take time but are enthralling to watch develop. I see this race and wonder why IndyCar isn't trying to organize a race in Loudon. After Gateway and this race, how is the series not dying to get to Richmond? Those are two worn tracks where tire falloff plays a key role in the NASCAR races. It wouldn't be too dissimilar to what we saw today. If only there were a few more one-mile ovals in this world... 

22. We can ponder that thought throughout the night. It could be a nice distraction from the reality that in seven days the season will be over. One more checkered flag will wave at Laguna Seca and then a six-month offseason will begin. We can think about that next week.

First Impressions: Milwaukee 2026 Race Two

1. Not often do you review the second race of a doubleheader before the first race, but that is the case of the 2026 Milwaukee doubleheader, and with a second race about to start in just over three hours, we are going to make it quick on this race. 

Patricio O'Ward took the victory after being rather unnoticed until the final stint when the took the lead through the pit cycle. O'Ward didn't make many, if any, waves over the first 190 laps. The most notable thing was a botched pit stop early when the right rear tire was not secured before O'Ward was dropped off the pneumatic jack. It dropped O'Ward from a podium spot to just outside the top ten, but it was early enough for a recovery.

O'Ward found his pace and kept the car in the top ten. When it came time for the final stop, he was able to leap into the lead. We saw plenty of competitive cars in this race, and we saw plenty of teams shoot themselves in the foot. That played a factor in O'Ward winning this one. If Will Power doesn't speed entering pit lane on the final stop, I am not sure we are talking about an O'Ward victory.

2. Scott McLaughlin's team decided not to stop under caution with just over 100 laps to go, and McLaughlin was able to hold his ground on older tires. It kept him at the front while he was mostly in the middle of the top ten to that point. O'Ward got out ahead of McLaughlin in that final stop. McLaughlin had a few chances to make a pass on O'Ward, but O'Ward was better getting through traffic, and McLaughlin will settle for second.

McLaughlin's run on older tires was reminiscent of what Álex Palou did last year when Palou was on older tire and facing Christian Rasmussen. Palou held off Rasmussen for a good portion of time before Rasmussen got through, but even on the older tires, Palou took second. In this case, McLaughlin used older tires to place him at the front. It could have gone wrong. Scott Dixon also stayed out and dropped like a rock. 

3. Christian Lundgaard was probably the better Arrow McLaren driver today, and Lundgaard will have to settle for third. This was Lundgaard's best oval race of his IndyCar career. He deserved the podium finish. There is another race to finish. We can dissect his oval form this weekend and what it could mean moving forward in a little bit. He looked comfortable today. Comfort goes a long way on an oval.

4. David Malukas did not look set for a good finish and then he was up in the top ten and pushing the top five just by stopping earlier. For almost half this race, it felt like Malukas was not going to have a good day. Finishing fourth is a great result considering where he spent most of this race.

5. The championship is essentially over. Álex Palou was fifth and Kyle Kirkwood was sixth. Palou's championship lead is 97 points, however, Palou will get at least five points for the race that must be completed. That makes the championship lead 102 points. Kirkwood must outscored Palou by 48 points to get back within 54 points. That means Kirkwood must win and Palou finish last in the race to finish. That is asking a lot since 90 laps are complete.

If we are honest, Kirkwood must be within 48 points to win the championship because Palou is going to start Laguna Seca in a week, another five points to Palou. Palou holds the tiebreaker, which means Kirkwood would need to win the championship outright. The points are not there for Kirkwood to leave Milwaukee within 48 points of Palou. Kirkwood is essentially down 102 points and must outscore Palou by 54 points in the Milwaukee race to be completed when the most points Kirkwood can make up is 48 points. 

It is over despite what you are being told.

As for Palou's race, he looked good but not great. A lot of drivers were chasing tire strategy and stopping early to avoid losing time but I think Palou had the speed that he could have run long and sacrificed time to get it back at the end of subsequent stints. Teams could not get away with running 40 laps of every stint. Palou probably had the speed to have a few stints go 50 laps to trap those teams short stinting. 

6. Kirkwood was in the same boat as Palou. Kirkwood had good speed at the end of stints, but once everyone started making pit stops 35-40 laps into a run, everyone jumped at it. Kirkwood was brilliant making up spots early after starting 24th, and he had great pace later in tire life. I think the tail wagged the dog a bit and Kirkwood, like Palou, should have just run 50 laps and traded time at the end of a stint to get it back later. They would lose some spots, but eventually the other teams would be caught out making an extra stop. 

It could have been the circumstances of today with the extra race to complete that teams didn't want to take too much of a risk going long on tires. The last thing a team wanted an accident because of a lack of grip, but it feels like going ten laps longer for two stints was a strategy that could have paid off for a few teams, Kirkwood's included.

7. Rinus VeeKay was strong early and then was shuffled back during pit cycles. For Juncos Hollinger Racing, pit stops have actually been competitive this season compared to the likes of Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. It feels like a bit of shame for VeeKay. For a good portion of this race, he looked like a podium contender if not a possible winner.

8. Christian Rasmussen recovered for finish eighth. Ed Carpenter Racing didn't start strong. Like Malukas, halfway through this race I was not expecting Rasmussen to finish in the top ten. This result significantly helps Rasmussen and ECR's Leader Circle fight as Caio Collet was 23rd and Collet is not doing well in the other race, and Rasmussen was five spots ahead of Schumacher in this race. There is still one more race to complete, but Rasmussen has already created breathing room.

9. I am not sure Marcus Ericsson was mentioned once during this race, but he finished ninth. Ericsson has been the third-best Andretti Global car all week, but still respectable on pace.

10. Louis Foster hung on for a top ten finish. This has been an odd weekend for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The team looks good one moment and then you see Graham Rahal putzing around in 22nd, three laps down, and Rahal is doing just as poorly in the race that is to resume. 

11. Alexander Rossi took 11th but he was never competitive. 

The best Santino Ferrucci looked was in the final stint when he was a lap down. Ferrucci has not been good this weekend, and that is a surprise.

Mick Schumacher did well. It was only his fifth oval race. I think he learned a lot and these were not easy conditions with tire wear. I am not sure Schumacher has ever been in a race where the tires are done after 35 miles. 

An unforced error cost Will Power victory. We know Power is prone to this. He has been doing this almost his entire career. His last few years at Team Penske he was due for at least two of these races a season. Power and Kirkwood were both carving up the field in the early stages. It is a damn shame Power didn't see this one through.

Scott Dixon never had the pace. Dixon gambled like McLaughlin. The difference was McLaughlin had a good car. Dixon didn't. It showed immediately. Finishing 15th is probably a just result for how Dixon was running.

12. Neither Meyer Shank Racing car was competitive. Marcus Armstrong was 16th, one lap down. Felix Rosenqvist was stunningly 20th, two laps down, and Rosenqvist was running so well in the first Milwaukee race, and he will still be running well when it resumes, as Rosenqvist is second. 

Nolan Siegel did a great job being a road block today. He held up everybody at some point.

Sting Ray Robb didn't cause much trouble and was 18th.

Kyffin Simpson went unnoticed in 19th. 

Dennis Hauger was 21st, and didn't really have a word said about him. 

We touched about Graham Rahal being slow. I almost think Rahal should volunteer to driver for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing next year. Then we will know for sure if it is the car or driver. The other two RLLR drivers have looked competitive this weekend. Rahal hasn't one bit.

Caio Collet was slow. Since he retired from three of the first four oval races, I sense Collet could not afford an accident, but if the pressure is on for him to finish in the Leader Circle, he cannot got out there timid. I feel like that is how he has been driving. He cannot have an accident but he does not feel confident to push. It doesn't help that A.J. Foyt Racing doesn't quite have the speed. It isn't like Ferrucci has been a threat this weekend.

13. Two accidents in this race. Romain Grosjean spun twice. The first time off of turn two was no harm, no foul. It cost him spots after Grosjean was tearing through the field early. The second put him in the wall on a restart. The first spin ruined a promising start.

Josef Newgarden also spun exiting turn four and nudged the wall enough to ruin his day. Newgarden struggled on the long run, which was surprising because in the first stint he caught and passed Álex Palou for the lead. Newgarden was dictating the pit cycle and was one of the first cars to stop almost every cycle. He spun because he did not have grip. The car was still good enough for the top five. Newgarden didn't have control over it.

14. It is odd to write this and know 90 laps of another race have already been completed. We know how the next race is going. Which makes this race a little unusual. 

What happened to Rosenqvist and MSR? 

Even Rossi and ECR? 

Why did teams that looked strong in the first 40% of yesterday's race not show the same muscle in this full race?

How will this race resume? 

Are we going to see everything pick up as status quo or will the conclusion of the first Milwaukee race flip toward what we just saw? 

15. Teams used a lot of tires in this race. The teams only had ten or 11 sets for the entire weekend. I think everyone really only used one set in yesterday's race. Some may have been on their second. Everyone in the top fifteen but McLaughlin made five pit stops in this race. Armstrong made an extra pit stop under the Grosjean caution to try and go off strategy and that did not work. The tires Armstrong took off the car were not that worn. I don't think they had a full green flag lap on them. 

Basically every team but McLaughlin, Grosjean and Newgarden used six sets of tires. Minus the set or two from the first portion of race one and then minus a set or two from practice. Everyone might have two sets remaining for the final 160 laps. This is rough math and very unofficial. 

The conclusion of the first Milwaukee race could be extremely different because everyone was willing to burn through tires in this race. It very well could come down to McLaughlin and Newgarden having an extra set and that could dictate the race.

Based on fuel, the upcoming race conclusion is a two-stopper, but as we saw on tires, everyone will want to make three if not four stops over those 160 laps. The outcome of this race very well could play into Team Penske's favor, at least for two of its drivers. 

16. We will be back in about four hours to wrap up this head-spinning Milwaukee weekend. Stay tuned!

Morning Warm-Up: Milwaukee 2026 Race One and Two

The Milwaukee doubleheader will become a true doubleheader Ernie Banks would love. Rain showers stopped Saturday's opening race of the weekend after 90 completed laps, and the race was unable to resume. This means the remaining 160 laps in the first race will be completed this morning while race two will still take place Sunday afternoon. 

The race is scheduled for a 9:00 a.m. ET resumption 

Update - 8:10 a.m. ET 

Race one has been further delayed to a 6:00 p.m. Eastern start to due wet conditions. 

Race One - Resumption 

Patricio O'Ward was the leader at the time of the red flag, and O'Ward had spent much of the opening portion of the race out front. He did lose ground early as O'Ward was stuck battling back-markers. This allowed Felix Rosenqvist to take the lead. O'Ward returned to the lead through the first pit cycle with Rosenqvist settling into second. 

Alexander Rossi was a big mover during the first pit cycle as Rossi stopped early in the first stint and it cycled Rossi up to third after battling in the back of the top ten. Rossi is ahead of Josef Newgarden, who has been running well in the top five, and Christian Lundgaard had a strong start to place him fifth at the time of the pause. 

Will Power is ahead of his Andretti Global teammate Kyle Kirkwood. Kirkwood made an early stop like Rossi and benefitted in this strategy choice after starting 21st. Kyffin Simpson and Rinus VeeKay round out the top ten. VeeKay was a big mover early in the race, making up ten spots quickly after starting 24th due to a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. Marcus Ericsson is 11th ahead of Marcus Armstrong. 

A few cars made a pit stop under caution before the red flag came out. Those drivers would be David Malukas, Álex Palou, Scott Dixon, Christian Rasmussen, Scott McLaughlin and Mick Schumacher . 

A few drivers are off the lead lap, Santino Ferrucci, Sting Ray Robb, Dennis Hauger, Nolan Siegel, Romain Grosjean, Caio Collet and Graham Rahal. Hauger, Siegel and Grosjean were all stretching their fuel to try and go the fuel distance on three stops. They had stopped just prior to the caution coming out for rain.

Fox Sports 1 will have coverage of race one's resumption at 6:00 p.m. ET. Sunset is at 7:29 p.m. local time (8:29 p.m. Eastern).

Race Two - Qualifying Results

The grid is unofficially set for the second Milwaukee race, as the second qualifying laps from Saturday morning's qualifying runs set the Sunday starting positions. 

Álex Palou won his eighth pole position of the season as his second qualifying lap was run at 22.1915 seconds (164.658 mph), and it was 0.0003 seconds faster than Patricio O'Ward. Last week at Washington, D.C. was only the second time Palou has won pole position and failed to finish in the top five. The other time was earlier this season at Gateway. Washington, D.C. was the first time Palou started on pole position and failed to lead a lap. O'Ward is starting second for the fourth time this season. He won from second at Mid-Ohio in July. 

Josef Newgarden was 0.1207 seconds off Palou's top ten and Newgarden will start second. Mick Schumacher matched his best starting position of the season with a lap of 22.3837 seconds placing him fourth for the second Milwaukee race. Schumacher started fourth at Phoenix in March. Newgarden last won from third starting position at Gateway in 2024. Only once in the last 29 Milwaukee races has the winner started third. That was Tony Kanaan in 2007.

Will Power was a ten-thousandth of a second slower than Schumacher and will start fifth with Schumacher's Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing teammate Louis Foster slotting into sixth position. This is the fifth consecutive Milwaukee race Power has started in the top five and the seventh in the last eight Milwaukee races. After all the engine penalties ahead of the first Milwaukee race, Foster moved up to sixth starting position for that race.

The Meyer Shank Racing cars of Felix Rosenqvist and Marcus Armstrong are sandwiching Scott McLaughlin for seventh, eighth and ninth on the grid. Scott Dixon will start tenth and make it three consecutive New Zealanders in the starting order. Rosenqvist had not finished in the top ten in his first three Milwaukee starts. McLaughlin won pole position for the first Milwaukee race before being sent back nine spots for his unapproved engine change. Armstrong started 16th in race one, matching his worst oval start of the season. Dixon has six consecutive top ten finishes at Milwaukee and 11 in the last 12 Milwaukee races.

Christian Lundgaard is rolling off from 11th starting position with Rinus VeeKay starting 12 spots better than he did in the first race. VeeKay is starting 12th. Lundgaard has two top ten finishes in his first three Milwaukee starts. VeeKay is hoping to make it through race one cleanly. He has not had consecutive retirements since 2022 at the Indianapolis 500 and Belle Isle.

Marcus Ericsson qualified 13th, directly ahead of David Malukas and Dennis Hauger. This will be Ericsson's third consecutive race starting outside the top ten. He had started in the top ten for five consecutive races prior to this stretch. The last time David Malukas started 14th, he didn't complete a lap. He was caught in an opening lap accident in the first Iowa race in 2024. After starting fourth in the first race, Hauger's streak of top ten starts ends at four races.

Alexander Rossi and Christian Rasmussen took 16th and 17th respectively for Ed Carpenter Racing. Rossi started eighth in the first race, ending a streak of three consecutive starts outside the top ten. This is the tenth time Rasmussen has started outside the top fifteen this season. Kyffin Simpson has the outside of row nine with Graham Rahal and Romain Grosjean starting on row ten. This is also the tenth time Simpson has started outside the top fifteen this season. Rahal will make his 274th consecutive start, if he takes the green flag for the second race. Grosjean has only finished better than his starting spot in five of 15 races this season.

A.J. Foyt Racing swept row 11 with Caio Collet and Santino Ferrucci. Collet has failed to finish three of four oval races this season. This is the third consecutive race Ferrucci is starting outside the top twenty. Sting Ray Robb will start 23rd. Kyle Kirkwood and Nolan Siegel, two drivers that were involved in accidents during Friday's practice session, will round out the grid for the second Milwaukee race. 

Fox's coverage of the second Milwaukee race will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 1:20 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 250 laps.

Morning Warm-Up: Milwaukee 2026 Race One

Josef Newgarden set the fastest lap in Friday practice from the Milwaukee Mile with a lap at 22.9191 seconds (159.430 mph). Newgarden has won twice this season, both on ovals. He has won three times in a season on six occasions, but he has not done it since 2023. His last 11 victories have come on ovals, but he has yet to win at Milwaukee. In seven Milwaukee starts, Newgarden has yet to finish on the podium. He was fifth in 2014 and 2015. In the three races held over the last two years, he has led a combined four laps. The next victory would be the 35th for Newgarden in his career, moving him into a tie with Bobby Unser for eighth all-time.

Dennis Hauger was a surprise second-fastest in practice with a late lap in the session at 22.9266 seconds. Hauger has yet to start better than 22nd on an oval this season. He started 22nd at Phoenix and Nashville. His best oval results remains 15th at Phoenix. Hauger clinched the Indy Lights championship last year at Milwaukee with a second-place after starting on pole position.  

Álex Palou was third-fastest at 22.9971 seconds, but Palou will serve a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change after Washington, D.C., a set back to his hopes of clinching the championship with two races remaining. Palou will clinch the title scoring 17 points more than Kyle Kirkwood, losing no more than two points to Christian Lundgaard and losing no more than 34 points to David Malukas. Palou's worst starting position this season was 11th at Markham. He has not started outside the top fifteen since starting 24th in the 2024 finale from Nashville.

David Malukas was 0.1106 seconds off his teammate Josef Newgarden and fourth quickest, but, like Palou, Malukas will have a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. In three of four oval races this season Malukas has finished on the podium. This includes a third at the most recent oval race at Nashville after starting 25th. His worst oval finish was seventh at Gateway. 

Rinus VeeKay rounded out the top five, a further 0.0024 seconds slower than Malukas, but you guessed it, VeeKay has a nine-spot grid penalty as well. Prior to his retirement at Washington, D.C., VeeKay had been running at the finish of every race this season. He was one of seven drivers entering last week that had finished every race. Four drivers suffered their first retirement of the season at Washington, D.C. One of those other three drivers was Malukas.

Alexander Rossi had the sixth-fastest lap at 23.0479 seconds. Rossi started sixth at Nashville last month, and he has started in the top ten of all four oval races this season. It has been a year since Rossi's most recent top five finish, which was a fourth at Milwaukee. In last three Milwaukee races, Rossi has an average finish of 5.667. His last victory was 70 starts ago, but Rossi has not won on an oval since Pocono in 2018.

Will Power was the fastest Andretti Global driver in seventh with a lap at 23.1188 seconds. Power is seeking his fourth consecutive podium finish, something he has not done since 2016 when he had a run of six consecutive podium finishes from the second Belle Isle race through Pocono. However, Power has finished outside the top fifteen in three of four oval races this season. He was eighth at Gateway. 

Kyle Kirkwood was only 0.0016 seconds off his teammate Power, but Kirkwood was involved in an accident with Christian Rasmussen late in practice. Rasmussen was on Kirkwood's outside entering turn three when the Dane turned in on the American, causing a spin that put both cars in the barrier. Kirkwood started third and first in the last two oval races. Last year, Kirkwood had consecutive victories at Detroit and Gateway. It was the first time an Andretti Global driver won consecutive races since Colton Herta claimed the final two races of the 2021 season. 

Patricio O'Ward was 0.2097 seconds off Newgarden's top time, placing O'Ward ninth in the session. O'Ward has failed to start in the top five of the last four races. He has not gone five consecutive races without a top five starting position since a nine-race run that covered the final eight events in 2024 and the 2025 season opener from St. Petersburg. His best starting spot on an oval this season was sixth at Indianapolis.

Sting Ray Robb rounded out the top ten with a lap at 23.1401 seconds, but, like his teammate VeeKay, Robb also has a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. Robb scored his best career starting position earlier this season when he qualified 12th at Phoenix. VeeKayhad also been running at the finish of every race this season prior to Washington, D.C., like VeeKay and Malukas. Last week was Juncos Hollinger Racing's first double retirement since the first race of the 2024 Iowa doubleheader. 

Kyffin Simpson just missed out on the top ten, but his best lap was at 23.2102 seconds in practice, good enough for 11th. Washington, D.C. was the second time this season Simpson was the top Chip Ganassi Racing finisher, as he was fifth. Simpson has been the top Ganassi finisher as many times as Scott Dixon this season, and Simpson enters the final three races with a better average finish than Dixon at 12.533 to the New Zealander's 12.667. This race marks the 50th start in Simpson's career. 

Scott McLaughlin was the slowest Team Penske car in 12th, 0.2912 seconds off Newgarden. McLaughlin will take a nine-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change like Malukas and the other two Juncos Hollinger Racing cars. Like Malukas and the JHR drivers, McLaughlin had been running at the end of every race this prior to his accident in Washington, D.C. The New Zealander had taken the checkered flag in 18 consecutive races.

Christian Rasmussen was 13th in practice at 23.2374 seconds, but the Dane's car will require repairs after contact with Kyle Kirkwood in turn three wrecked both cars. Rasmussen leads all drivers with seven retirements from 15 races this season. He has only six lead lap finishes, the fewest among full-time competitors. Last year, Rasmussen became the 22nd driver to have their first career victory come at the Milwaukee Mile, and the first since Michel Jourdain, Jr. scored his first career victory in the 2003 CART race. 

Romain Grosjean set the 14th-best time in practice at 23.2628 seconds. Grosjean was 24th and ninth in his lone Milwaukee visit in 2024. The Frenchman's best oval finish this season was ninth in the Indianapolis 500. He rides consecutive top ten finishes into Milwaukee. Grosjean has never had three consecutive top ten finishes in his IndyCar career. He has had two consecutive top ten finishes on seven instances, including the last two races.

Scott Dixon has made 15 Milwaukee starts, and he was 15th in practice at 23.3675 seconds. Dixon ended his top ten finish slump with an seventh-place finish last weekend. He had gone eight consecutive races without a top ten finish. In the last seven Milwaukee races, Dixon's best starting position is tenth, which came in 2015. He has not started in the top five at this circuit since he rolled off from third in 2011.

The first driver over a half-second slower than Newgarden was Santino Ferrucci in 16th, 0.5452 seconds behind the Penske driver. Ferrucci was fourth in both Milwaukee races held during the 2024 doubleheader. He is still looking for his first top five finish of this season. Milwaukee was the site of his first top five finish of that 2024 season. Ferrucci has had three consecutive seasons with at least one top five result. 

Graham Rahal led the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars in practice. The problem is Rahal was only good enough for 17th-fastest. Since finishing ninth at Phoenix, Rahal has finished 19th or worse in the other three oval races this season, two of which have been retirements. While he qualified third at Phoenix, Rahal has not started in the top ten of any other oval races this season. 

Felix Rosenqvist ran the second-most laps in the session, 88 only behind Álex Palou's 93, but Rosenqvist was 18th on the speed chart. Rosenqvist has finished 24th and 19th in the last two races. He has not had three consecutive results outside the top fifteen since 2021 when over stretch of five starts his best finish was 16th. That stretch began with the second Texas race and went through the first Detroit race with Mid-Ohio included on the end. Rosenqvist missed the second Detroit race and Road America that year due to injury.

Marcus Armstrong positioned himself directly behind his Meyer Shank Racing teammate in practice, 19th and only 0.0396 seconds slower than Rosenqvist. In nine oval starts with Meyer Shank Racing, Armstrong has seven top ten finishes with an average finish of 10.222. He has two top five finishes on ovals this season, finishing fifth at Phoenix and Indianapolis.

A surprise in 20th was Marcus Ericsson with the Swede 0.6594 seconds slower than Newgarden's best lap. While Ericsson scored his fourth consecutive top ten finish at Washington, D.C., it was also his second consecutive top five finish. The Swede has never had three consecutive top five finishes in his IndyCar career. He has finished in the top ten in the last two oval races, including a second to Newgarden at Gateway

Mick Schumacher's first trip to Milwaukee placed him in 21st for his first practice session, 0.7467 seconds from the top time. Schumacher has finished better than his starting position in three of four oval races this season. He made up nine positions in the Indianapolis 500 going from 27th to 16th, and he improved eight spots at Nashville finishing eighth from 16th on the grid.

Christian Lundgaard's oval woes with Arrow McLaren continued in Milwaukee practice. Lundgaard was 22nd at 23.7652 seconds. The Dane's best oval start this season was 16th at Gateway. He has finished better than his starting position in all four oval races, but his best result was tenth at Gateway. Lundgaard has two top ten finishes in three Milwaukee starts, and his worst finish is 12th. His sixth-place finish last year matched his best career oval finish, which came at Iowa a month earlier.

Louis Foster slotted into 23rd in practice, the final car within a second of Newgarden's fastest time. Foster was 0.8461 seconds off the best time. Foster has started outside the top fifteen in all four oval races this season. His best oval result remains 12th in last year's Indianapolis 500, the first oval race of Foster's IndyCar career. He won at Milwaukee two years ago in Indy Lights.

Caio Collet is coming off his first career top ten finish with a ninth in Washington, D.C., but Collet is wishing he was back in the nation's capital as he was 24th in practice, 1.2228 seconds off Newgarden's best time in the session. Collet's best starting position on an oval was 15th at Nashville. In two Indy Lights starts from Milwaukee, Collet had finishes of eighth and seventh. 

Nolan Siegel had an accident on his second lap of practice, and his only completed lap was an installation lap. Siegel is coming off his best career finish of sixth in Washington, D.C. In three Milwaukee starts, his best finish is 17th and he has failed to get pass lap 25 twice. Last year, he had an accident on the opening lap. 

IndyCar qualifying will take place at 11:00 a.m. ET. Each car will run two laps. The first qualifying lap will determine the starting grid for today's race with the second lap setting the starting grid for tomorrow's race. 

Fox's coverage of the Snap-On Makers and Fixers 250 will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 2:50 p.m. ET. The race is scheduled for 250 laps.

Best of the Month: August 2026

There are still plenty of days left in August, but with an overflowing weekend of action and the final day being on a Monday, we pay our respects to the highlights of the month now, and respects are the proper way to describe this exercise. The end of the year is still a ways off, but this August was an end, in one case for an event, in another case for a few careers. There might be a third of the year remaining, but the final chapter does not always see the start of winter. 

So Long, Zandvoort

A return was a farewell. 

Formula One's summer break finished, and the teams resumed the 2026 season from the shores of the North Sea, but this trip to Zandvoort and the Dutch Grand Prix is indefinitely the final visit. Zandvoort's exit was known long before this season started. It was known before the 2025 season started. Contracted through 2026, the race was seeing out its contract and then disappearing into the sea breeze.

The send-off could not have been much more thrilling than what we saw Sunday. A myriad of strategies, safety cars and virtual safety cars mixing up the bunch and produced a rather outstanding race, even if the sprint race was rather dull the day before. 

It closed with a Lando Norris victory. Mercedes got Andrea Kimi Antonelli to second while George Russell held off the Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc for third. The native son went out with a bang. Max Verstappen slammed the barrier on exit of the banked Arie Luyendyk corner, and Verstappen's race was done before he could complete a lap.

For 35 years, The Netherlands went without Formula One. At the height of its greatest driver, it returned and proved to be a tremendous host. The passion for Verstappen brought out an orange swarm, and it filled every corner of the 2.646-mile circuit. That is not an exaggeration. 

There are not many places to put people around Zandvoort, but nearly the entire permanent was occupied with on-lookers. The biggest possible grandstands were erected in some of the narrowest plots. Very few grand prix look like this. It is safe to argue no grand prix matched this. It felt like the race was taking place inside a school gymnasium, and the entire country came out to watch. 

Zandvoort was built during a different time, and it modernized the best it could ahead of Formula One's return. It could only make up for so much. Modern Formula One cars do not quite fit on this circuit. You could go back 20 years and those cars would be a tight squeeze as well. It is a circuit stuck in another era. It was fortunate to get the six years it got on the calendar. 

The final race was something special. Even 2024 was pretty fun. The 2023 race had wet weather mix up the result. It will be hard to look pass how difficult overtaking was at the circuit. The top five starters in 2021 finished in the exact same position. Last year could have been the same if Norris' car had not failed on him. We could not count on Zandvoort to be a lock for a lively race. Somehow, it turned out that way more than we expected. What we can celebrate was how much passion came out every year Formula One visited. 

We don't know if Zandvoort will ever return. It came back once. Never say never. We don't know if Formula One will ever return to The Netherlands. If it does, it might not match those scenes. It was spectacular to see. 

Most countries each year do not host a Formula One race. About 22 countries are lucky to get a race a year. At a time when one of the best drivers hails from the country, it was fitting The Netherlands got a race on the schedule and Verstappen got a home race. 

Looking over all the past World Drivers' Champions, only Jack Brabham, Denny Hulme and the Finns Keke Rosberg, Mika Häkkinen and Kimi Räikkönen never got a home race. The Australian Grand Prix would join the calendar nearly 20 years after Brabham's last title. Brabham and Hulme both got to race at home. The Tasman Series brought Formula One's best drivers to the Antipodes each winter. It is a shame Formula One has never tried to organize a Finnish Grand Prix. The country has been so fruitful and present for over 40 years. 

There are so many people who have not had the chance to see Formula One in their backyard that calendar expansion makes sense if it brings the series to new places, especially those with ties to the series. 

If there is any hope post-Dutch Grand Prix it is for a revival of the European Grand Prix and having it be a rotating race that can see underserved and somewhat forgotten areas gifted a chance to see the best in the world. Maybe it is the way Zandvoort can remain in the rotation along while finding ways to get to Finland or Denmark or back to Germany and France and Sweden or possibly getting back to Mugello and Jerez though each country already hosts races. Maybe it is how Switzerland can host a race again. It just lifted its 71-year motorsports ban on July 1. 

There can be some melancholia in Zandvoort's end. We will lose an extraordinary scene, but perhaps we can gather hope from its inclusion to see more inspired visits in the future.

Formula E's Duo Departure

We can quickly acknowledge Pascal Wehrlein's second Formula E title in three seasons after rather controversial driving in the final race of the season from London. It was the not the first sour end to a Formula E season in the capital of the United Kingdom. The first two perpetrators of a messy London finish each were a storyline ahead of this year's finale. It marked the end to two of the original Formula E drivers, arguably the series' first rivalry. 

Lucas di Grassi and Sébastien Buemi each announced this would be their final Formula E seasons prior to the London finale. Di Grassi announced his full retirement from motorsports. Buemi will continue with Toyota in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Both drivers set the tone in Formula E, and sometimes for the wrong reasons. 

Since day one, these two drivers competed at the highest level in the series. They both were fighting for the first championship. Buemi won the second title despite di Grassi's best efforts to take out the Swiss driver in the 2016 finale from Battersea Park. Di Grassi won the third title fair and square. Each driver raised the game of the other. 

They went back-and-forth for titles. They went back-and-forth for race victories to the point they were first and second until earlier this season when Mitch Evans ascended to the top spot. They are two of the most experienced drivers in the series history, dating back to the very first race from Beijing. Buemi had a few missed races due to Toyota WEC responsibilities, but both have been Formula E lifers, so much so that we forget two-time champion Jean-Éric Vergne and 2019-20 champion António Félix da Costa both also date back to the very first season, though neither competed in the very first race, and both Vergne and da Costa will continue into 2026-27. 

Buemi and di Grassi are different. In the first years of the series, when it was attempting to gain its footing while carrying the weight a mid-race car swap and slower speeds, Buemi and di Grassi's rivalry gave the series character, a storyline to watch every week. Both were known names from Formula One and sports car racing. There was legitimacy in the competition on the racetrack because of the pedigree each driver brought. 

Their battle waned in the last few years. Neither was the Formula E stalwart they were in that first half-decade of the series. Buemi only won once in the final seven seasons. Di Grassi won four times in that period, but he only won once in the last four seasons, and both drivers each only had one top five championship finish in the last seven seasons. 

Both had gone from the top teams to fighting from the midfield and further back. The next generation arrived and took the factory-affiliated roles Buemi and di Grassi originally had, the old guard shuffled to the privateer entries fighting from behind. 

It is fitting they leave together. It would not feel right one racing without the other in this category. We will get a few more days with Vergne and da Costa, and then the first generation will be gone. For as much animosity Formula E has created for its existence and the lack of what it is, the series has beat many expectations. For a series many gave a year or two, three tops of survival, it has completed a decade and it is onto its fourth generation of car. The car swap has been long gone. Permanent racetracks are now the common stomping grounds, a change that is worthy of discussion on a later date. 

However, we have now seen one generation call a close on a career in the series with a second already underway and in full control. Whatever happens next in Formula E history will occur thanks to the exploits of Buemi and di Grassi setting the foundation.

September Preview

This is when the motorsports season start to get serious. 

A number of championships are rounding into the final stretch. IndyCar will be over in a little over a week. We are running out races, opportunities, and soon we will see the final checkered flag. Not only will trophy presentations and champagne celebrations follow but change will occur. Drivers will leave teams. Manufacturers will leave series. What we saw will be gone, never to be repeated, and we will later return to see something entirely different yet familiar. 

There will be two FIA World Endurance Championship rounds this month, Austin and Fuji. IMSA has its penultimate round from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, though it is a two-hour and 40-minute sprint and not a six-hour endurance race. The European Le Mans Series has its penultimate round at Silverstone. GT World Challenge America has its penultimate round from Barber Motorsports Park. It isn't the antepenultimate round in GT World Challenge Europe, but it is the Sprint Cup's penultimate round from Zandvoort. Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters only has one more round after this month's visit to the Sachsenring. 

For sports car series, September is the month where all championships get busy. If you want to be champion, you will need an outstanding September, and even that might not be enough.

Other events of note in September:

IndyCar concludes at Laguna Seca. 

NASCAR's playoffs begin. 

Formula One has a full September with Monza, a new race in Madrid and a Saturday in Baku. 

MotoGP finishes off the main European portion of the calendar at Misano and the Red Bull Ring. 

After nearly two months off, World Superbike will race at Magny-Cours and Cremona. 

There will be the Suzuka 1000km, the 50th edition of the race, and it will be the penultimate round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge season.