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. 

Track Walk: Milwaukee 2026

The 16th and 17th races of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season takes place from the Milwaukee Mile, the only doubleheader weekend in the season. It is the penultimate race weekend of the season with the Laguna Seca finale only seven days away from the checkered flag this Sunday. Through the first four oval races, we have had three different winners. Over the past two seasons, there have been three different winners in the three Milwaukee races, but all three were victories for Chevrolet drivers, and no Honda driver has won at Milwaukee since engine competition returned to IndyCar in 2012.

Coverage

Time: Race one coverage begins at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday August 29 with green flag scheduled for 2:50 p.m. ET. Race two coverage begins at 1:00 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 1:20 p.m. ET.
Channel: Fox
Announcers: Will Buxton, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Kevin Lee, Georgia Henneberry and Jack Harvey will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Saturday:

Practice: 6:00 p.m. ET (90 minutes)

Saturday:

Qualifying: 11:00 a.m. ET 

Race: 2:50 p.m. ET (250 laps)

Sunday:
Race: 1:20 p.m. ET (250 laps)

Take Two For Palou

It was a stretch for Álex Palou to lock up the championship in Washington, D.C., and unfortunately for the Catalan driver he went in the wrong direction. Instead of getting closer to the championship, Palou lost some ground. A 20th-place finish combined with Kyle Kirkwood's dominant victory with 128 of 147 laps led saw Palou's lead shrink to 91 points with three races remaining. 

Despite the decreased advantage, Palou is still in control and has a firm hand on the Astor Cup. There is a chance Palou could lock it up on Saturday. 

To clinch it with two races to spare, Palou would need a 108-point championship lead. It could be done with a race victory. A victory for Palou combined with Kirkwood finishing fourth or worse with fewer than three bonus points scored would clinch the championship for Palou. If Palou were to score the maximum 54 points, he could take the championship if Kirkwood finishes third. 

If Palou were to finish second with no bonus points scored, Kirkwood would need to finish ninth or worse with no bonus points and Christian Lundgaard to finish second or worse with no more than two bonus points scored.

Last year, Palou started on pole position at Milwaukee and led 199 laps before being passed with 16 laps to go and ultimately settling for second. In the 2024 Milwaukee doubleheader, Palou was fifth in the first race, but an electrical issue before the start of the second race saw Palou unable to take the green flag on time. He would join the race but he ended up finishing 21 laps down in 19th. 

Kirkwood's Washington, D.C. victory was a lifeline to his championship hopes. With 53 points scored, he was able to pick up 42 points on Palou. It was Kirkwood's second victory of the season and his ninth top five finish. Kirkwood has finished in the top ten in three of four oval races this season.

Christian Lundgaard begins the Milwaukee weekend needing some work to remain alive for the title. Entering 110 points behind Palou, Lundgaard will need to make up at least two points on Palou in the first race to remain alive, but he will need to make up more than that to have any legitimate hope. Lundgaard's best oval finish this season was tenth at Gateway. 

With three consecutive finishes outside the top ten, David Malukas has dropped to fourth in the championship, 142 points behind Palou. Malukas has finished on the podium in three of four oval races this season with his worst oval result being seventh. He has finished ahead of Palou in three of the four oval races as well.

Patricio O'Ward is still alive for the championship by the slimmest of margins. At 154 points off Palou's lead, O'Ward needs some help to have any hope of stealing the championship. If O'Ward were to win the final three races with the maximum 54 points in all three, he would need Palou to fail to start two of the final three races. O'Ward will be eliminated from the championship if Palou scores eight points or greater in the first Milwaukee race.

If Palou clinches early it would be the first time the championship did not go to the wire in consecutive seasons since Sébastien Bourdais claimed the Champ Car title with a race to spare in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Palou would match Bourdais' record streak of four consecutive titles from 2004 to 2007. Palou's fifth title would place him into third all-time in championships behind A.J. Foyt's seven and Scott Dixon's six.

Andretti Global's Surge

No team is flying higher than Andretti Global at the moment. 

Andretti heads to Milwaukee having won the last two races. On both occasions has it been a double-podium day for the organization as in each case its drivers have finish first and third. At Markham, Marcus Ericsson took his first victory with the team in what was his 47th start for the organization. Will Power was third. Last week, Kyle Kirkwood had a sensational race in Washington, D.C., leading 128 of 147 laps and regularly being over ten seconds clear of the field. Power again had a terrific drive to finish third. 

This is the first time the organization has won consecutive races with two different drivers since 2013 when Ryan Hunter-Reay won at Milwaukee and James Hinchcliffe won at Iowa. 

Not only was Andretti Global first and third in Washington, D.C., Ericsson drove to a fourth-place finish. These three drivers finished in the exact same position at Arlington in March. It is the team's second triple-top five day this season. It is the first time the team has had at least three top five finishers in multiple races in the same season since 2013. At the Indianapolis 500, Andretti went second-third-fourth with Carlos Muñoz, Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti. Four races later, Hunter-Reay won at Milwaukee with E.J. Viso taking fourth and Hinchcliffe was fifth. 

The team seeks more in 2026. The organization has not won three consecutive races since Ryan Hunter-Reay went on a three-race tear in the summer of 2012 winning at Milwaukee, Iowa and Toronto. That vaulted Hunter-Reay into the title discussion. Andretti Global has three victories this season, but it has not won more than three races in a season since 2018 when it won five times. 

Kirkwood has been one of the better drivers this season. His victory in Washington, D.C. made him one of four drivers with multiple victories this season. His nine top five finishes are second only to Álex Palou's 11, but Kirkwood leads IndyCar with 13 top ten finishes through the first 15 races. His 220 laps led are also second in IndyCar, again behind Palou, who has led 558 laps in 2026.

Ericsson is on a run of form with four consecutive top ten finishes, all results of sixth or better. The Swede will have a chance to match his longest top ten finish stretch with Andretti Global in the opening Milwaukee race. In 2024, Ericsson had five consecutive top ten finishes from Detroit through Iowa. He has consecutive top five finishes for only the third time in his career, and he has never had three consecutive top five results. 

Will Power has been one of the best drivers in IndyCar since the month of August began. Power has yet to finish worse than third since the calendar changed to the eighth month of the year. The problem is Power has not finished better than third either. It is still three consecutive podium finishes for the Australian, a first for him since 2022. 

With Power's surge in particular, there is a chance all three Andretti drivers could finish in the top ten of the championship this season. Kirkwood is second on 462 points, Ericsson has 361 points in seventh, and Power cracked the championship top ten for the first time this season after Washington, D.C. 

The team has not had three drivers in the championship top ten since 2020 if you count Colton Herta, who ran an Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport car that year. Herta was third in the championship while Alexander Rossi was ninth and Ryan Hunter-Reay was tenth.

Historically, Milwaukee has been a great track for the Andretti Global group. The team has won five times at the circuit. In the last two years, the team has combined for six finishes outside the top ten out of nine entries. However, the team did have all three of its cars finish in the top ten of the second race of the 2024 doubleheader with Colton Herta taking third, Ericsson finishing fifth and Kirkwood in eighth.

The Final Oval

There are two oval races remaining this season, and technically 21 drivers could end this season as the unofficial oval champion. 

David Malukas has the most oval points through the first four events though Malukas has not won this season. He has finished third, second, seventh and second in the four oval races. He led the most laps at Phoenix and the second-most laps at Nashville despite starting 25th in that event. 

Five points behind Malukas is Josef Newgarden, a two-time winner this year on ovals. Newgarden made a late charge on fresh tires at Phoenix to take the victory having led only eight laps, including the final seven circuits of the one-mile oval. At Gateway, Newgarden led the second-most laps, but after a tense battle with Marcus Ericsson and Christian Rasmussen, Newgarden came out on top. Newgarden was second at Nashville but his accident in the Indianapolis 500 hangs over his season. 

Team Penske sweeps the top three in oval points. Scott McLaughlin has scored 127 points from the first four oval races, 25 points behind his teammate Malukas. McLaughlin has finished in the top five in the last three oval races and his worst oval result was eighth at Phoenix. McLaughlin won the second race of the 2024 Milwaukee doubleheader. 

Indianapolis 500 winner Felix Rosenqvist sits in fourth on oval points with 125. While Rosenqvist won at Indianapolis, he has finished outside the top ten in two of the four oval races. The Swede was fifth at Nashville. Patricio O'Ward rounds out the top five with 118 points. O'Ward was fourth in the first two oval races before finishing 11th in the next two oval races. 

Nashville winner Álex Palou has scored 110 points in the first four oval races. Palou was 24th at Phoenix after an early accident with Rinus VeeKay. At Gateway, Palou ran out of fuel entering pit lane for his final pit stop and ended up finishing a lap down in 17th after appearing set for a top ten result. 

Kyle Kirkwood is just ahead of his Andretti Global teammate Marcus Ericsson. Kirkwood has 105 points with Ericsson on 102. Ericsson was second at Gateway and sixth at Nashville.

Marcus Armstrong has 90 points, one more than Rinus VeeKay, who rounds out the top ten. Santino Ferrucci has 85 oval points. Scott Dixon is on 77, three more than Kyffin Simpson. While he was third at Gateway, Christian Rasmussen has scored only 67 points on ovals this season with two finishes outside the top ten. Christian Lundgaard rounds out the top fifteen on 65 points. 

Alexander Rossi has 64 points from four oval races, two more than Mick Schumacher and Romain Grosjean has 59 points. Will Power has scored 55 points through the first four oval races, one more than Nolan Siegel. Graham Rahal has 50 points. 

Sting Ray Robb, Dennis Hauger, Louis Foster and Caio Collet are the four drivers that are mathematically eliminated from the unofficial oval championship. These four drivers have 42, 41, 40 and 31 points respectively. 

Last season, Palou topped the unofficial oval championship with 252 points, 44 points clear of O'Ward, the only other driver to break 200 ovals points in 2025. Rasmussen took third on 173 points, 16 points ahead of Newgarden with Dixon rounding out the top five on 153 points. 

Malukas was sixth on 149 points, seven ahead of Conor Daly. Ferrucci scored 140 oval points in 2025 with Meyer Shank Racing teammates Rosenqvist and Armstrong rounding out the top ten on 129 points and 125 points respectively. Kirkwood and McLaughlin were level on 120 points. Lundgaard was the final driver to break 100 oval points as the Dane scored 117 over the six races.

Along with Palou, Dixon (2011, 2020), Newgarden (2016, 2023), Power (2018), O'Ward (2021-22) and McLaughlin (2024) are the active drivers that previously led the series in oval points in a season since 2010. Dixon did not win an oval race in 2011. That is the only time since 2010 the top oval driver did not win an oval race.

Rasmussen's Return

The oval results do not add up compared to the pace we have seen from Christian Rasmussen this season, but Rasmussen is likely thrilled to be back in Milwaukee.

Last year, Rasmussen had a top ten run going, but a late caution for a sun shower opened an opportunity for drivers to take tires before the final 40-lap sprint to the finish. Rasmussen took tires and started working his way forward. Soon, he was the lone challenger to Álex Palou, who had been in firm control of the race. With 16 laps remaining, Rasmussen took the lead.

Despite being in front and pulling away from Palou, Rasmussen remained on the ragged edge with a few notable corrections on corner exit that could have put any other driver in the barrier. 

The victory was Ed Carpenter Racing's first since Rinus VeeKay won the 2021 Grand Prix of Indianapolis, and it was ECR's first oval victory since 2016 at Iowa with Josef Newgarden. 

Rasmussen is hoping for a repeat of his 2025 performance, and he mightily needs it. The Dane and the #21 ECR team are on the bubble for the final Leader Circle spot, 22nd in the standings on 180 points, tied with Caio Collet and the #4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet. Rasmussen and the #21 team holds the tiebreaker with the better finish. 

The best finish for Rasmussen is third while Collet picked up his first top ten finish of the season last week in Washington, D.C. when the Brazilian was ninth. Collet has finished outside the top twenty in three of four oval races this season, retiring on all three occasions, and two of those were accidents. His best oval result was 19th at Phoenix. 

Collet isn't the only one pushing for the final Leader Circle spot. Mick Schumacher and the #47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda has 170 points, ten points off 22nd. Schumacher was eighth in the most recent oval race at Nashville. The German has finished outside the top fifteen in the other three oval races. 

Sting Ray Robb and the #77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet is not out of the mix either. Robb is 25 points on the outside. Robb's best oval result was 15th at Nashville. His best finish this season was 11th at Markham. 

Just above Rasmussen is Dennis Hauger. Hauger is only 24 points clear of safety in 21st. Louis Foster is another eight points clear in 20th, 32 points above the drop zone. Hauger has finished outside the top twenty in the last two oval races. Foster's best oval finish was 17th at Nashville.

These will be the 117th and 118th IndyCar races held at the Milwaukee Mile. On 19 occasions has a driver won consecutive Milwaukee races. The most recent to do it was Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won in 2012 and 2013. Rasmussen could win three consecutive Milwaukee races if he sweeps the doubleheader. Prior to Hunter-Reay, Tony Kanaan won in consecutive years, taking victory in 2006 and 2007.

Only once has a driver won three consecutive Milwaukee races. That would be Tom Sneva, who won at the circuit in August 1982 before winning in 1983 and 1984. 

Road to Indy

We are at the very end of the Road to Indy seasons as well, and two series will compete this weekend with IndyCar, both of which will be contesting their penultimate rounds. 

Three races remain in the Indy Lights season, but it has the reverse of IndyCar. The junior series has one race at Milwaukee before concluding with a doubleheader in Laguna Seca. Eight drivers are still mathematically alive for the championship, but it is really a three-horse race that could quickly turn into two. 

Enzo Fittipaldi retook the championship lead at Portland with a seventh-place finish, and Nikita Johnson was eighth. Only one point separates the two drivers with three races remaining. Fittipaldi has 476 points and Johnson has 475 points. 

Fittipaldi has won four times this season, all coming since Johnson's most recent victory. Johnson won two of the first three races, but he has not won since. That eighth at Portland is Johnson's worst result this season. Fittipaldi has finished outside the top ten in four races this season, including both oval races. The Brazilian was 13th at Gateway and 11th at Nashville. Johnson was seventh at Gateway and second at Nashville. 

Tymek Kucharczyk is within touching distance of the championship lead. Kucharczyk is 18 points behind Fittipaldi. While the Polish driver has four top five finishes in the last five races, mixed in there is an 18th at Nashville. He was also ninth at Gateway in June. 

Max Taylor got back on the podium with a third at Portland, his first trip to the rostrum since he was second in the second race from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. Taylor is 80 points off the championship lead. He was fifth in both oval races this season. 

Lochie Hughes is 90 points behind Fittipaldi, and Hughes was second at Portland. It was only his third podium finish of the season. Hughes had eight podium finishes in 2025. Alessandro de Tullio scored his second victory of the season at Portland. De Tullio trails Fittipaldi by 98 points.

Myles Rowe needs a fair amount of help for his title hopes. Rowe is 132 points back. He was the winner at Gateway after starting last, and he did finish third at Nashville. Jack Beeton is mathematically alive for the championship, but he will be eliminated as soon as Fittipaldi starts the race. Beeton is 160 points back with 162 points left on the table. 

Nashville race winner Matteo Nannini is just outside championship contention. Nannini is 169 points back. Jacob Abel will be back for his second round of the season. Abel was fifth at Portland. He was second in the 2024 Milwaukee race, and he has three runner-up finishes on ovals in Indy Lights.

The Indy Lights race will begin at 11:00 a.m. ET on Sunday August 30 with the race scheduled for 90 laps. 

For USF Pro 2000, we have four races remaining as, after its Milwaukee date, the series will remain in Wisconsin for the finale weekend from Road America, a triple-header held over September 24-26. U.S. F2000 will also finish its season with a triple-header that weekend at Road America.

Nine drivers are still mathematically alive for the USF Pro 2000 championship, and we had a championship lead change in Markham. 

With Leonardo Escorpioni unable to compete in Canada due to a visa issue, Jack Jeffers moved into first with a victory and a second in Markham. Jeffers has 309 points and a 33-point lead over Escorpioni. 

Jeffers had not won since the IMS road course in May. Escorpioni had won four of the previous five races before the Canadian weekend. 

G3 Argyros is third, 41 points behind Jeffers. Argyros has seven top five finishes from the last nine races with three victories in that stretch, but he has finished outside the top ten in those other two races. Andrés Cárdenas scored his first victory of the season in the second Markham race, and Cárdenas is 63 points back. 

Frankie Mossman rounds out the top five, 83 points behind Jeffers. Another ten points back is Thomas Schrage, who scored his first podium finish of the season with a third in Markham. Teddy Musella is on 179 points with Brady Golan on 171 points. Indianapolis Raceway Park winner Michael Costello is still mathematically alive with 166 points, but Costello ran out of budget after the Mid-Ohio weekend and has not been able to contest the last two race weekends. 

Full-time U.S. F2000 drivers Evan Cooley and Anthony Martella will compete this weekend in USF Pro 2000 at Milwaukee. Both are racing for Exclusive Autosport, the same team they run for in U.S. F2000. 

Cooley sits fourth in the U.S. F2000 championship, and he won the U.S. F2000 race from IRP in May. It is his only victory of the eason. Martella has three victories in U.S. F2000, IMS road course, Road America and Mid-Ohio. Martella led the first 43 laps of the U.S. F2000 race from IRP but the Canadian was caught in an accident when the lapped car od Cal Peters spun in front of him.

This will be the first time the USF Pro 2000 division has competed at Milwaukee since 2014. Spencer Pigot won that race ahead of Scott Hargrove and Shelby Blackstock.

USF Pro 2000 will follow the IndyCar race on Saturday August 29. It is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. ET start. The race will have a 45-minute time limit. 

Fast Facts

This will be the 12th IndyCar race to take place on August 29 and the 15th race to take place on August 30, and it will be the first time both these dates have held races since 2020 when a doubleheader weekend was held at Gateway. Scott Dixon won the first race and Josef Newgarden won the second race.

Twice previously has Milwaukee hosted a race on August 29. Myron Fohr and Tony Bettenhausen won on this date in 1948. Bettenhausen ran the final 67 laps after his car droped out of the race. Manny Ayulo won in 1954. 

There have also been two past Milwaukee races held on August 30. Chuck Stevenson won on that date in 1953 and Rodger Ward won in 1959.

Ward is the all-time leader in Milwaukee races with seven races.

There have been six different winners in the last six Milwaukee races (Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power, Sébastien Bourdais, Patricio O'Ward, Scott McLaughlin, Christian Rasmussen).

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

This will be the tenth and 11th Milwaukee races scheduled for a 250-lap distance. 

Last year, 16 cars finished on the lead lap at Milwaukee, the most ever for a Milwaukee race.

The average starting position for a Milwaukee winner is 4.5517 with a median of third. 

Eleven of the last 15 Milwaukee races have been won from a top five starting position. Two of those Milwaukee races were won from 11th, Patricio O'Ward won the first race of the 2024 doubleheader from sixth and Christian Rasmussen won from ninth last year.

Thirteen of 116 Milwaukee races have been won from outside the top ten.

The average number of lead changes in a Milwaukee race is 4.7699 with a median of five.

The second race of the 2024 doubleheader had 13 lead changes, the most ever for a Milwaukee race. Last year's race had 11 lead changes. 

The six Milwaukee races held during the DW12 era had an average of 9.833 lead changes with a median of ten.

Only once in the 25 Milwaukee races prior to the DW12 chassis were there at least ten lead changes. The 2001 CART race had 12 lead changes with Kenny Bräck taking the victory. Michael Andretti was second with Scott Dixon finishing third, the second career podium finish for Dixon. 

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

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

The average number of caution laps in a Milwaukee race since 1972 is four with a median of four. The average number of caution laps is 29.7 with a median of 28.5.

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

Predictions

Álex Palou will sweep the weekend, but if Palou doesn't sweep the weekend, he is going to win at least one race, and if Palou doesn't win at least one race, Josef Newgarden takes one victory and Scott McLaughlin takes the other. Christian Rasmussen will have one good race and one bad race, but Rasmussen will put points between himself and Caio Collet for 22nd in the championship. There will be no cautions for rain. Christian Lundgaard scores his best oval finish of the season, and Lundgaard will be the best Arrow McLaren finisher in one of the races. Will Power does not have a third-place finish. Sleepers: Alexander Rossi and Marcus Armstrong.

Musings From the Weekend: This Should Be The Finale

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

Kyle Kirkwood thrashed the field on his way to victory in the IndyCar race from Washington, D.C. The Netherlands didn't need to rain help produce a good Dutch Grand Prix, though it could have used it for the sprint race. We did see one of the greater passes of the year at Zandvoort. There were a few notable accidents across the sports car racing world. NASCAR started in the damp in New England. We are approaching the final weekend of August. That means the IndyCar season is almost over. We should consider the venue of the finale. IndyCar's best option could be right under its nose.

This Should Be The Finale

In two years since its return to the IndyCar calendar, Milwaukee has developed into a can't-miss event. Prior to its return in 2024, there was skepticism the one-mile oval would draw a respectable crowd after it struggled to attract and maintain interest a decade earlier. Year one blew everyone away and it continued in year two. Year three sees a return of a doubleheader weekend, providing full Saturday and Sunday for spectators. 

Milwaukee has quickly become a standout event, something IndyCar needs especially for an oval. I said it after last year's race and I will reiterate it now, Milwaukee should be IndyCar's finale. 

It has a crowd. It has an identity. It has outstanding racing. It certainly would feel like a proper setting to conclude the season. IndyCar has struggled for decades to have a worthy season finale. It has gone around the country chasing the proper event and none have stuck. It once ended at Chicagoland and tried Homestead. A Las Vegas attempt was made. It returned to Fontana. It has experimented in Northern California, first at Sonoma and then returning to Laguna Seca, once a proper finale. Nashville got the spot in what was supposed to be a street race, but turned into a respectable oval event. Each has had shortcomings, mostly the lack of a crowd and the feeling of a championship-decider. 

Chicagoland was never going to stick on the first Sunday of the NFL season. Homestead never drew a crowd. Fontana was good and was better in 2013 it closed the season in October, but it lost the spot as the season finale when it was decided to conclude the season by Labor Day. Sonoma never really had great crowds, and Laguna Seca hasn't come close to the finales we saw over 30 years ago. Nashville was good, but it was distant from the downtown location we became accustomed to visiting. 

Milwaukee ticks all the boxes. It is essentially in a downtown location, and it fills the stands. If it was the finale, it could force the removal of some of those sponsorship banners and opening a few more of those grandstands. Most importantly, it has had some dramatic racing in the last two years. The final race would come down to the closing laps, keeping the audience engaged to the very end, which is what you want especially if a championship is on the line. There is also history in the venue, hosting IndyCar races prior to World War II and long being a staple on the schedule even if it was absent for a chunk of the 21st century. 

It might not be the finale IndyCar wants, but it is the finale IndyCar deserves. 

Laguna Seca reclaimed the finale spot this year as Nashville moved to the summer to follow the FIFA World Cup Final, an experiment rain washed out. One of the other pushes for Laguna Seca is certain people desire to be in Monterey. It is a gorgeous part of the country, and for sponsors and dignitaries, it is a good place to spend a weekend. The problem is Laguna Seca doesn't draw 15,000 spectators. The place looks empty even with grandstands that are no larger than many top-tier high school football fields. 

If Laguna Seca was drawing 40,000 people or 50,000 people and looked close to the old days of Bobby Rahal, Michael Andretti and Alex Zanardi, it would be a proper place to finish the season. That isn't the case, and if we were honest, Laguna Seca could be sacrificed for a different venue with a better crowd elsewhere in the country. Pleasing sponsors is part of the game, but IndyCar needs to end with a bang, and Milwaukee is it. 

It isn't the largest crowd, but Milwaukee feels big. Anyone watching at home will see a full grandstand and believe it is an event keeping an eye on. The visuals go further than you think. If the stands are empty, viewers at home will think it is not worth their time and move on. For the finale, IndyCar's final race for six months, it should do all it can to attract an audience before closing the curtain. 

Beyond how it looks on television, Milwaukee has been done correctly the last two years. It has taken advantage of its location on the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds and made the race an extension of the fair atmosphere. People have loved it, and it gives the spectators more beyond what is happening on the track. The sponsors might love the setting of Laguna Seca, but in terms of an event, it is hard to say Milwaukee would not be a good sell. 

After all, don't sponsors want to see a crowd, potential customers, people they can sell to? Even if it is 30,000 people, it is much more than we have at Laguna Seca, and it is contained to a smaller area, making it easier to reach and be seen by those attending. 

For as much as we see IndyCar's midwestern base as a crutch to the series that keeps its from expanding, it is fine that it has that foundation and it is probably the best location for the finale to take place. We aren't lying to ourselves about where a fair number of the fanbase originates. Milwaukee would be accessible to the core audience and the finale would only be greater if it was held in their backyard. 

If you need to wine-and-dine folks, house them an hour up the road at Whistling Straits, the golf resort on the shores of Lake Michigan, and hold the banquet there. It is a little out of the way, but they will all take their helicopters back and forth. They will be fine. They can have their luxurious weekend and the IndyCar fans can have a celebrated race cap off the season while enjoying cream puffs and fried cheese curds. Hell, even the swanky crowd loves fair food. It is a win-win for everyone. 

Milwaukee is already 95% of the way to being a knockout finale location. The final 5% is mostly just making it the last race. 

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Kyle Kirkwood, but did you know...

Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix, his second career victory. George Russell won the sprint race.

Ryan Blaney won the NASCAR Cup race from Loudon, his third victory of the season. Layne Riggs won the Truck race, his sixth victory of the season. 

The #9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini of Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell won the IMSA race from Virginia International Raceway. The #57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG of Russell Ward and Philip Ellis won in GTD. 

The #43 Inter Europol Competition Oreca-Gibson of Jakub Śmechowski, Tom Dillmann and Nick Yelloly won the 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. The #5 Rinaldi Racing of José Cautela, Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen and Alvise Rodella won in Ligier-Toyota won in LMP3. The #86 GR Racing Ferrari of Michael Wainwright, Lorcan Hanafin, and Mex Jansen won in LMGT3.

The #16 ARTA Mugen Honda of Tomoki Nojiri and Ren Sato won the Super GT race from Suzuka. The #9 Pacific Racing Team BMW of Yusuke Tomibayashi and Yuta Fujiwara won in GT300.

Brodie Kostecki, Will Brown and Broc Feeney split the Supercars races from Queensland Raceway.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar has its doubleheader in Milwaukee. 

GT World Challenge America will be up the road at Road America. It feels like an unnecessary clash. 

GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup has its penultimate round at the Nürburgring. Another unnecessary clash within sanctioning body.

NASCAR concludes its regular season for its top two national series at Daytona.

MotoGP will be in Aragón. 

The World Rally Championship is back in Paraguay.