Track Walk: Nashville 2024

The 17th and final round of the 2024 NTT IndyCar season will be held at Nashville Superspeedway, the first visit to the circuit in 16 years with a championship coming down to effectively one of two drivers. After racing on the streets of downtown Nashville the previous three seasons, the Music City Grand Prix moves 34 miles southeast to the 1.333-mile concrete oval with a mailing address in Lebanon, Tennessee. This will be the ninth race held on the circuit. It is the first time the IndyCar season has ended on an oval since 2014. An oval had hosted the season finale in the first seven seasons after reunification. In four of those seven seasons, the driver entering as the championship leader did not leave as champion. However, the championship lead has not changed hands in the final race since 2015.

Coverage

Time: NBC's coverage begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on Sunday September 15 with green flag scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET. 
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe will be in the booth. Georgia Henneberry and Dave Burns will work pit lane.

IndyCar Weekend Schedule

Saturday:

First Practice: 11:00 a.m. ET (90 minutes)

Qualifying: 2:15 p.m. ET 

Final Practice: 5:15 p.m. ET (Two hours and 45 minutes)
Sunday:
Race: 3:30 p.m. ET (206 laps)

Palou vs. Power

The Astor Cup will likely be handed to either Álex Palou or Will Power when the 267.8-mile race around Nashville Superspeedway is over on Sunday afternoon. 

Palou enters as the championship leader with 525 points. Thirty-three points behind him is Power. Scott McLaughlin has a mathematical chance on paper, but at 50 points back, his only real shot is if Palou is unable to participate at Nashville and then McLaughlin winning the finale. As soon as Palou starts the race, McLaughlin will be eliminated from the championship.

Palou will clinch the championship if he finishes ninth or better, regardless of what Power does. With three victories, Power owns the tiebreaker over Palou's two victories. Power also has four runner-up finishes to Palou's three. No matter what, Power must score at least 38 points this weekend to win the championship. That means he must finish at least second or finish third with at least three bonus points. A bonus point is on offer for pole position and leading a lap while the driver who leads the most laps will earn two bonus points.

This is the third time in four seasons Palou enters the season finale with a hand on the trophy. In 2021, Palou was 35 points clear of Patricio O'Ward and 48 points ahead of Josef Newgarden entering the Long Beach season finale. A 12th-place finish would have clinched the championship for Palou regardless of where anyone else finished on that day. O'Ward was spun on the opening lap and a subsequent driveshaft failure would end his race before the quarter point. Palou climbed to fourth to claim the title. 

Last year, Palou had both arms around the Astor Cup as he clinched the title a race early with a victory in Portland, the first driver to claim a title with races to spare since 2007. 

After winning five races, standing on ten podiums and finishing no worse than eighth, Palou has followed up his 2023 championship season with another remarkable run of form. He has only won twice and stood on six podiums, but he has 13 top five finishes and could have consecutive seasons with 14 top five results. He has also started on pole position three times and he was the big money winner at The Thermal Challenge exhibition race in March.

The challenger, Will Power, started this season on a 27-race winless streak, the longest of his career. That streak increased to 33 races, but he got off the snide at Road America after outclassing his Team Penske teammates McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden in pit strategy, leaping from third to first. Power would go on to win the second Iowa race after catching a timely caution prior to his first pit stop and he thoroughly control the Grand Prix of Portland. 

While having three victories and four runner-up finishes, Power's next best finish this season is seventh. Power has finished outside the top ten in five races. 

Both drivers enter the finale looking for their third championship. For Palou, it would be his third in four years and third in a five-year IndyCar career. For Power, it would be his second in three seasons and it would come ten years after his first. This will be the tenth time Power has gone into a season finale with a shot at the title. 

On the first three occasions, Power entered as the championship leader and lost the title. It happened over three consecutive seasons from 2010 to 2012. On the fourth time, Power led entering the 2014 finale at Fontana and held on for the championship. 

He had a shot at the title in 2015, 61 points back in fourth heading into a double-point season finale at Sonoma. He ended up third, 63 points back. In 2016, he was second, 43 points behind Simon Pagenaud. Pagenaud clinched the championship at Sonoma with a race victory. The 2017 season nearly mirrored 2015. Power was 68 points behind Josef Newgarden with double points on the line. He ended up finishing fifth, 80 points off. 

It was the fifth consecutive season Power entered a season finale with something to race for in 2018, as he was 87 points off the championship lead and requiring a victory with Scott Dixon finishing last at Sonoma. Neither of those things happened. Third in the race and third in the championship was the ultimate consolation prize. 

Power would not be alive for another championship in the final race until the 2022 season. Power was up 20 points on Newgarden and Dixon, 39 points clear of Marcus Ericsson and 41 points in front of McLaughlin as any of the five drivers could have left Laguna Seca as championship that year. In Power's favor was the finale was no longer a double-point affair. Anything on the podium would seal him the title, and Power finished third. 

For Palou, he could become the second-youngest driver to three championships. Only Sam Hornish, Jr. had three championships at a younger age. Palou would be two months and six days older than Hornish, Jr. if he wins the championship on Sunday. Palou would also become the third Team Penske driver with at least three IndyCar championships joining Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti.

For Power, he could become the second-oldest driver to three championships. Only Al Unser won his this championship at an older age. Unser's third and final title in 1985 came when he was 46 years old. A third championship would have Power match Rick Mears for most championships with the Penske organization.

Power's Last Chance for a Pivotal Point

Every point matters in the championship, and the first point awarded comes on Saturday during qualifying. The fastest qualifier will earn one point for pole position. Not only does pole position get a driver a point, but it sets up well to at least lead one lap, which would be another bonus point for a driver. 

It might come to surprise but through 16 races, Will Power has no bonus points for pole position because Power has yet to win a pole position this season. The all-time leader in pole positions with 70 is on the verge of his first season without a pole position since 2008 when Power moved to IndyCar with KV Racing during reunification. Power has won a pole position in 15 consecutive seasons and in 18 of his 20 years in IndyCar. The only other season he did not win pole position was 2005 when he ran the final two Champ Car races for Walker Racing, doing business as Team Australia. 

It has been 21 races since Power's most recent pole position. His previous longest drought was 18 races that included the 17 races he ran in the 2008 season and the 2009 season opener from St. Petersburg. If there is any hope for Power it is that five of his last six pole positions have come on ovals, and six of his eight pole positions have come on ovals. Team Penske has also started on pole position for five of six oval races this season. 

It has not been for a lack of effort. Power has an average starting position of 6.875 through the first 16 races. Only Scott McLaughlin is better at 5.6875, and McLaughlin's five pole positions are the most this season. Power has started on the front row five times. Team Penske has three of the top four drivers in average starting position  this season as Josef Newgarden is fourth at 7.625. Sandwiched in-between the Penske drivers is Álex Palou, third-best in the series at 7.4375. 

Pole position would be just the start for Power. He needs to win pole position but he would also likely need to win the race. Power has not won from pole position since the second race of the Harvest Grand Prix weekend on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on October 3, 2020, ten pole positions ago. Power led all 75 laps in that race. Power does lead all active drivers with victories from pole position with 18. He is tied with Sébastien Bourdais in the record books for third-most all-time. Only Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt have more. 

If there is another positive for Power, he has finished on the podium in six of the nine races he has started on pole positions since he last won from the top starting spot. He has finished sixth or better in eight of those nine races.

Eight different drivers have started on pole position this season with five different teams having claimed a pole position. Two drivers have scored their first career pole position this season.

History says qualifying will be important at Nashville. While the pole-sitter only won once in the first eight visits to the circuit, no Nashville winner started worse than sixth. While Power won the second Iowa race from 22nd starting position, the average starting spot for an oval winner this season is 6.333 with a median of third starting position. 

Of course, there is one way nobody claims the point for pole position. If qualifying is rained out and the grid is set via points, no point would be awarded, which could be costly to Power.

Last Chance for a Win

Sixteen chances are gone. Only one remains for a victory in 2024. For 20 drivers, this will be the final shot to put their name in the record book as a winner in this season. 

For Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard and Marcus Ericsson, this is the final chance for them to continue their winning streaks. For Kirkwood and Lundgaard, it would be a victory in a second consecutive season after each driver had their first career victories come in 2023. Ericsson has won a race in three consecutive seasons. 

Kirkwood sits the best of these drivers in the championship in seventh on 384 points. He has not finished in the top five since he was second at Toronto in July. His record on ovals this season has been three top ten with an average finish of 12th. Lundgaard had his best two oval finishes at Milwaukee with finishes of ninth and 12th, but his average oval result has been 14.667. This has been a trying season for Ericsson. Thirteenth in the championship, he is on pace for his worst season since he was 17th in his rookie year. On ovals, his average finish is 20.1667 with four results of 23rd or worse. 

Along with Kirkwood, two other drivers are in the top ten in the championship without a victory. Alexander Rossi is eighth in points. Santino Ferrucci is tenth. Rossi has not in 37 starts. Ferrucci has not won 76 career starts. It has been over six years since Rossi won on an oval. The last time a first-time winner occurred in a season finale was Ed Carpenter at Kentucky in 2011. Along with Ferrucci, 12 other drivers will enter Nashville looking for a first career victory. Only one driver has had a first career victory at Nashville Superspeedway. That was Alex Barron in the 2002 race driving for Blair Racing.

Felix Rosenqvist has not won in 74 starts. Rinus VeeKay has not won in 60 starts. Both drivers have only won once in their career. Rosenqvist has only two top five finishes in his career on ovals. The first was in the 2022 Indianapolis 500. The other was second race of the 2023 Iowa doubleheader. Both were fourth-place results. VeeKay's fifth in the first Iowa race this season was his first top five result in two years, which also came at Iowa. His only other top five finish on an oval in his career was the second race of the 2020 Gateway doubleheader.

Graham Rahal has not won in 123 starts. The record for most starts between victories is 124 starts, which Graham Rahal set between his first career victory at St. Petersburg in 2008 and Fontana in 2015. His best finish this season was eighth in the second Iowa race. He has not had a top five since he was runner-up last July in the second race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. he has not had a top five finish on an oval since the second race of the 2021 Texas doubleheader when he finished third.

The most recent driver to score a first victory of the season in the season finale was Álex Palou at Laguna Seca last year. Prior to that it was Tony Kanaan at Fontana in 2014.

Oval Points

Nashville is the seventh and final oval race of the 2024 season, and the oval championship is already over. With 254 points, 69 points clear of second with only 54 points remaining on the table, Scott McLaughlin has clinched the unofficial oval championship with a race to spare.

McLaughlin has won two oval races, stood on the podium four times and his worst finish has been eighth through the first six oval races. His average finish on ovals this season is 3.5. McLaughlin has also started on pole position in four oval races, and he has started on pole position at every oval track on this year's schedule. Of the 637 laps McLaughlin has led this season, 556 of those laps have been on ovals. 

The New Zealander is 11th driver to win the oval champion since the honor was first officially recognized in 2010. This is the eighth time in 15 years a Team Penske driver has taken the top honor on ovals. However, since 2010, only three times has the driver with the most oval points in a season won the overall championship. Scott Dixon was the last to accomplish it in 2020.

While McLaughlin has first locked up, it is a nine-way battle for second. 

The 2023 oval champion Josef Newgarden is second on 185 points after victories at Indianapolis and Gateway. However, with finishes of 26th and 27th at Milwaukee, Newgarden is only five points ahead of Scott Dixon in third. Dixon has not won an oval race this season, but he does have four top five finishes and his worst oval results is 11th. Two-time oval champion Patricio O'Ward is seven points off of second, and O'Ward has an oval victory and three podium finishes over the six races.

Santino Ferrucci is fifth in oval points with 162 points. Ferrucci has two top five finishes and four top ten finishes on ovals this season with his worst result being 12th. He was fourth in both Milwaukee races. Ferrucci is five points ahead of Will Power, who has two victories and three podium finishes on ovals, but Power has also finished 18th or worse in the other three oval races.

Overall championship leader Álex Palou is seventh on 154 oval points. Palou's worst two results have been on ovals, but he does have four top five finishes in this discipline. A first career oval victory still eludes the Catalan driver. Alexander Rossi is on 148 points, five points ahead of Rinus VeeKay. 

Colton Herta is the final driver mathematically eligible for second in oval points. Herta is 52 points back with 54 left on the table. Herta will be eliminated from second once Newgarden starts the race. He will also be eliminated from third once Dixon starts the race. The best Herta can finish in oval points is fourth.

Just outside the top ten in oval points are Kyle Kirkwood on 119 points, 14 points behind his Andretti Global teammate Herta. Linus Lundqvist is 25 points outside the top ten. Felix Rosenqvist is 38 points off Herta while Christian Lundgaard is 39 points out. Conor Daly, despite having only run five of six oval races, is 15th in oval points, and he is the final driver mathematically eligible for the top ten in oval points. Daly trails Herta by 42 points.

Leader Circle Battle

While the championship will draw most of our focus, there is a battle at the bottom of the championship for funding in the 2025 season. The final Leader Circle spots for 2025 will be decided at Nashville, and it has been tight at the bottom all season. The Leader Circle has also been a motivator for driver changes throughout the season. 

Only 22 teams will get the funding that is a little over $1 million from IndyCar for the following season, and each organization is limited to three Leader Circle spots. 

Eighteen of the 22 spots have been decided. The remaining four spots have seven cars competing. The final four spots are currently held by the #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, the #66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, the #30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda and the #41 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet. 

There are three entries on the outside with a chance at obtain a spot, the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet, the #51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda and the #18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda. 

Thanks to a third-place finish in the first Milwaukee race, Conor Daly has the #78 JHR Chevrolet on 189 points and 15 points above the cutline entering the Nashville finale. Two points behind the #78 Chevrolet is Meyer Shank Racing with its #66 Honda. After the Indianapolis 500, the #66 Honda was tied for the final spot with the #41 Foyt entry. 

Only three points cover the next three entries. The #30 RLLR Honda has 177 points, two more than the #41 Foyt Chevrolet in the 22nd and final spot, and three points ahead of the #20 ECR Chevrolet on the outside, which will have Christian Rasmussen in the car for the finale. 

The two Dale Coyne Racing cars both have an outside shot at the Leader Circle spots. The #51 Honda is 15 points from safety while the #18 Honda is 38 points on the outside. The #18 Honda can only make the Leader Circle if its finishes at least second or third with at least three bonus points scored. 

Since returning from the Olympic break, the #78 JHR Chevrolet leads all of these entrants with 73 points scored over the last four races. At the time of the change from Agustín Canapino to Conor Daly, the #78 Chevrolet was only one point better than the #51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda in the championship and in the first spot on the outside. 

The only other car in the Leader Circle battle to score more than 50 points over the previous four races is the #20 ECR Chevrolet. Dale Coyne Racing's #51 Honda has the next most points with 45, one more the #41 Foyt Chevrolet and three more than the #30 RLLR Honda. The #18 Coyne Honda has actually score more points over the last four races than MSR's #66 Honda. The #18 Honda has scored 36 points to the #66 Honda's 33 points. 

Entering this season, the #66 MSR Honda, the #41 Foyt Chevrolet and the #51 Coyne Honda were all non-chartered entries after those three failed to qualify at the end of the 2023 season. 

Strange But True Facts Entering the Season Finale

Many things have happened this season, and there are a few things you might not have noticed that we should cover before we get to Nashville.

For starters, did you realize Honda has won at least one oval race in every season since engine competition returned to IndyCar in 2012? That streak is endangered as Honda has not won an oval race this season. Chevrolet has won 13 of the last 14 oval races. Last year, Honda avoided being shut out in oval victories with a win in the final oval race of the season at Gateway Motorsports Park and Scott Dixon.

Since 2012, Chevrolet has won 49 of 71 oval races.

Through 16 races, Santino Ferrucci has been the top starting A.J. Foyt Racing entry in all 16 races. On two occasions, Ferrucci has started one position better than Sting Ray Robb. That was at Long Beach and the first Milwaukee race. 

It should be no surprise that championship leader Álex Palou has led the way for Chip Ganassi Racing. Palou has been the top Ganassi finisher in eight of the first 16 races. Scott Dixon has had a respectable season in his own right. Dixon has been the top Ganassi finisher in six races. However, Dixon has not been the top Ganassi starter once this season. 

Palou has been the top Ganassi starter nine times. Marcus Armstrong has been the best Ganassi starter in five races while Linus Lundqvist has been the best twice, but Dixon has yet to be the best starting Ganassi driver. Dixon has been the second-best Ganassi starter on eight occasions. 

Regardless of the result, Patricio O'Ward will finish as the top Arrow McLaren driver in the championship, but there is a chance O'Ward will finish level for most times as the top McLaren finisher. Entering the season finale, O'Ward has been the best McLaren finisher seven times while Alexander Rossi has been the best McLaren finisher six times. 

However, O'Ward can only finish tied for best starter at McLaren as Rossi has been the best starter in eight races while O'Ward has been the top McLaren car on the grid in seven races.

The best starting position not to produce a winner this season is fourth. Last season, fourth starting position produced four winners, the most in the 2023 season. This would be the second consecutive seasons where the starting position that produced the most winners in the previous season went winless.

In 2022, the second starting spot produced seven winners. In 2023, second starting position produced zero winners. Second on the grid went 29 consecutive races without a victory before Patricio O'Ward won at Mid-Ohio. The winner has started second in four of the last eight races, including the most recent race, the second race of the Milwaukee doubleheader.

Through 16 races, there has not been a first-time winner, meaning we are just one race away from having the first season without a first-time winner since 2018. There was actually a span of two consecutive seasons without a first-time winner over 2017 and 2018. Over the previous five seasons, there have been nine first-time winners.

One other season finale specific nugget, the winner of the last three season finales have all started outside the top ten. In 2021, Colton Herta won from 14th at Long Beach. In 2022, Álex Palou won from 11th at Laguna Seca. Last year, Scott Dixon won from 11th at Laguna Seca. 

Indy Lights

The IndyCar championship might be undecided but the Indy Lights championship has been wrapped up. With his victory at Milwaukee, Louis Foster clinched the 2024 Indy Lights championship with a race remaining. 

Foster has scored 586 points through the first 13 races with seven victories and 11 podium finishes. He has finished in the top seven of every race. Foster carries a streak of ten consecutive finishes in the top two into Nashville. He has won all three oval races this season, and he could become the first Indy Lights driver with at least four oval victories in a season since Dillon Battistini in 2008. 

While Foster has first locked up, Jacob Abel has second under wraps. Ninety-three points behind Foster and 92 points ahead of Caio Collet, Abel will be second regardless of the result in Sunday's finale. Abel has won three times and he has ten podium finishes. He has been runner-up to Foster in the last two oval races at Gateway and Milwaukee.

Caio Collet makes it the three of the top three spots clinched before even getting to the season finale. Collet has a 83-point cushion over Callum Hedge. Collet won at Mid-Ohio and he has five podium finishes, but he has not been on the podium since his Mid-Ohio victory. The Brazilian's average finish on ovals this season is 13th with his best result being eighth. 

Fourth is the first position being fought over. Callum Hedge is 17 points ahead of Salvador de Alba while Jamie Chadwick is 21 points back. Hedge and de Alba each have a best finish of third this season while Chadwick won at Road America, but fifth at Milwaukee was her best result since that victory. Reece Gold is 29 points outside of fourth and Gold is still looking for his first podium finish of the season. James Roe, Jr. is 34 points from fourth, but Roe, Jr. has two podium finishes. He has also finished outside the top ten in seven races. 

Bryce Aron is ninth on 276 points, but Aron has finished in the top ten in four consecutive races with his last two finishes being in the top five. Yuven Sundaramoorthy and Myles Rowe are tied for tenth on 269 points. Sundaramoorthy was third at Gateway and he has four consecutive top ten finishes as well. After opening the season with five consecutive top ten finishes, Rowe has only two top ten finishes in the last eight races and his average finish over that stretch is 14.75.

Christian Bogle is four points outside the top ten while Jonathan Browne is a further four points behind Bogle.

The final race of the Indy Lights season will take place at 11:50 a.m. ET on Sunday September 15. The race is scheduled for 65 laps.

Fast Facts

This will be the 15th IndyCar race to take place on September 15 and the first since Ed Carpenter won at Fontana in 2012, which was the season finale. 

This will be the third consecutive time a race on September 15 will serve as a season finale. Prior to 2012, the most recent race on September 15 was in 2002, which was the Indy Racing League season finale from Texas Motor Speedway. Sam Hornish, Jr. won that race and clinched his second consecutive championship. 

Nashville Superspeedway will become the seventh consecutive different circuit to host a race on September 15. Michigan International Speedway hosted a race on this date in 1979, Mid-Ohio in 1991, Las Vegas in 1996, Lausitzring in 2001, Texas in 2002 and Fontana in 2012. 

This will be the fifth consecutive race on September 15 to occur on an oval. 

Three drivers had their first career victory come on September 15. Tommy Milton won at Providence on September 15, 1917. Seven years later, Phil Shafer's first career victory came at Syracuse. In 1996, Richie Hearn won at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. 

The most cars to start a Nashville race was 24 in 2008. 

Four Nashville races had fewer than 22 starters. 

The average starting position for a Nashville winner is 4.125 with a median of fourth.

Fifth on the grid has produced the most Nashville winners, three. Fourth has won twice. First, third and sixth have all won once. 

The driver who led the most laps only won once in the first eight Nashville races. That was Scott Dixon in 2007, who led 105 of 200 laps on his way to victory.

The average number of lead changes in a Nashville race is eight with a median of nine. 

The most lead changes in a Nashville race was 11 in 2001 and 2005.

The fewest lead changes in a Nashville race was three in 2004.

The average number of cautions in a Nashville race is five with a median of 5.375. The average number of caution laps is 42.625 with a median of 44.5.

Every Nashville race has had at least three cautions. 

The most cautions in a Nashville race was eight in 2002 and 2003. 

Half of the Nashville races had at least 25% of the laps run under caution. 

Predictions

Colton Herta takes advantage of two teams focusing on two drivers and closes the season with a victory ahead of Patricio O'Ward. Will Power rounds out the podium but Álex Palou will finish fourth. Every car that lines up on the grid will take the green flag. There will be at least five cautions and there will be a spell where a caution happens within two laps of a restart. The #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet will get the final Leader Circle spot. Romain Grosjean's season will end prematurely. Josef Newgarden will go the distance. At least eight cars finish on the lead lap. Sleeper: Rinus VeeKay.

Musings From the Weekend: NBC's Last Race

Here is a rundown of what got me thinking…

Marc Márquez's resurgence continued with a second consecutive victory in greasy conditions at MotoGP's San Marino and Rimini Riviera Grand Prix. The spritz spooked Jorge Martín and a knee-jerk jump to the wet-weather bee proved to be costly, though a sprint race victory allowed Martín to maintain a narrow championship lead. NASCAR and its teams are in a tense moment in their relationship, and some paperwork went unsigned. Just remember these days when Michael Jordan is no longer around. Oh, and the playoffs began in the Cup Series. A practice accident ended Toprak Razgatlioglu's winning streak in World Superbike at 13 races. IndyCar's front office continues to say stupid things, but it is the final weekend of the IndyCar season, and the championship should get attention, but we must recognize something first.

NBC's Last Race

This weekend does not only mark the end of a championship for IndyCar, but the end of a broadcast partnership as well. The season finale from Nashville Superspeedway will mark the final IndyCar race on a NBCUniversal network for the near-future. It was a remarkable run, overcoming initial hostility to become a crucial partner for the series. 

Technically, this partnership goes back 16 seasons to when the Comcast-owned Versus became the cable broadcaster for IndyCar in 2009. Versus took over the bulk of the IndyCar schedule, broadcasting over 2/3rds of the races as well as Indianapolis 500 qualification. ABC remained the broadcast network partner, retaining the Indianapolis 500 while also accepting a few other races.

The deal transformed when Comcast purchased NBCUniversal ahead of 2012. Versus re-branded to NBC Sports Network and the partnership continued. In 2019, NBC took over the entire calendar. The Indianapolis 500 moved to a new home after over a half-century on ABC. IndyCar was only fully NBC's for six years, but this is the end of a long and fruitful partnership. 

Let's not forget how this all started. People were furious when IndyCar moved majority of its races to Versus. It was a semi-obscure cable sports network emerging at a time when ESPN had long gone uncontested in that cable sports sphere. There was room for competition, but difficulty drawing partners. Few entities wanted to move to something unfamiliar. IndyCar did, a gamble, and one that was never celebrated. 

People had long-been accustomed to American open-wheel racing's top series competing on ABC or ESPN. Even Champ Car had been on Speed Channel and was time-buying races on NBC and CBS. Versus was practical nowhere on the cable landscape. IndyCar got paid, but it sacrificed exposure. 

As IndyCar is looking to a future where every race is scheduled to be broadcasted on network television in hopes of increasing viewership, it is a stark reminder of how much can change in a rather short period of time. Sixteen years might sound like a lot. It isn't.

But that bad decision in terms of 2009 turned out to be a positive for the series in 2024. 

The deal with Versus provided competition within IndyCar's broadcasting world. There were two parties interested and actively participating in the series. ABC/ESPN had been doing IndyCar races for decades at that point, but Versus brought something new. It brought new faces to the screen as well as bringing back some old. It was a different way for a race to be broadcasted, new ideas, new chances. It also put IndyCar at a different place in the pecking order.

ESPN has a countless number of properties. Even with the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar was not a tentpole property for the Mothership. It wasn't even close to number one in ESPN's motorsports department as NASCAR had returned in 2007. For Versus, IndyCar was something of substance that it really only had in the National Hockey League. In some cases, being number two in a small pond is better than being number 62 in an ocean. 

The mood changed once Versus became NBC Sports Network. There was at least a name of recognition tied to the broadcaster and it was not seen as something lost in the shuffle of cable channel. With a different name, a different mood came, and viewers started to love NBCSN's coverage. It felt different compared to ABC/ESPN. There was the perception that IndyCar was an afterthought at ABC/ESPN. They showed the Indianapolis 500 but did not put much more into the broadcast than necessary and the broadcast crew remained stagnant year-on-year. NBCSN brought a different flavor. Leigh Diffey became the voice of the series. It gave Robin Miller a place on its airwaves. The color commentators were more current and in some cases still active. Kevin Lee has gone the distance for all 16 seasons! Everyone on air was constantly around IndyCar while it didn't feel that way from the broadcast partner. 

People wanted NBC to be the full partner. People wanted races on NBC even when ABC was still around. The split-rights television deal felt like it was restricting the series' growth. IndyCar had so little that two partners felt like one too many. Eventually NBC's day came. It didn't just take over the Indianapolis 500, but it put more races on network television. That number increased. At least half the IndyCar schedule was on network television in every year of IndyCar's deal with NBC. It had as many as 13 of 16 races at one point. 

Nothing lasts forever. 

NBC has been good for IndyCar, but IndyCar didn't boom in its six seasons fully on the network. It grew. Numbers got better. However, the series that has grown the most in the United States over that six-year period was Formula One. It takes more to grow a series than what television channel races are broadcasted, but it surely helps.

It is easy to get bored when there is only one option. For all that NBC was celebrated for, it received its fair amount of criticism as the sole broadcast partner. When there is only one broadcaster around, there aren't many other choices. Whether it be commercials, not enough races on network television, Peacock, there was always a reason to complain. Maybe NBC and IndyCar had gone as far as they could go together. Maybe it was still the best option. 

NBC raised the bar and in the latest round of contract negotiations, more money was thrown at IndyCar than it has seen in quite some time. Fox had enough and also could guarantee every race would be shown on network television. That is a big change from 2009 when 2/3rds of the IndyCar calendar was shown on a network that 95% of Americans didn't even know existed. 

Some things will change. There will likely be a few different faces and voices on the air. The races will be presented differently. The tone will change, but some things will remain the same. You might notice a familiar face or two on the screen. Commercials will still exist even on Fox. Streaming isn't going away There will likely be one race pre-empted or moved to cable. Those contracts are not as ironclad as you think. 

It is most important to remember what you had. 

IndyCar found something it had never had before. Without NBC, the years lost on Versus, the dual television partners and then the full-time move to NBC, we likely would not have the next deal IndyCar is about to start, but don't forget what was given. 

There have been historic moments and records broken, dramatic twists and turns, the emergence of stars and the farewells of hero. Notable calls still ring in our ears from thrilling final lap finishes to Leigh Diffey's signature start the Indianapolis 500. It is a sentiment place where Dan Wheldon got a chance to shine out of the car on a grid walk in Iowa. NBCSN even gave us a docuseries before docuseries were cool. 

For years, people wanted a place where they could stream everything IndyCar without needing a cable or satellite television subscription, and they got it. Peacock showed every practice and qualifying commercial-free while also simulcasting the races, as well as having its own exclusive races with limited commercial interruption. And you got it for about $5 or $6 a month and only had to subscribe during the season. You could have seen everything IndyCar for about $40 a year. Remember that when you are spending $40 a month, if you are even capable of doing so.

But remember, nothing lasts forever. This will not necessarily be NBC's last race forever. The interest could still be there, and in a few years, maybe a reunion is in place. Despite what is said, IndyCar does like a good reunion after all. 

Champion From the Weekend

Héctor Garzó clinched the MotoE championship with finishes of fourth and seventh from Misano.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Marc Márquez and Jorge Martín, but did you know...

Ai Ogura won the Moto2 race from Misano, his third victory of the season. Ángel Piqueras won the Moto3 race, his first career victory. Mattia Casadei and Oscar Gutiérrez split the MotoE races.

Joey Logano won the NASCAR Cup race from Atlanta, his second victory of the season. Austin Hill won the Grand National Series race.

Jack Aitken and Luca Stolz Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters races from Sachsenring. 

The #63 DXDT Racing Corvette of Tommy Milner and Alec Udell swept the GT World Challenge America races from Barber Motorsports Park. The #51 AutoTechnic Racing BMW of Colin Garrett and Zac Anderson and the #24 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Roman De Angelis and Gray Newell split the GT4 America races. Jason Daskalos swept the GT America races.

Michael van der Mark (race one) and Nicolò Bulega (SuperPole race and race two) split the World Superbike races from Magny-Cours. Niki Tuuli and Yari Montella split the World Supersport races.

Thierry Neuville won the Acropolis Rally, his second victory of the season.

Jett Lawrence won the SuperMotocross race from Charlotte. Haiden Deegan won in the 250cc class.

Coming Up This Weekend

IndyCar's season finale from Nashville Superspeedway.

Formula One has a later than usual trip to Azerbaijan. 

NASCAR has a later than usual trip to Watkins Glen.

The FIA World Endurance Championship has an earlier than usual trip to Fuji.

The second round of the SuperMotocross playoffs is at Texas Motor Soeedway.

Scripting IndyCar Silly Season - 2024-25 Season

Only one race remains in the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season, and it is understandable if your eyes are already looking toward 2025. It is that time where you are more curious about the future than the present, even when there is a championship still undecided, because the possibilities are endless.

There is much unknown about the 2025 season and who will be driving where. Don't worry, there is plenty of time for these seats to be determined. The teams and drivers have nearly six months to get it sorted, but we are used to rides being decided earlier than an offseason than later. That is what makes the 13 vacant seats for 2025 feel rather strange. Nearly half the grid is undetermined and moves will likely come quickly once this season is over. 

Some of these teams likely could use some guidance on who they should hire for next season. We will look over the 2025 entries and cover what has been decided but also provide some direction on what each team should do next.

A.J. Foyt Racing

What do we know?

David Malukas will take over an entry at the team, but when the announcement was made it was not specified which entry Malukas would be driving. Both of Foyt's 2024 drivers are not under contract for the 2025 season.

What should happen next?

Santino Ferrucci should be re-signed to drive the #14 Chevrolet with Malukas taking over the #41 Chevrolet. 

Ferrucci is on the brink of having the best season for a Foyt driver in over two decades. He has been outstanding on ovals. Unless someone is throwing more money at Ferrucci than Foyt, Foyt should make sure Ferrucci is back for 2025. Ferrucci should stick around because there isn't a clear better team calling. He mind as well stick around and continue working on what has already been a successful second season together.

Andretti Global

What do we know?

There will be no changes at Andretti Global. Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson will all be back for 2025. The team is not expanding back to four cars. The technical alliance will Meyer Shank Racing will not continue into next season.

What should happen next?

Andretti has said it will be taking a break from technical alliances. Considering the team's struggles in recent seasons that appears to be the right choice. It should focus on making sure the best men and women are on each car and it can have three regular contenders for victory. This season has been substantial better than the last few seasons. There is still room for growth though. 

The more curious side of the Andretti Global organization is the Indy Lights' side of things. Louis Foster is coming off a championship. Jamie Chadwick won a race and made great leaps in her sophomore season. Salvador de Alba had a good season in the Andretti Cape partnership. Foster is ready for IndyCar. Chadwick is antsy to move up. The openings are not there at Andretti at the moment. If these drivers move up, it will likely be elsewhere. Do they stick around for another season of Indy Lights? Chadwick and de Alba should both run another year for development. 

Arrow McLaren

What do we know?

Patricio O'Ward and Nolan Siegel will return for 2025 as Christian Lundgaard will take over the #7 Chevrolet from Alexander Rossi. Arrow McLaren will remain three cars and not expand to four though that once seemed to be the goal for the team.

What should happen next?

There is nothing left to do. The drivers are set. Lundgaard is coming off three seasons of leading the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing organization and lifting the team further up the grid than it probably should have been. The offseason should be about getting more out of the technical side of the team and attempt to minimize the off days that were rather frequent in 2024.

Chip Ganassi Racing

What do we know?

Scott Dixon and Álex Palou will stick around at Chip Ganassi Racing for another season. Due to the imminent charter deal that would limit a team to charters for three entries, CGR is going to downsize from five cars to three. That leaves some tough decisions ahead for the organization.

What should happen next?

For a team owner who is known for saying, "I like winners," Chip Ganassi has a tendency of not hiring winners when he has open seats. No offense, but he ran two rookies and a sophomore driver who was making his first starts on oval this season in 60% of this cars. Then he had one of the best drivers of all-time and one of the best drivers of the 2020s in the other 40% of the grid. If you want winners, hire proven winners, Chip! 

That is a stark difference in the team. With the great sticking around, Ganassi should find a winner, even if it has been a while. 

The best available driver is Alexander Rossi. It has been a rough patch, but Rossi has won multiple times in IndyCar, he has been a championship contender before, and we know he can string together multiple victories in a season. Put him with Dixon and Palou, Rossi should be able to get the most out of that third Ganassi entry. He would be a contender at the Indianapolis 500.

Also, the American Legion sponsors that car, and all respect to Linus Lundqvist and Marcus Armstrong, doesn't it make sense to have an American driver in that car, especially a past Indianapolis 500 winner?

If Rossi isn't an option, it should be Armstrong's seat. Armstrong has the most upside.

Dale Coyne Racing

What do we know?

Dale Coyne Racing has not made any plans for the future public. Frankly, have we seen or heard anything from Dale Coyne himself in 2024? There is no clear strategy for the future nor any real urgency for being on top of what comes next.

What should happen next?

If there is one of the nine drivers who drove for Coyne in 2024 that earned a full season gig, it is Toby Sowery. In his three races with the team, Sowery has been the best Coyne driver on all three occasions and he gave Coyne its best days. Sowery has generated more buzz than the other eight Coyne drivers combined this year. If he can do that without any testing time and preparation in the car, a full season could only bring more out of him. 

As for the second seat, Sowery should have a veteran as his teammate, but there isn't a clear great option. Jack Harvey will be there, and though this hasn't been a good year after Harvey was a late decision in the offseason, Harvey is still experienced enough that his results should be better.

It is Dale Coyne Racing and it is difficult persuade anyone to join the team. Coyne doesn't throw the money out there often. He really only did it to bring Sébastien Bourdais prior to 2017. 

Another season of Conor Daly with the team would not be the worst thing in the world. Daly has been doing well with Junos Hollinger racing, a team that is not much bigger than Coyne. Next year will be nine years since Daly's lone full season at Coyne. A package could be put together to get Daly in that car and stabilize the ship while giving Sowery a knowledgable teammate to lean off of. 

It isn't going to be a duo winning eight races a year, but Daly and Sowery could get back into the top ten and have many more competitive days. 

Ed Carpenter Racing

What do we know?

It will be a two-car team but the number of drivers is unknown. Rinus VeeKay is out of contract. Instead of running a third entry, Ed Carpenter returned to the #20 Chevrolet to run the ovals in 2024, only for Carpenter to remove himself from the car for the final three oval races and put Christian Rasmussen in the car, who ran all the road and street courses in the #20 Chevrolet and ran the Indianapolis 500 in a third entry for the team.

What should happen next?

Carpenter should make it clear he is an Indianapolis 500-only driver from here going forward. 

Rasmussen should get a full shot in the #20 Chevrolet. He has had some tough days and made his rookie mistakes, but he had flashes of speed and he is at a level to build upon. 

VeeKay and ECR have been together for five seasons. Together, VeeKay and ECR has finished 14th, 12th, 12th, 14th and he his currently 14th in the championship entering the Nashville season finale, ten points behind 13th and ten points ahead of 15th. 

Two months ago, it looked inevitable VeeKay and ECR will go in different directions. Five top ten finishes in seven races has changed the mood a bit. VeeKay should explore and see what else is out there. A sixth season at ECR would not increase his stock anymore than the last two seasons. 

Where does that leave ECR? It is a team that has generally struggled everywhere but the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This isn't even a team that can produce competitive cars at the other oval races. It is tough to take a seat there if you are a veteran looking for more. 

However, if there is one veteran who we have seen have bursts of speed and might just need a place that believes in him, Jack Harvey is the guy. Harvey had good results with Meyer Shank Racing in its first few seasons. Harvey went to Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing looking for more, and it was a reasonable for both sides. It didn't work out. 

Harvey is not going to demand much of a salary, and he will appreciate the opportunity and greater resources than he just had at DCR. This could be a pairing that ignites a spark and makes each more competitive than they have been in recent years but that we all knew both were possible of reaching.

Juncos Hollinger Racing

What do we know?

The #78 Chevrolet is open and Conor Daly will likely not be the driver. Romain Grosjean is not officially under contract for next year, and Grosjean already has a deal with Lamborghini for its LMDh program. Lamborghini is expected to expand into IMSA full-time and add a second FIA World Endurance Championship next year. 

There have also been rumors Devlin DeFrancesco's father has been discussing getting into ownership with the JHR organization. 

What should happen next?

For a team that has been lacking on funding since day one in IndyCar, the DeFrancescos adding their name to the door would make sense, and JHR has space available, both behind the wheel and on the sidepods. 

Business will make these decisions, and DeFrancesco, a driver with zero top ten finishes in 34 starts, could help this team on the monetary side. If that is the case, he will need a driver that can help him. Is Grosjean that driver? He is a name. DeFrancesco could pay to keep Grosjean around but I think Grosjean should go elsewhere. 

Rinus VeeKay won his Pro Mazda championship with Juncos Racing, and VeeKay was second in the 2019 Indy Lights championship with Juncos Racing. We are seeing Conor Daly enjoying the reunion with the team from his junior career. VeeKay could get a breath a fresh air at JHR. It would be worth it as JHR appears to be more competitive than ECR at the moment.

Meyer Shank Racing

What do we know?

There will be a new technical partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing as Meyer Shank Racing's working relationship with Andretti Global will end after eight seasons together. Felix Rosenqvist will still be there, but the #66 Honda remains open as David Malukas is moving to Foyt. It is expected Hélio Castroneves will return in a third entry for the Indianapolis 500.

What should happen next?

The Ganassi relationship will likely dictate who is driving that second car, and if Alexander Rossi ended up in the third Ganassi entry, Marcus Armstrong should be loaned out to MSR. It would keep Armstrong on Ganassi's books and give MSR the best remaining CGR driver. Armstrong and Rosenqvist are a good combination and it should be a step forward for MSR. Both drivers would bring pace and could be podium contenders. 

That is a paying seat. It should look to get the best driver in it, and Armstrong has been the most consistent of the three young Ganassi drivers filling out the 2024 lineup. 

Prema

What do we know?

The Italian team has announced it would field two cars for the 2025 season with Chevrolet engines. Due to the charter agreement, Prema will be excluded from receiving an initial charter, and its two entries will need to qualify for every race as only the 25 charter entries plus two non-charter entries will be allowed to compete in each race. The good news is no other team is speaking about fielding a non-charter entry, effectively giving the 26th and 27th spots on the grid to Prema. 

Driver talk has been hush, though there have been some names that have said they are not interested in Prema, and the most likely driver rumored to join the team is a successful European junior series driver, who is now in sports cars.

What should happen next?

The one name most linked to Prema is Robert Shwartzman, the Russian-born, Israeli-representing driver was once a member of the Ferrari junior program in Formula One. Shwartzman won the 2019 Formula Three championship and he was fourth and second in his two Formula Two seasons. Shwartzman drove for Prema in all three of those years. He has spent 2024 driving in WEC for AF Corse Ferrari, and he was in the winning entry at Circuit of the Americas. 

There will likely be an unknown face in one of the Prema entries. Shwartzman fits that mold. He was teammates with Mick Schumacher and was close to equal, and he did well against Oscar Piastri. It wasn't long ago Shwartzman felt like he was on Formula One's radar. He did test an IndyCar with Chip Ganassi Racing in January 2023 at Sebring. Where there is smoke, there is fire, and Shwartzman will end up in one of the seats.

As for the other, it should be a veteran and an IndyCar veteran. There are a great number of drivers with history driving for Prema. One current IndyCar driver is already working with Prema. That would be Romain Grosjean, as Prema has a technical partnership with Lamborghini Iron Lynx, which runs the Lamborghini LMDh program. There should be some cross over and the European mindset could work out well for Grosjean. Both sides are singing from the same hymn sheet. Make it four teams in five IndyCar seasons for the Frenchman.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

What do we know?

Christian Lundgaard is leaving. Other than that, not much else. Graham Rahal will likely be back, but it is not official, and Rahal has hinted at stepping out of the driver seat sooner rather than later. When Lundgaard announced his move to Arrow McLaren, rumblings followed that HyVee would be joining him at McLaren, but those have since died down. There is no news on Pietro Fittipaldi's future with the team. 

What should happen next?

What once was an appealing team with some upside has become a settlers' choice. It was exciting when Lundgaard came in and it appeared RLLR was allowing him to flourish. How quickly things can change, as after three full seasons, it feels like RLLR was benefitting more from having Lundgaard than Lundgaard was benefitting from driving for RLLR. 

Its oval woes are known, and it still had a car in the Last Row Shootout for the Indianapolis 500 this year. It is going to be very hard to attract drivers if the drivers know Indianapolis will be the most stressful weekend of the season for all the wrong reasons. 

In that case, Jüri Vips should get a full-time ride. Vips spent a season as a reserve driver in a series where there is practical no testing. If he is on the books, Vips should get a full-time ride. He has nothing to lose. RLLR has nothing to lose. Let's give 2025 a full shot. 

For the third car, a veteran could make sense, but it will be tough to attract a top driver if they know it will be a slog to make the Indianapolis 500 and RLLR will be starting at the back of every oval race. A young driver with few other options fits better. Louis Foster dominated the Indy Lights season. This would be a great opportunity and it would be a low cost to both. Foster would demand much of a salary, and he would be happy to get to prove himself for a season or two. He would also bring the scholarship money for winning the Indy Lights championship, an added bonus for the team.

Team Penske

What do we know?

There will be no changes at Team Penske. Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power will all be back in 2025.

What should happen next?

This offseason should be about rehabilitating this team, which is tough to say because Power is alive for the championship heading into the final, McLaughlin has won three times, and Newgarden has won twice, including having won a second consecutive Indianapolis 500. The team mostly overcame its penalties from the push-to-pass data manipulation at the start of the season, but this team was off for a good chunk of the year. 

Newgarden must be re-focused. He made more mistakes this year than in his first seven seasons with Penske. There must be more respect in the team. These three bump in each other more than any set of Penske teammates I can recall.

It felt like 2024 was going to be a strong season at St. Petersburg when Newgarden stomped the field. Once the team was penalized, it has been clawing its way back, but it has been sloppy in the process. The team must fine "Penske Perfect" over the offseason in hopes of returning to its dominant form.

What does the script say?

A.J. Foyt Racing: Santino Ferrucci, David Malukas

Andretti Global: Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Marcus Ericsson

Arrow McLaren: Patricio O'Ward, Nolan Siegel, Christian Lundgaard

Chip Ganassi Racing: Scott Dixon, Álex Palou, Alexander Rossi

Dale Coyne Racing: Toby Sowery, Conor Daly

Ed Carpenter Racing: Christian Rasmussen, Jack Harvey

Juncos Hollinger Racing: Rinus VeeKay, Devlin DeFrancesco

Meyer Shank Racing: Felix Rosenqvist, Marcus Armstrong

Prema: Romain Grosjean, Robert Shwartzman

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing: Graham Rahal, Jüri Vips, Louis Foster

Team Penske: Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, Will Power

Who is on the outside?

Linus Lundqvist, Kyffin Simpson, Sting Ray Robb, Pietro Fittipaldi, Callum Ilott, Théo Pourchaire, Luca Ghiotto, Hunter McElrea, Colin Braun, Tristan Vautier.

This feels like a realistic offseason we could see. Some drivers moving around. Some drivers getting additional opportunities out of nowhere. No one all that surprising joining the series. Some teams going young. Some teams going old. It is different but not entirely unknown. That's IndyCar in a nutshell. 

Let's wait and see how the silly season actually plays out, but the teams have a script if they are interested. 

Musings From the Weekend: IndyCar's Boiling End to Summer

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

It was a holiday weekend. It was a great weekend for Italians. I guess we are dropping the "Andrea" form Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Italian confirmed he will be driving a Mercedes in 2025. Franco Colapinto made his Formula One debut, replacing Logan Sargeant at Williams, and Colapinto became the first Argentine to start a grand prix since 2001. A drought ended in Aragón. The FIA World Endurance Championship experienced the heat of Austin, Texas. NASCAR released its schedule and the Cup Series debuting in Mexico City got everyone's attention, especially in the IndyCar paddock, and it set off a fire storm.

IndyCar's Boiling End to Summer

NASCAR's news of a race weekend in Mexico City at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez set people off in IndyCar circles. 

For the last few years, there has been rumblings of IndyCar interest in racing in Mexico's capital. Those picked up over the last four years with the emergence of Patricio O'Ward as a top driver in the series. Sometimes it sounded promising, but it is IndyCar, a series that talks a big game but rarely do we see anything big splashes made. 

With O'Ward's success, a trip to Mexico felt worthy of exploring. When NASCAR announced its 2025 calendar with a June 15 date at the home of the Mexican Grand Prix, those in IndyCar universally felt this was a missed opportunity, none so more than O'Ward himself. 

O'Ward has spent the last few seasons becoming more than a great driver in the IndyCar Series, but one of the few true ambassadors, reaching out to fans and attempting to draw more people to races. He is undoubtedly the most celebrated driver in the series and has the largest fan base. The man had children chanting his name during Indianapolis 500 practice this May. Part of his appeal is his ability but also his charisma, and he can connect to a segment of the population that has long not had someone to cheer for in IndyCar. Mexicans are passionate about their countrymen and will overwhelmingly support one of their own, more so than Americans supporting Americans. 

Attracting fans hasn't been the only thing O'Ward has been doing the last few years. He has also been vocal about IndyCar's lack of promotion and attempts at exposure. The series has pushed back and it pushed back again ahead of Milwaukee after O'Ward expressed his displeasure. 

There is a reason for everything, including IndyCar's lack of a Mexico race, but Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles did not win over any understanding with his explanation. Miles said IndyCar was unable to find a partner to organize the IndyCar race and he was told by the circuit that it was open to renting the facility to IndyCar, but not fully covering the event. 

A fair explanation but one that did not need Miles to go further in saying IndyCar was not big enough in Mexico to justify a race and O'Ward was not popular enough to draw a crowd. 

All those things might be true, but Miles threw IndyCar's biggest star under the bus while also acknowledging the series' long-apparent shortcomings that ultimately fall at his feet. 

It has been a long summer for IndyCar, and this incident was the spark to set the wildfire ablaze. 

It has been building since the Indianapolis 500 in May. This was the first time we really heard drivers and those around the series vocalizing frustration that IndyCar can draw 300,000 people for one race, draw about five million people to their television screen to watch, and then have very little carry over to subsequent races. It has always been the case that the Indianapolis 500 is the most-attended race and most-viewed race of the season, but this year the drop-off became unacceptable, especially after the race we saw with the finish it had between IndyCar's biggest driver in O'Ward and one of its best and nearly as photogenic drivers in Josef Newgarden. 

For too long IndyCar has been able to draw five million viewers for one race and then barely scraped together one million viewers for every other race. The masses are not asking for five million viewers at every race, but it would be nice if the average was around two or two-and-a-half million, and half of the audience for the Indianapolis 500 tuned in for every other event. 

NASCAR's expansion to Mexico City, bringing a championship Cup Series race to an international venue for the first time since 1958, illustrates how North America's biggest two series have been moving in the last five years. Since 2020, when the world was shutdown due to the pandemic and there were concerns about what would be possible in the future, NASCAR has grown. It has taken chances. It has gone to venues long considered as never possibly hosting a NASCAR race. Circuit of the Americas has a race. It put a street race in downtown Chicago. It has seen North Wilkesboro return to the calendar after it was abandoned for nearly a quarter of a century. After nearly 20 years of a stagnant schedule with little expansion and variety, NASCAR has taken a new approach in the 2020s and it is spreading itself out. 

Even Formula One has boomed in the last four years, and notably so in the United States where there are now races in Miami and Las Vegas on temporary circuits that were at best pipe dreams and would never have been seriously pursued ten years ago. 

IndyCar is the only series that has shrunk since 2020, and nobody links shrinking to success. 

IndyCar had a race at Circuit of the Americas. The pandemic killed it. IndyCar was planning on returning to Richmond. The pandemic has indefinitely cancelled that plan. The best thing that has happened to IndyCar in the last four years has also been one of its blackest eyes as it established a race in downtown Nashville and had big plans to move the race even more into the heart of the city, race on its famed Broadway and have Nashville be the season finale, but that all fell apart when the promoters ran into conflicts with the construction with the new football stadium for the Tennessee Titans, which will not open until 2027.

There is no race in Texas. IndyCar's furthest race east is Toronto. There is no race in the northeast of the United States. There is no race between Iowa and California. Until this season, there were three races at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. There were three races in the state of Wisconsin this season. Ten of the 17 races in 2024 took place in six states that are all connected to one another. The new venue for the 2025 season is The Thermal Club, a country club racetrack with zero interest in opening its doors to a public crowd, which will be the third race in California, running the Palm Springs-area, a place with about 45,000 inhabitants. 

Mark Miles picked the wrong time to pick a fight with IndyCar's most popular driver. Miles has been in charge since 2013 after Randy Bertrand was dismissed after a four-year run that was marred by the death of Dan Wheldon. It is hard to believe Miles has been at the helm for over a decade. He ushered in a new full-time television partnership with NBC and then another historic TV deal with Fox. There was a transition from Verizon title sponsorship to NTT when it looked liked IndyCar may have been without a title sponsor. IndyCar had a settled period under Miles where the series wasn't losing venues left and right and had calendar stability. 

Entering 2025, more must be done. It is time for a new voice leading the charge that will be capable of spreading IndyCar to new and forgotten corners. It needs someone who can lift O'Ward into a more known name as well as making some of these drivers recognizable beyond one day of the year. Entering the new deal with Fox, IndyCar has a good benchmark from there it is start and it should look to grow from over the next five years. This period should be done under the stewardship of a new CEO.

But IndyCar's biggest problem is Miles has been setting out and accomplishing what his boss Roger Penske desires. Miles has gotten a new television deal with more money coming into the series. Thermal Club is paying to host IndyCar. The Indianapolis 500 remains a healthy race. The charter negotiations appear set. With all the boxes being checked, why would Penske change a thing? 

There are plenty of reasons why, even for an 87-year-old man. IndyCar will not reach a higher level under this leadership. After a decade in charge, it has maxed out its potential. From the sounds of it, everyone inside the paddock would embrace someone new with new ideas. You must believe they have lost a lot of confidence and respect for Miles after what was said in Milwaukee. Everyone knows exactly what Miles is capable of and IndyCar will not get much bigger than this under his control. For the second half of the 2020s, it is time for someone else to lead the charge. 

Champions From the Weekend

Louis Foster clinched the Indy Lights championship with a victory at Milwaukee.

Leonado Fornaroli clinched the Formula Three championship with finishes of eighth and second from Monza.

Winners From the Weekend

You know about Louis Foster, Patricio O'Ward and Scott McLaughlin, but did you know...

Charles Leclerc won the Italian Grand Prix, his second victory of the season.

Oliver Bearman (sprint) and Gabriel Bortoleto (feature) split the Formula Two races from Monza. Tim Tramnitz (sprint) and Sami Meguetounif (feature) split the Formula Three races. 

Marc Márquez won MotoGP's Aragón Grand Prix, his first grand prix victory since October 24, 2021. Márquez also won the sprint race. Jake Dixon won the Moto2 race, his second victory of the season. José Antonio Rueda won the Moto3 race, his first career victory.

The #83 AF Corse Ferrari of Robert Kubica, Ye Yifei and Robert Shwartzman won Lone Star Le Mans from Circuit of the Americas. The #27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin of Ian James, Daniel Mancinelli and Alex Riberas won the LMGT3 class.

Chase Briscoe won the Southern 500, his first Cup victory since March 13, 2022. Christopher Bell won the Grand National Series race.

Coming Up This Weekend

MotoGP has a round at Misano.

NASCAR opens its playoffs in Atlanta.

GT World Challenge America will be at Barber Motorsports Park.

Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters has a round at the Sachsenring.

World Superbike visits Magny-Cours.

The Acropolis Rally will be held.

First Impressions: Milwaukee 2024 Race Two

1. It was somewhat of a make-up for yesterday, but after a variety of strategies and a late caution played out, Scott McLaughlin ended up the winner of the second race of the IndyCar doubleheader from Milwaukee. With his championship hopes slim, McLaughlin had to win today. That was the least he had to do to remain alive for the championship heading to Nashville.

Win and hope from some help. 

McLaughlin got both, but just not enough of the latter. He won but even with Álex Palou's battery issues that caused him to finish 29 laps down, Palou ended up 50 points ahead of McLaughlin when this race ended. Technically, McLaughlin could still win the championship, but that would require Palou not showing up to Nashville. That would also require McLaughlin winning the finale, not an easy feat in its own right, but Palou will take the green flag in two weeks and McLaughlin will at best finish a point shy of a championship. 

It is an accomplishment for McLaughlin to be this close. Remember, he was disqualified from the St. Petersburg season opener after finishing third due to Team Penske's push-to-pass system manipulation, losing 35 points. Give those 35 points back and McLaughlin is right there entering the finale in what would be almost a toss-up for the championship. 

McLaughlin has won three times this season including twice on ovals. Every year he has made great strides. There is plenty to be proud about after this season and this race.

2. Let's cover the championship picture because it will go to the finale. Álex Palou suffered a battery issue on the pace laps. He was unable to make the start of the race and ended up losing nearly 30 laps once his car was fixed. It played well for Will Power, who led early, but in the middle of the race when Power had been shuffled back in a pit cycle, Power spun coming to a restart. There was minimal front wing damage, but the pit stop for repairs still trapped him a lap down. 

Power was able to get back onto the lead lap after the final caution for Sting Ray Robb's accident in turn two, but Power didn't take any risks for another two or four or six points. Power took tenth and took ten points out of the deficit to Palou. It will be 33 points between Palou and Power entering the Nashville season finale.

All Palou will need is a ninth-place finish to clinch the championship. Power has been here before, but on the reverse side, in Palou's shoes, most of the time. This will be the eighth time Power will enter a season finale with a chance to win a championship. The first three times Power was the leader and lost the title. In two of those, it appeared unthinkable for Power to lose it and it went against him. 

Palou won the 2021 title with Patricio O'Ward as a challenger. Today's result wasn't because of anything Palou did wrong. Only three times this season has Palou finished outside the top ten. The advantage is in Palou's favor, but Power will be there and keep the Catalan driver honest. 

3. Back to the race results, Scott Dixon went off strategy mid-race and did not stop under one of the cautions while the leaders did and that is what put Power in the middle of the top ten. As good as fresh tires were today, track position still mattered. Alexander Rossi stayed out with Dixon and led, and those two held their ground despite having 20-plus lap older tires.

The key was having traffic in-between them and the likes of McLaughlin, Power and company. The tires mattered, but if you had buffers in-between, you could stay at the front, and it helped Rossi and Dixon. What cost them was they both got stuck in traffic when they came in for that eventual pit stop. When McLaughlin answered their pit stops with an immediate dive to the pit lane, McLaughlin made up the ground and the positions. 

Dixon looked set for a top five finish, but the Robb caution brought everyone to pit lane to put on what ever least used worn tires they had. Dixon made up a spot there and then took second on the restart from Rossi. Dixon pushed McLaughlin, but McLaughlin had done enough for victory. 

In his 401st start, Dixon still showed he has it. Any concerns about age and slowing after a spell of rough results before this race have been quelled for the moment. Dixon's qualifying form isn't there and we should maybe talk about that, but when it comes to the race, he still has what it takes. 

4. Colton Herta made a bold choice on strategy to run long on his penultimate stint and then stop first for his final stop and hopefully gap the leaders and have an advantage to defend in the closing laps. It worked at the start. Herta went long and did not lose significant ground. He was the first to stop in the final pit cycle and when the rest of the leaders stopped, Herta had over an eight-second lead.

The problem was McLaughlin chewed away at that gap in no time. There was only a ten-lap difference between the final stops with Herta coming earlier. It felt like if it had been a 20-lap difference, Herta would have been in trouble during the final laps. With a ten-lap difference, it felt like Herta held a little more of an advantage, but Herta could not make lap time while McLaughlin kept clicking off laps a half-second quicker. 

It wasn't close and when McLaughlin took the lead, it looked like it was game over. A caution made it interesting, but it was bound to be a walkaway. 

The Herta made the right choice to roll the dice. For whatever reason, the balance was not there after that stop to hold off McLaughlin longer. I don't know if there was a little more fuel saving going on because Herta did stop ten laps earlier, but that should not have been that much of a factor. McLaughlin had the better car though Herta had a good car today. The team is there on ovals, but it is just missing something.

5. Santino Ferrucci makes it a double fourth-place finish weekend as Ferrucci was fourth again. Every time you watch Ferrucci and his aggression, you think it will eventually bite him, and it doesn't. You are expecting that one oval race where he goes just over the edge and slaps the barrier or hits another car, and it hasn't happened yet. I have written this every year after Indianapolis, at some point you think he will go over and it will not be his day but he keeps making it through without any issues. If it hasn't happened yet, it is getting harder to believe it will happen. 

He definitely didn't make many friends this weekend with his moves low on corner entry and then sliding up through the middle of the corner. The problem for everyone else is they all back out and let Ferrucci be aggressive. None of them want contact to end their race so they back and live to fight another day, but Ferrucci gets the position. It is only going to stop when Ferrucci loses out. Until that happens, Ferrucci will keep driving forward and getting respectable oval results.

6. Marcus Ericsson somewhat stole a top five finish today. Ericsson spent a good amount of the race in the top ten, but a lap down. He got the wave around after the Robb accident, and because of the wave around rules, Ericsson was back on the lead lap and then got to make his final stop. This allowed him to make up three spots and get into the top five. 

I don't think Ericsson spent a lap in the top five until about three to go. It is a good result he needed, especially after yesterday and this trying season. 

7. Robbed of that top five finish was Alexander Rossi, who probably should have been on the podium, but Rossi fell like a rock on that final restart. He was second. My guess is the tires his crew put on were older than the rest of the field and Rossi could not do anything with them in the sprint to the finish. 

Rossi led a good portion of the race because he did not stop under one of the cautions and passed up on a short stint. I thought that was the right choice. Tires mattered but a 20-lap advantage wasn't that significant, especially if there was traffic put between you and the rest of the cars on the lead lap. It was a good day for Rossi, but there he is in sixth again. Not really all that close to a victory. 

8. Rinus VeeKay ran the same strategy as Herta and it got him seventh. VeeKay was good over this weekend. The result came today unlike yesterday. He was never pushing for a top five or looked like a threat, but he had enough for a top ten result. The problem with VeeKay's end to this season is he has five top ten finishes in the last seven races and he is stuck in a spot of succeeding with a team where he has never finished better than 12th in the championship.

VeeKay must want more, and though Ed Carpenter Racing is getting top ten finishes now, we have five seasons worth of data to point that these results are seldom. But VeeKay is in a spot where he could probably be convinced that next time will be different and stick around because things are going in the right direction now. He should be smart and recognize there is no belief it will remain the same or continue to improve into next season.

9. Kyle Kirkwood spent about 85% of this race as one of the first cars a lap down and by avoiding problems he ended up finishing eighth and on the lead lap. Kirkwood didn't have the pace of his teammates. It wasn't an impressive day by any sense, but Kirkwood got a good result and that is something we do not expect from him on ovals. He ran all 250 laps and that is an achievement. All three Andretti Global cars were in the top ten after none finished better than 12th yesterday. Progress!

10. One day, Romain Grosjean is mad at the world. The next day, he is finishing ninth. Grosjean was on the same strategy as Herta and it definitely netted him a few extra positions. When Grosjean is in the right mood and not driving like a fool, he can get Juncos Hollinger Racing into the top ten. But on the days where he only gets seven hours and 50 minutes of sleep and not eight hours of sleep, the world collapses in on itself and he cannot do better than 16th. That is what you get with Romain Grosjean. One out of every three results is something worth celebrating. 

11. Let's go back to Will Power for a second because he finished tenth, but for a good portion of this race Power was in position to take the championship lead or at least leave within ten points of Palou. 

I feared Power would get too conservative and it would cost him. I don't want to say that definitely happened, but he lost spots on the restart prior to his spin. He did not want to get caught in anything and he was put in a position where someone could ruin his day. Then he basically ruined his day all by himself. 

It can be hairy throttling up mid-corner and these cars are twitchy, but Power was the only one to spin in such a scenario all weekend. He kept it mostly out of the barrier other than grazing his front wing, but then the team botched the repairs. They changed tires, understandably so, but then sent him without changing the wing when it was cleared eschewed. It wasn't the worst misalignment ever, but it was likely going to be a detriment to the car. He ran another two laps under caution before coming in the lap before going green and that is how he lost his lap.

The team should have changed the wing the first time. Don't screw around in that situation and wonder if a slightly damaged wing would cost performance. Put on a properly aligned wing. Take the time on one stop to get the car together and then get back out there. It was confusing how a Team Penske crew seemed so uncertain in a spot where it was clear what should have been done. 

If Power does not spin or if Power does spin and the team makes all the repairs the first time and he remains on the lead lap, I don't think he wins the race, but I know he finishes better than tenth. I think he finishes in the top five, maybe on the podium but no worse than fifth. That is ten points sacrificed today. 

A 23-point gap would still require some work but it is a lot better than 33 points. 

12. This was an exhausting race in the first ten laps, and none of those were green. We're going to power through here.

13. Felix Rosenqvist was 11th. It is good but we must see more from Rosenqvist and MSR. This team wasn't close to finishing 11th last season. Now it is regularly there or at least in that neighborhood, but Rosenqvist and MSR are always qualifying in the top ten. This team should have more top ten finishes. David Malukas had an electrical issue on lap 63 effectively kill his race before it really got going. Malukas was able to completed 126 laps in a free test session and finish 22nd.

14. I don't know how Christian Lundgaard finished 12th. None of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars were good. Pietro Fittipaldi retired after 181 laps due to a mechanical issue. I think they just parked the car. Graham Rahal was run over by Christian Rasmussen on lap 125, but Rahal's day wasn't all that peachy before then. Lundgaard took a terrible car and finished ninth and 12th with it in consecutive days. If he can do that at RLLR, Lundgaard might just win a championship at McLaren.

15. Kyffin Simpson wasn't a nuisance today and he finished two laps down in 13th. Good for him.

16. It was a great day for Dale Coyne Racing because it was a double top fifteen day as Jack Harvey was 14th and Katherine Legge was 15th. No other team would celebrate this but Coyne should. Harvey ran long early and had a stint in top ten. They had to do something different. With the number of cars that had trouble, DCR was bound to get one car in the top fifteen. It isn't great but it could be much worse.

17. Christian Rasmussen has not made many friends this season. It feels like every four races someone is calling out his driving. Some of it is justified criticism. Today was one of those days. Rasmussen drilled Rahal into turn three. He is developing but there is a lot he should clean up if he gets a sophomore season. 

Let's cover Conor Daly here because Daly's third place finish in the first Milwaukee race appeared to have been wasted when Daly was parked on pit lane due to gearbox issues today. The car was repaired and somehow Daly only lost a point to Rasmussen and the #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. It felt like the pendulum was going to swing completely against the #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet in the Leader Circle battle early in this race. That wasn't the case and it will be advantage Daly heading to Nashville.

18. Sting Ray Robb had two incidents today. Robb spun exiting turn two on lap 113. Then he slammed the turn two barrier on lap 228. It will be fascinating to see what David Malukas does in this car because Santino Ferrucci is on the verge of finishing in the top ten of the championship driving for A.J. Foyt Racing. I don't know if Foyt can have two cars in the top ten of the championship, but it appears it could have two competitive entries. 

19. Of all the times for Álex Palou to have a battery issue at the start of a race, it was the penultimate race of the season when he has a legitimate chance to clinch a second consecutive championship and third title in four years. 

Palou still holds serve entering Nashville, and after what happened today and knowing his track record, you must believe he will do all that is necessary to claim the title in two week's time. Palou did nothing wrong today! He didn't overdrive the car and hit the barrier. He didn't speed entering pit lane and then speed again serving that penalty. He didn't plow over two cars on a waved off start. The car failed underneath him before the race even got started. 

I know they say, "Hollywood couldn't even script this" but this felt like a script. The dominant driver has something go wrong before the race even started and all he could do was drive around and run as many laps as possible to make up ground. He eased the bleeding today when it appeared set to be much, much worse.

20. Let's cover Arrow McLaren because both Patricio O'Ward and Nolan Siegel had gearbox issues end their races after 87 laps and 24 laps respectively. We have seen this number of mechanical issues in a race in a long time, but it was a variety of issues. It was gearbox issues for Daly, O'Ward and Siegel. Palou had the battery issue and Malukas' issue also appeared to be mechanical. 

21. Do you want to talk about the first attempt at a green flag start? It was waved off and it felt like it was waved off at the last possible minute. Linus Lundqvist plowed into the back of Marcus Armstrong, who collided with the back of Josef Newgarden, and this ended Armstrong and Newgarden's races. Lundqvist got a penalty but a drive-through was not enough. 

First, the start should have never been waved off. Just let them go. It was said the cars at the back were not packed up. Who cares? Who cares if the three Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing cars, which have all been slower than molasses all weekend, and Kyffin Simpson are strangling at the back. The decision to wave it off and wave it off that late caused the incident. 

Second, race control is too involved and the action at Gateway are on everyone's mind. There is too much thinking and not enough doing. They are over-scrutinizing starts, restarts, etc. We saw some of it at Iowa when guys were being penalized for not remaining single-file. There is almost too much interference. Set the rules and throw the green flag. If there is an infraction, penalize the cars, but don't dick around with what is a proper start or restart. Stop trying to orchestrate something beautiful because there hasn't been a beautiful start or restart in an IndyCar race in nearly 30 years.

Then in this race, you have Scott Dixon to the inside of a lapped car at a restart and it was never mentioned. It gets really involved and then there is a moment where it looks like a driver has committed an infraction and it is never discussed.

For too fucking long, IndyCar has let starts and restarts be a free-for-all on ovals. I don't like that every start and restart is just a 27 drivers clustered on top of one another. One way to avoid these incidents is to spread the grid out. It is absurd that everyone is just stacked together with no margin for error. And then everyone wonders why when one guy gets it wrong, six guys are suddenly in an incident. 

We have been talking about this issue for years. Like its scheduling, IndyCar has done nothing. I don't think it is going to change now because if hasn't changed already, why would this be the straw that breaks the camel's back? 

22. Lundqvist should have been parked. One way to decrease these kind of incidents on starts and restarts is to punish dopey driving. There is almost never an accident within the first two or three or five laps of a race that is understandable. Any driver that has an incident within the first five or ten laps should be parked. Make it that simple and then drivers will change their behavior.

Lundqvist should have been parked. He could have been back home in Indianapolis before the race even ended. He ended up retiring anyway after slapping the barrier exiting turn four. Coincidentally, Lundqvist's retirement is effectively what eliminated McLaughlin from that championship. Without that retirement, Palou finished 20th and McLaughlin has a chance at claiming the Astor Cup in Nashville.

It was a shame for Armstrong because each time he has started third this season he has been in an opening lap accident. I really wanted to see what he could do. 

As for Josef Newgarden, this has been the season from hell. Newgarden did nothing wrong. This is the fifth time he has finished worse than 20th in 2024, and it was the second consecutive race. It has been a strange year for Newgarden, but even when he does nothing wrong, he gets into trouble. The final race is in his backyard. Once we are through that race, I bet he will be glad for the offseason. 

23. Milwaukee performed well. The racing was great. The crowd was better than expected on both days. Next year there will be only one Milwaukee race so the crowd must look better in 2025. This is IndyCar at its best on a short oval. This is why it hurt so much to see Iowa massacred with a hack job re-pave, which will not be fixed for 2025. 

I watch this and think IndyCar should be on the phone with Loudon and Richmond. Both have open dates now that NASCAR only goes once a year. I think we would all appreciate spring trips to Virginia and New Hampshire or at least early summer races. There aren't that many flat ovals and short tracks out there anymore. Nobody is building racetracks let alone building ovals. There are so few options out there but IndyCar should maximize it potential and bring these races to the people. 

There are at least 45,000 people who will not have a spring Richmond NASCAR Cup race to attend next year. IndyCar should not hesitate to fill that void and attempt to attract those people. That is a strategy and IndyCar has nothing to lose attempting it. It likely will only gain stepping up while NASCAR steps away.

As much as we were all in a piss, poor mood when this weekend started, we should all be feeling a little better now, even if we are all far from dandy.

24. Two weeks until the season is over. Enjoy the final off-weekend.

Morning Warm-Up: Milwaukee 2024 Race Two

Josef Newgarden ran the fastest second lap of any qualifying run yesterday at the Milwaukee Mile, and it earned Newgarden pole position for Sunday's HyVee 250. The pole-winning time was 22.6980 seconds. it is the 18th pole position in the American's career and his second pole position of the season. This is the first time he has won multiple pole positions in a season since 2021. He has not won from pole position since Mid-Ohio in 2021. Newgarden has led at least 300 laps in nine consecutive seasons. He has only led 162 laps through the first 15 races this season with 456 laps left to run in the 2024 season. With his 26th-place result yesterday, Newgarden has four results outside the top twenty this season. His most finishes outside the top twenty in a season is five, which occurred in his first two IndyCar seasons. 

Scott McLaughlin took pole position for the first Milwaukee race, but he could only manage second for race two. McLaughlin was 0.01 seconds slower than Newgarden on his second qualifying lap. McLaughlin has started no worse than second in an oval race this season. He is coming off an eighth-place finish in the first Milwaukee race, his worst oval result in his last nine oval races. McLaughlin is 92 points behind championship lead Álex Palou and he must outscore Palou by 43 points to remain championship eligible at the Nashville season finale. This will require McLaughlin winning the race and Palou finishing at least 19th or worse. 

Marcus Armstrong matched the best starting position of his IndyCar career with a third-place qualifying effort. Armstrong was 0.1105 seconds off Newgarden's time. This is Armstrong's best starting position on an oval. His top ten finish streak was snapped yesterday when he finished 21st in the first Milwaukee race. It was his fifth finish outside the top twenty the season.

Will Power made it three Team Penske cars in the top four positions as the Australian was 0.1482 seconds off the top. Power is 43 points behind Álex Palou in the championship with two races remaining. There are 108 points left on the table over the final two races. Power must end this race within 49 points of Palou to remaining mathematically eligible for the championship in Nashville. Power currently holds the tiebreaker with three victories to Palou's two. Power also has more runner-up finishes with four to Palou's three.

Linus Lundqvist makes it two consecutive races starting in the top five. After starting fourth in the first Milwaukee race, Lundqvist will start fifth for the second Milwaukee race. The Swede led 19 laps last night before finishing sixth, his third top ten finish of the season. Entering last night, he had only led eight laps in his career and his most laps led in a race was four.

Alexander Rossi rolls off from sixth on the grid. Rossi has started in the top ten in five of six oval races this season. His seventh-place finish last night snapped a three-race top ten drought. Last year at Portland was the second time Rossi did not finish in the top ten of the penultimate race in a season in his IndyCar career. His average finish in the penultimate race of the season is 9.375 with a victory and three podium finishes.

Yesterday's winner Patricio O'Ward is a position behind his Arrow McLaren teammate in seventh. Eighteen times has a driver won consecutive Milwaukee races. The most recent was Ryan Hunter-Reay, who won in 2012 and 2013. O'Ward joined Michel Jourdain, Jr. as the only Mexican drivers to win at Milwaukee. The only other track where multiple Mexican drivers have won at is Mid-Ohio, and that became the first track with multiple Mexican winners earlier this year when O'Ward won. Adrián Fernández was the other Mid-Ohio winner.

Felix Rosenqvist takes eighth on the grid for the second consecutive day. Rosenqvist ended up finishing 13th after starting eighth in the first Milwaukee race. It was the eighth time he has finished worse than his starting position this season, and in the first nine races where Rosenqvist has started in the top ten, he has finished better than his starting position only once. He went from fifth to fourth at Barber Motorsports Park in April

David Malukas has both Meyer Shank Racing drivers starting in the top ten, and Malukas will roll off from ninth starting position. This is the sixth time in nine races Malukas has started in the top ten this season. In his first five times starting in the top ten, Malukas has never finished better than his starting position. He started and finished sixth at Toronto. 

Álex Palou rounds out the top ten in the grid after being 0.4184 seconds off pole position. With a 43-point lead over Will Power, Palou must gain at least seven points on Power to clinch the championship just by starting the Nashville race in two weeks. Palou has finished ahead of Power in eight of the first 15 races. Prior to yesterday's race, Palou had finished better than Power in three consecutive races.

Nolan Siegel matches the best starting position in his career in 11th. Siegel started 11th in the second Iowa race and wound up finishing 14th. He was 17th in yesterday's Milwaukee race, finishing one lap down. Siegel has not finished on the lead lap in four consecutive starts.

Santino Ferrucci starts on the outside of row six. Ferrucci went from 19th to fourth in the first Milwaukee race. It was his first top five finish of the season and his ninth top ten result this season. It was the fourth time this season Ferrucci has finished inside the top ten after starting outside the top fifteen. 

Jack Harvey has his best starting position of the season in 13th. Prior to this weekend, Harvey had not started better than 17th this season. He started 14th for the first race this weekend, and he finished 16th. It was Harvey's best result since he finished 17th at Detroit in June.

Romain Grosjean will take 14th starting position. Grosjean is the top driver in the championship without a lap led this season. He has only led four laps in his career on an oval, two in the 2022 Gateway race and two in the 2023 Texas race.

Rinus VeeKay finds himself starting 15th. Despite finishing a lap down in 14th last night, VeeKay has completed the most laps this season. He has completed 2,067 out of a possible 2,095 laps. Prior to last night's result, the Dutchman had finished in the top ten of every oval race this season

Marcus Ericsson will be the best Andretti Global start, but it will be from 16th on the grid. Along with his seventh-place starting position yesterday, the two Milwaukee races are the first two times Ericsson has been the best Andretti starter this season. He has finished outside the top twenty in three consecutive oval races and in four of five oval races this season.

Scott Dixon starts 17th for the second consecutive Milwaukee race. Dixon has started outside the top ten in six of 14 Milwaukee appearances. This is the eighth time this season he has started outside the top ten, and he has started outside the top ten for four of six oval races. Dixon will be mathematically eliminated from the championship once Álex Palou starts today's race.

Colton Herta is starting 18th. This is the third time in six oval races Herta has started outside the top ten. Herta enters today's race 88 points behind Álex Palou in the championship. Herta must outscore Palou by 39 points today to remain championship eligible at the Nashville season finale. If Herta wins the race, it would require Palou finishing at least 18th or worse.

Kyle Kirkwood is a position behind his Andretti teammate in 19th spot. This matches Kirkwood's worst starting position of the season. He went from 19th to seventh in the first Iowa race. After finishing 12th yesterday, he has finished outside the top ten in three consecutive oval races. This will be the 50th start of Kirkwood's career. 

Conor Daly rounds out the top twenty. This will be Daly's second Milwaukee start. His father Derek made three Milwaukee starts and Derek's only podium finish in IndyCar competition came at Milwaukee, a third in 1987. Daly is coming off finishing third in yesterday's Milwaukee race. It was his second career podium finish after he was second in the first race of the 2016 Belle Isle doubleheader. Daly went 3,010 days between podium finishes.

Sting Ray Robb qualified 21st for race two. It is the 31st time in 33 starts Robb has started outside the top twenty in his IndyCar career. He started 20th history, matching his career best start. Robb ended up finishing 23rd, his worst finish on an oval this season.

Katherine Legge occupies the 22nd grid position. Legge overcame a spin to finish 19th, albeit two laps down in race one. She has only three top fifteen finishes in her last 17 starts. All three of those results came in 2012. Along with a ninth at Fontana, she was 15th at Texas and 15th at Iowa.

Christian Rasmussen started 23rd in race one and Rasmussen will start 23rd in race two. The Dane made up 12 spots yesterday to finish 11th, his second-best finish this season. This matches the most spots Rasmussen has made up in a race. He improved 12 spots in the Indianapolis 500 going from 24th to 12th.

Kyffin Simpson will have the 24th starting position. This is the 13th time this season Simpson has started outside the top twenty this season. He has finished outside the top twenty in eight races this season, including three of the last four events.  

Christian Lundgaard is 25th, but he will lead a trio of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers rounding out the grid. All three RLLR cars qualified over a second slower than Newgarden's pole position time. No other team qualified over a second behind the top spot. Lundgaard went from 26th to ninth in race one, his best finish ever on an oval in his IndyCar career.

Graham Rahal is in the middle of the RLLR sandwich at the back of the grid in 26th. This is the sixth time this season Rahal has started outside the top twenty. Only once has Rahal started outside the top twenty this season and finished in the top ten. He went from 24th to tenth at Road America.

Pietro Fittipaldi rounds out the grid in 27th, as Fittipaldi will have started last for both Milwaukee races this season. His worst starting position this season was 30th at the Indianapolis 500.  Fittipaldi could become the second Brazilian to win at Milwaukee. Tony Kanaan won twice at the circuit in 2006 and 2007.

USA's coverage of the second HyVee 250 begins at 2:30 p.m. ET with green flag scheduled for 3:00 p.m. The race is scheduled for 250 laps.