The NTT IndyCar Series made its return to West Allis, Wisconsin on Wednesday for a two-car Firestone tire test led by Team Penske’s Will Power and Chip Ganassi Racing’s Linus Lundqvist ahead of the series’ doubleheader return to the Milwaukee Mile.
For Power, who won the 2014 edition of the race, it was a welcome visit to a beloved track where lap times were in the 23-second range. IndyCar’s last outing at Milwaukee in 2015 featured the high-downforce manufacturer aero kits which allowed most of the field to qualify in the mid-to-high 21s range.
“The track has not changed very much — felt very similar to the last race here almost 10 years ago,” Power said after climbing from his No. 12 Chevy. “It’s a really cool oval because it’s low banking, which is good for our cars — really good for racing. So excited to be coming back. We get to do a doubleheader and I think it’ll be a good race — always good racing around this place.”
🗣️ CARS ON TRACK IN MILWAUKEE 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/zYw788OwDB
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) October 18, 2023
For Lundqvist, who made his IndyCar oval debut on the 1.25-mile World Wide Technology Raceway “Gateway” oval, Milwaukee presented a more colorful trip around its track.
“It’s pretty bumpy, it’s pretty fast,” he said. “It is a really short oval; I did my rookie orientation program last week at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, a very different kind of oval, so it just very much highlighted the differences.
“I think the surface and the non-smoothness that this place has reminds me more of Iowa than Gateway. I raced at Iowa in Indy NXT, so the surface and the bumps are very similar to that. It’s just that this has less banking, which obviously puts a little bit more stress on the car and the driver, so we’ll see how it goes.”
The 2022 Indy NXT champion also welcomed his first chance to test tires for Firestone, which will help IndyCar’s official tire supplier decide on the best compound and construction to manufacture for next year’s race weekend.
“Tire testing is always important; I think more so for Firestone than that myself, if I’m gonna be honest,” Lundqvist added. “But especially I think it’s very good that they go to track that we haven’t raced at since 2015. A lot has changed: The weight of the cars, how they look, the downforce. So it’s good to make sure that everything works.”