Milwaukee – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Daly takes Juncos Hollinger’s first IndyCar podium

Conor Daly was drafted in to drive the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing into a $1 million Leaders Circle contract before the end of the season. The Hoosier accomplished the first part of that mission by moving the car from 23rd — tied for 22nd on points, but 23rd due to the car’s lower placements — entering the Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheaders to 20th as a result of delivering the team’s first NTT IndyCar Series podium.

Daly’s stellar blast from 25th to third was exactly the kind of short oval performance he’s known for, and while there are two races left to run, he has the No. 78 on the right side of the top 22, which will produce that $1 million contract if he can maintain the car’s form at the second Milwaukee race and the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.

“It’s really cool, especially when the last podium I was on had Juan Pablo Montoya and Sebastien Bourdais. I changed my era of IndyCar drivers,” Daly said sitting alongside race winner Pato O’Ward and second-place Will Power.

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“Kind of crazy. I honestly didn’t know how good we were. The first lap I decided to just go where there was open space. Turns out that worked. Then we just kept going. It was kind of slowly working our way forward.”

Daly conjured up his typical bravery to shoot past multiple cars on the start and restarts, often by going wide — wider than any other driver dared — and he was rewarded every time. His recent reunion with the team where he won his first major open-wheel championship has been warm, and inside the JHR team, he’s also found many of the talented crew who were part of the former Carlin Racing team he drove for and was absorbed into JHR when Trevor and Stephanie Carlin folded the operation at the end of 2021.

“A lot of those guys, I got ’em a pole, now I got ’em a podium,” he said. “I feel good about that. They’re a great group of people. Shout-out to Trevor Carlin, too. He put together a really cool group of people. Obviously, a lot of them have really enjoyed it. They’ve stayed. Ricardo (Juncos) and Brad (Hollinger) have taken over.

“It truly is, I think, a very underrated group. They’re so smart. There’s a lot of talented folks there. They deserve this, for sure, because it’s been a very unlucky year for them. Obviously I felt it the last two weeks. This is the first race we’ve been together where we haven’t been spun at least once. That’s positive. I think tomorrow can only be better, I hope.”

O’Ward overpowers Penske brigade in first Milwaukee win

Pato O’Ward drowned out the noise caused by Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles and drove to the front with the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy Saturday night in Wisconsin to win his third race of the season in commanding style. Last Sunday, O’Ward …

Last Sunday, O’Ward started 22nd and finished 15th as his team was lost at Portland, and six days later O’Ward was hunting for victory, leading 133 of the 250 laps as his squad made an epic turnaround.

“It’s all about, ‘What are we missing?’” O’Ward said. “We’re not going to get it right all the time, but specifically this year has been really tough just to feel like I have something to fight with. It was nice to bounce back like this, you know, after a solid qualifying effort and then really putting it together in the race. It all definitely came together for us.”

He was chased home by Team Penske’s Will Power, who was 1.8s in arrears in the No. 12 Chevy and the charging Conor Daly, who rocketed from the back of the field in 25th to secure an important third for Juncos Hollinger Racing in the No. 78 Chevy and give the Bowtie a sweep of the podium.

Last week’s polesitter Santino Ferrucci motored the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy to fourth and championship leader Alex Palou held on to secure fifth in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

With his second-place result, Power carved 11 points off of Palou’s lead, which went from 54 to 43 points with two races left to go.

“Shrinks a little more,” Power said. “Another 10 points would have been great. Almost had him there, but just too good. I should say pleasant surprise but well deserved, Conor driving all the way. Shows it doesn’t matter where you qualify. Even my spotter said during that run, ‘Conor already has passed half the field around the outside,’ so the outside works. For Ricardo (Juncos) and that team, couldn’t be happier. Super excited to see that.”

IndyCar’s return to the Milwaukee Mile had a little bit of everything as polesitter Scott McLaughlin led the first 80 laps, was passed by Linus Lundqvist who led 19 tours, and when it mattered, O’Ward kept working and went from running at the tail end of the top five to winning the first of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheaders.

Behind him, a few drivers had memorable nights, including Lundqvist, who let Palou by to take fifth and duly finished sixth. Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen improved from 23rd to 11th in his second IndyCar oval race, and at the opposite end, the Andretti Global team misfired with all three cars as Marcus Ericsson and Josef Newgarden tangled and crashed (27th place); Kyle Kirkwood hit some of his crew members and had a drive-through penalty (12th); and Colton Herta’s wheel fell off, which led to receiving a penalty for emergency service in a closed pit and a rare 30s stop-and-hold for unsafe conduct as a result of leaving the pits without the left-front wheel secured (22nd).

The cartoon anvils especially hurt Ericsson, who was running in the top three, and Herta, who had a top five in hand.

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The 250-lap race got off to a disorderly start which was waved off on its first attempt, but polesitter Scott McLaughlin was clear into Turn 1 as Lundqvist took second from Malukas. Daly tore through the field and was up to 14th — 11 spots.

After 10 laps, McLaughlin held 1.1s over Lundqvist and 1.8s on Malukas.

By 20 laps, McLaughlin was preparing to lap the last-place car and had 0.9s over Lundqvist and 2.0s on Malukas. Herta took fourth off of O’Ward.

Lap 26 and McLaughlin lapped Pietro Fittipaldi and Lundqvist was 0.1s behind.

On lap 30, Lundqvist was 0.7s down and Malukas a further 1.1s shy of McLaughlin.

While stuck behind Fittipaldi on lap 35, Lundqvist’s gap swelled to 3.0s before he finally got by.

Lap 40 and it was a 2.2s and a 4.1s deficit for Lundqvist and Malukas.

Eight laps later, Lundqvist went to the lead after McLaughlin was slowed by traffic. Lundqvist eventually had 1.1s over McLaughlin and 1.8s on Malukas.

The first stops came at lap 60. Lundqvist was running 4.1s to the good on McLaughlin and 5.1s on Malukas.

O’Ward pitted from P5 on lap 61. Alex Palou ducked in from P14. Two laps later, Herta was in from P4. McLaughlin and Malukas pit on lap 65.

Lap 66 and Lundqvist and Newgarden pit — a slow right-rear tire change for the leader ensued. Power finally came in a lap later.

McLaughlin retook the lead with Lundqvist behind him on lap 68.

Two laps later, 0.5s separated McLaughlin and Lundqvist as O’Ward and Herta held P1 and P2.

Newgarden appeared to kiss the wall on exit of Turn 2 on lap 72.

Herta finally moved past O’Ward for the lead on lap 77.

Caution flew at lap 83. Katherine Legge spun off of Turn 2 and didn’t hit anything.

McLaughlin and Sting Ray Robb pitted under yellow on lap 87, creating an eventual leading pack of McLaughlin, Robb, Herta, O’Ward, Rossi, Malukas, Romain Grosjean, Ferrucci, Palou, and Lundqvist.

The restart came on lap 95. The lapped Armstrong was behind McLaughlin and was looking to get by.

Ferrucci took fourth from Rossi on lap 97. By lap 105, McLaughlin was 1.8s up on Herta and 2.5s clear of O’Ward. Palou ran P7 and Power, P10.

O’Ward tried to pass Herta into Turn 1 on lap 110 and three laps later finally sealed the deal on the Andretti car to take P2. The McLaren chased down and passed McLaughlin on lap 118 — the Penske on tires 20 laps older after not pitting.

Go get him? Message received.@PatricioOWard to the LEAD at Milwaukee 👀 pic.twitter.com/2PgKdaMh9W

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 31, 2024

Lap 120 and O’Ward led McLaughlin by 1.1s and Herta by 1.3s. At halfway the leader was driving away with 2.3s on McLaughlin, then 4.1s by lap 127 (and 5.0s on Herta).

Newgarden came in at lap 131 having been buried in traffic. McLaughlin was inexplicably still out, 10.2s behind O’Ward, on lap 133.

Palou and Power pitted together on lap 135. Ferrucci took P2 from McLaughlin two laps later before the Penske driver finally pitted on lap 138, along with Lundqvist — the RLL team suffering a slow stop.

Herta pitted from P3 on lap 140. Ferrucci was in a lap later.

O’Ward had 7.6s on Newgarden and 8.1s on Marcus Ericsson by lap 145. Palou was running P3 with Power in P4.

Ericsson and Newgarden tangled out of P2 and P3 on lap 146. They came together in Turns 1 and 2. Championship leader Palou inherited P2.

The restart came at lap 157 and O’Ward led Palou, Power, McLaughlin and VeeKay. Ferrucci forced his way by Rossi for P6 on lap 160, then took P5 from VeeKay a lap later. He took P4 from McLaughlin on lap 165.

O’Ward was leading Palou by 0.8s, Power by 1.7s, and Ferrucci by 9.1s on lap 170. He stretched it to 1.7s over Palou, who had Power charging behind, 2.2s back from the leader, by lap 180.

Lap 185 and Rossi, Palou, Dixon, Herta and others pit. O’Ward pits and the caution comes out one lap later. Herta came in on lap 187 to have a left-front wheel and tire installed after his fell off upon leaving the pits. He fell to P17.

Lap 190 and Power, who hadn’t yet pitted, was in the lead ahead of Daly, Lundqvist, O’Ward, Lundgaard and Ferrucci on the lead lap, with Palou and McLaughlin the first of the lap-down cars, having gone down a lap while pitting moments before the caution happened.

Power and Daly and Lundqvist pitted on lap 193.

Lap 194 and the leaders were then O’Ward, Ferrucci, Power, Lundqvist, Lundgaard and Daly on the lead lap, with Palou as the first lap-down driver.

Wave-arounds for lap-down cars happened on lap 197. Palou, McLaughlin and the rest were now back to the lead lap.

On the lap 203 restart, Daly charged to P4. Palou got up to P6 with Power in P3.

Grosjean slowed on track and was yelling on the radio on lap 205 as Herta sat on pit lane for a stop-and-hold.

O’Ward stretched his lead to 2.4s on Ferrucci, 2.8s on Power, and 3.6s on Daly by lap 210. Power and Daly fire by Ferrucci on lap 221. Ferrucci was then down to P4. Palou then got by Lundqvist for P5. On lap 224 he took P4 from Power.

A lap later, O’Ward held 1.0s over Power and 2.0s on Daly. Palou was 2.8s behind.

Lap 227 and Ferrucci took P4 back from Palou.

Rossi took P7 from McLaughlin on lap 235.

Two laps later, O’Ward became mired in traffic and Power pulled up to his tail. By lap 240, O’Ward stretched the lead again to 0.8s on Power and 2.3s on Daly just in time to take a comfortable win on lap 250.

RESULTS

Dominant Foster clinches Indy NXT title with Milwaukee win

Louis Foster left no doubt, clinching the Indy NXT by Firestone championship with his series-leading seventh victory of the season Saturday at the Milwaukee Mile. Foster, 21, from Odiham, England, locked up the title for Andretti Global in the …

Louis Foster left no doubt, clinching the Indy NXT by Firestone championship with his series-leading seventh victory of the season Saturday at the Milwaukee Mile.

Foster, 21, from Odiham, England, locked up the title for Andretti Global in the IndyCar development series with one race to spare. His seventh win of 2024 was the most by any driver in Indy NXT since current NTT IndyCar Series star Kyle Kirkwood won a series record-tying 10 races en route to the title in 2021, the last championship for Andretti Global.

“It’s amazing,” second-year Indy NXT driver Foster said. “I’m just speechless. I’ve got to thank the team. They’ve been behind me the last two years. Massive thanks to everyone on the No. 26 crew, my sponsors. It’s been a crazy two years, and I’m super happy to cap it with a win.”

Foster started from the pole and led all 90 laps in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies car fielded by Andretti Global, beating Jacob Abel in the No. 51 Abel Construction machine of Abel Motorsports to the finish by 4.3602s. Salvador de Alba Jr. finished third in the No. 2 Grupo Indi entry of Andretti Cape Indy NXT, his second podium result of his rookie season.

Bryce Aron placed fourth in the No. 27 Jaguar Land Rover Chesterfield car of Andretti Global. Jamie Chadwick was fifth in the No. 28 VEXT machine as Andretti Global and its partner teams put four drivers in the top five at the checkered flag.

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Foster needed to finish only sixth or better to seal the title and a financial benefits package to aid in the advancement to the NTT IndyCar Series, but he never looked back from the green flag. Abel, who entered this race 79 points behind in second, fell from second to sixth at the start after contact from other cars in Turn 1, effectively ending his faint title hopes.

Abel still fought back from the early trouble to pass de Alba for second place with an outside move in Turn 1 with three laps remaining. He is 93 points behind champion Foster with just the Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway remaining this season.

There was no such drama for Foster.

He held steady with a lead of about 1s over teammate Chadwick for the first 35 laps of the race, including pulling away from her on the only restart, on lap 33. Foster then expanded that margin to 1.5s over de Alba with 30 laps remaining.

About the only tricky trap that Foster needed to escape was lapped traffic for the last 15 trips around the historic oval, where the series was racing for the first time since 2015. He navigated the slower cars with ease and strutted to victory over the final 10 laps.

Caio Collet finished ninth in the No. 18 HMD Motorsports entry, but that was enough to clinch third in the standings and honors as the top-finishing rookie in the series this season.

RESULTS

Rossi still mum on 2025 but says news is coming ‘shortly’

One question has been asked more than any other in the NTT IndyCar Series paddock in recent weeks: Where is Alexander Rossi going next year? The Arrow McLaren driver is in his final weeks with the team, and as evidenced by the throngs of fans who …

One question has been asked more than any other in the NTT IndyCar Series paddock in recent weeks: Where is Alexander Rossi going next year?

The Arrow McLaren driver is in his final weeks with the team, and as evidenced by the throngs of fans who repeatedly ask where their favorite driver will call home in 2025, there’s great interest in how the Californian will write the next chapter of his career.

“We’re gonna have some news for people shortly,” Rossi told RACER. “It’s been a pretty dynamic silly season for a lot of different reasons. Honestly, man, I just love the team that I’m driving for. I’m trying to do the best job that we can — really amazing people at that organization who deserve to end the year on a high note. It’s been a pretty dumb second half of the season, but we’ve got the tools we need to end it on a high, so we’ll start with that this weekend and the rest will take care of itself.”

Rossi received one of the loudest cheers from the grandstands during qualifying for this weekend’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheader, which is a demonstration of the bond he’s built with fans for many years.

“I try and be very transparent,” he said of the deep connections he’s made. “It’s amazing, and as fortunate as we all are to be race car drivers, it has its challenges and its struggles, and I think not sugar-coating that all the time resonates with people, because they’re human beings, right? I think so much of this sport is about, ‘The No. 7 Velo Arrow McLaren Chevrolet was great today, even though we were 15th. We really hope to have a strong day tomorrow.’ I’m like, ‘Cool, but that’s also a lie, and you’re [angry], and it sucks.”

Penske makes a clean sweep of Milwaukee qualifying

Team Penske swept qualifying for this weekend’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheader with Scott McLaughlin taking pole for tonight’s first race and Josef Newgarden securing pole for Sunday afternoon’s race two. McLaughlin wheeled the No. 3 Chevy to the top …

McLaughlin wheeled the No. 3 Chevy to the top with a lap of 162.341mph and will start second for race two.

Behind the Penske duo for race one, taking place Saturday at 6 p.m. ET, the rest of the top six was completed by David Malukas, Alexander Rossi, Linus Lundqvist, and Will Power.

“It was hard, proper driving; I think Josef would concur that the UV of the track was high, was quite loose and a weird grip level,” McLaughlin said. “It’s nice to just wheel one and manage a pole here.”

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Mirroring his teammate, Newgarden will start second for Saturday’s race and is one pole for Sunday with a lap of 160.983mph in the No. 2 Chevy.

In race two, the Penske front row has Marcus Armstrong, Power, Lundqvist, and Rossi in tow.

“Hard laps around Milwaukee,” Newgarden said. “It makes you work for it. We probably overshot a little bit, but we weren’t going to undershoot today.”

Of the surprises, championship leader Alex Palou was missing speed with a run to 13th for race one and 10th for race two. Even worse, the entire Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing team missed something big as its trio were three of the four slowest for Saturday and earned the last three spots for Sunday.

RACE 1 LINEUP

RACE 2 LINEUP

IndyCar making a fresh start with return to Milwaukee Mile

The NTT IndyCar Series’ return to the Milwaukee Mile after a nine-year absence has been orchestrated by Penske Entertainment, the series’ owner who promotes other key stops on the calendar at Indianapolis, Detroit, and Iowa. Although the one-mile …

Although the one-mile oval rates as one of IndyCar’s great historical venues – and featured packed grandstands in the days of CART and its predecessors – the last visit in 2015 did not generate high ticket sales, which led to its removal from the schedule. And with the extended gap since the series paid a visit to West Allis, Wis., Penske Entertainment is largely starting from scratch with its Hy-Vee doubleheader this weekend.

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According to Penske Corporation president Bud Denker who oversees the event, re-establishing Milwaukee’s popularity on the IndyCar tour has the added challenge of offering racing and racing alone as the main attraction.

“This is a startup,” Denker told RACER after Friday’s practice session. “The closest thing I’ve compared it to is Iowa Speedway where it was, ‘If we build it, they will come,’ because of the incredible entertainment with musical acts there. With what we’re starting out with in Milwaukee, it’s, ‘If we build it, we hope they come,’ because we just don’t have the same type of entertainment lineup.”

Working in partnership with the Wisconsin State Fair Park, Penske Entertainment has developed local ticket deals to court past and present fans alike. The doubleheader won’t be a sellout in its first run, but Denker is encouraged by the volume of ticket sales that continue to build.

“We sold 790 tickets (Thursday), 780 the day before, and then today (Friday), we’ll probably do 1200,” he said. “I expect (Saturday) in the grandstands, we’ll have about 15,000 and on Sunday, about the same thing right now, we have 13,500 in the bank. (Sunday) will be bigger with an extra day to sell.”

In CART’s heyday, full stands were often achieved by massive ticket giveaways from key sponsors like Marlboro, Target, Miller Beer and other top-tier brands involved with IndyCar teams. Lacking the same sponsor base to fill the entire facility through ticket giveaways, Denker hopes to see the main section of grandstands in front of the pits represented with a healthy crowd.

“The middle section holds 22,000,” he added. “The grandstands in Turn 4, two of them go away next year. We’re looking to condense this thing down here. On top of Turn 1, we built temporary suites. There’s five of them there. Four of them are sold, one open for business development. I think once people see the suites around the track, they’re going to say, ‘I want to move from here to there next year.’

“So my goal next year is we’ll have those suites down in Turn 1, and we’ll build an equal amount in Turn 4 when those grandstands go away. So you’ll have it bookended with suites. And here’s the thing about this year: Would I like to have 24,000 people per day? Absolutely. But and I happy starting out with 15,000 to 16,000, maybe as high as 18,000, to start this off? Yes.”

The event shifts in a few ways in 2025 as it reverts to a single race and is held one week earlier. Denker is confident both factors will drive increased sales.

“We’re coming off the State Fair. We had a (NASCAR) Truck race here last week. So what’s the share of a wallet here? How much can people really share of that wallet?” he said. “And the other thing is, how much did being on Labor Day weekend hurt us? So next year, no Truck race. Next year, no Labor Day. We’re running the week before and we’re going two weeks after the State Fair.

“And there’s two races here. Was it a mistake to run two races? Nothing was a mistake. We had to fill up this calendar with 17 races, because remember the race in Thermal was an exhibition, whereas next year it’ll be at points, and then so we’ll have enough points races to have one race here next year.

“So that’s so back to the point of, ‘If you build up, you hope they come.’ I think they’re coming. I’m not disappointed in 15,000 people because our team has busted their butts to make it happen. So we’re going to build this thing, and we’re patient enough to wait for it to keep growing.”

‘Commit hard’ to pass at Milwaukee is an encouraging sign

Coming out of the June hybrid test at the Milwaukee Mile, NTT IndyCar Series drivers and engineers spoke with concern about the quality of racing that would be on display at the Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheader if some changes weren’t made. Drivers …

With softer left-side tires for the field of 27 entries to use this weekend, and 30 minutes of dedicated running to try and apply rubber to the second lane in the corners, drivers were more optimistic on Friday about what lies ahead in the twin 250-lap contests on Saturday and Sunday. Most importantly, the revised tires brought for the race by Firestone degraded after 30-40 laps, which should prevent the races from being processional affairs.

“You can pass, but you have to commit hard,” Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist, fourth-fastest on Friday, told RACER. “You have to dive bomb and stay in clean air, and then get side by side on exit. That’s the way you pass in [Turns] 3 and 4. In [Turns] 1 and 2, you can’t really do anything, but you can work the inside line of [Turns] 3 and 4. You need a tire difference, though. Like, if you have 10-20 lap newer tires than the other guy, it helps a lot. If you’re equal on tires, it takes a mistake from them to really get past.”

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Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay, 17th in the event’s lone practice session, was encouraged by what he found.

“We did some race running at the end; it was mostly qualifying focus, but I actually could pass some guys and fit the car in a comfortable window where I’m comfortable pushing without overstepping anything,” he said. “It felt pretty good out there. Made a lot of good improvements.”

One thing the Swede and the Dutchman disagreed on was which end of their cars provided the biggest problem.

“The car just wants to understeer, as soon as you get close to someone,” Rosenqvist said of his No. 60 Honda. “The aeroscreen and the hybrid weight, it has a big understeer effect, especially on power. Like, you’re in the corner, you pick up the throttle and the front tires just can’t hold the load.”

VeeKay smiled when he heard about Rosenqvist’s handling predicament.

“I’ve got oversteer, myself; we were low on grip at the back of the car,” he said of the No. 21 Chevy. “For the racing, there are five or six cars that I think are a little bit more off pace, and I think that’s going to stack up the field and make accordions happen, which I think is gonna create some good racing. We can get by them, but we’ll be doing different speeds, so I think there’s gonna be some racing. It’s good. This is an interesting place.”

Newgarden heads up critical Friday practice at Milwaukee

The NTT IndyCar Series’ first official practice session at the Milwaukee Mile since 2015 took place under warm and humid conditions as dark clouds and blue skies alternated throughout the 90-minute outing led by Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden. …

Fastest at the July hybrid test on the historic Wisconsin oval, Penske was well placed again with Newgarden up front with a best lap of 158.762mph in the No. 2 Chevy and had teammates Scott McLaughlin not far behind in fifth (157.581mph) and Will Power in 11th (156.539mph).

Second was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon at 158.080mph in the No. 9 Honda and rebounding from a dismal weekend in Portland, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was third in the No. 5 Chevy with a 157.750mph lap. Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist was fourth in the No. 60 Honda with a 157.628mph, followed by McLaughlin in fifth and Ganassi’s Marcus Armstrong in sixth with the No. 11 Honda at 157.146mph. Ganassi’s championship leader Alex Palou was ninth in the No. 10 Honda at 156.793mph.

“A lot of people on track,” Newgarden said of the constantly busy session. “I’m sure there’s individuals that didn’t get a super clear lap, and there’s probably more to be seen from everybody. You just account for that. I think we’ve accounted for that at other ovals. You’ll see the same thing here.

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“It’s encouraging. [I] think our car was really good. I was happy. [It] took some tuning. The tire was very different on the low line … Then we went to the current tire and it took a lot of work to get it where it needed to be. When we got through the first 30 minutes, I was super happy with the car. The team did a great job feeling comfortable. Yeah, I think Team Chevy did a good job, too, at least from what I’ve seen preliminarily.”

The field of 27 drivers opened the afternoon in a pair of special sessions to apply rubber to the second lane, and once they were done, the 3:30-5 p.m. CT run was most mostly anticlimactic. By 3:45pm, at least half the teams had their drivers sitting on pit lane, cars in the air, as damper and spring changes — some at the front or rear, and others on all four corners — were tried. After chassis setup work was completed, teams shifted to long stints to simulate race running; with Friday’s practice serving as the only practice session of the event, the 90 minutes were more structured than usual.

The only crash of the day belonged to Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen who got high and slid across tire marbles and met the Turn 2 wall with the right side of his car. The Danish rookie was uninjured, and the car, which had crumpled right-side suspension, will be ready to go on Saturday.

UP NEXT: Qualifying, 2:15 p.m. ET Saturday.

RESULTS

Arrow McLaren, Ganassi, Penske and RLL take Milwaukee grid penalties

Another late-season IndyCar race, another set of grid penalties for unapproved engine changes. This time, IndyCar has announced a nine-position starting grid penalty for the first race of this weekend’s Milwaukee doubleheader for the entries of No. …

Another late-season IndyCar race, another set of grid penalties for unapproved engine changes.

This time, IndyCar has announced a nine-position starting grid penalty for the first race of this weekend’s Milwaukee doubleheader for the entries of No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet driven by Josef Newgarden, the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevy of Nolan Siegel, No. 11 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Marcus Armstrong, and the Nos. 30 and 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Hondas of Pietro Fittipaldi and Christian Lundgaard for unapproved engine changes following last weekend’s race at Portland International Raceway.

The teams were in violation of:

Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.

According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next race, which is the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s Race 1 Saturday, Aug. 31 at the Milwaukee Mile.

Doubled stakes for IndyCar title contenders at Milwaukee Mile

NTT IndyCar Series championship leader Alex Palou will be crowned if he can push his lead to 55 points by the end of Sunday. If his closest title rival Will Power can overtake Palou by the end of the Milwaukee Hy-Vee 250 doubleheader, a fun fight will move to the season finale at Nashville Speedway where he’ll give everything he has to become IndyCar’s newest title winner.

And while third-place Colton Herta and fourth-place Scott McLaughlin have a remote chance of vaulting past them to earn the championship, the odds favor the top two aces in the drivers’ standings to achieve a rare feat: Across 100-plus years of IndyCar racing, only 12 drivers have won three or more championships, and with Palou and Power, the run from Milwaukee through Nashville is primed to add a new member to the club.

The race for three is officially on, but the odds are by no means equal as with three races to run, Power is short on time to draw down Palou’s lead prior to the final checkered flag of the season that waves in Tennessee on Sept. 15. To start, Palou holds a 54-point lead over Power, which is the equivalent to a maximum race of points in his favor (50 points for a win, one point for pole position, one for leading a lap, and two for leading the most laps).

There are many ways the Team Penske driver can catch and pass the Chip Ganassi Racing standard bearer, which begins by earning an average of 19-20 points more than Palou at each race. Without getting into bonus points for pole and the rest, Power could take the championship with three wins at 50 points apiece and Palou finishing no better than fifth in each race (30 points).

But that’s a lot to ask of Power to win four races — including last weekend in Portland — in a row. If Power places second at the last three with 40 points apiece, he’d need Palou to finish no higher than 10th each time (20 points), and that would be uncharacteristic for IndyCar’s most consistent driver. If Power delivers a trio of thirds (35 points per race), he’d need Palou to come home in 15th (15 points), which seems unlikely.

The greatest problem facing Power, and Herta (67 points back), and McLaughlin (a dire 88 points down) is Palou’s aforementioned dependability. From the 14 races completed this season, Palou has 12 finishes of fifth or better. Said another way, Palou’s only had two poor results from 14 tries; that’s a top-five delivery rate of 86 percent, and now his rivals need him to trip and stumble a few more times in consecutive events, which isn’t his forté.

It’s the crushing consistency that makes Palou a perennial title threat and someone who rarely accommodates the needs of a Power, Herta, or McLaughlin by having one bad finish after another.

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One of Palou’s rough oval results was at the first Iowa race where he crashed on his own while running 11th and he was credited with 23rd at the finish, so it’s not impossible for the Ganassi driver to fall short at least once at Milwaukee or Nashville. But two or three times? That would be uncharted territory for Palou.

The other issue facing Power and the other contenders is Palou’s underappreciated rise in oval competitiveness. He was fifth at the Indianapolis 500, crashed at Iowa 1 but shook it off and rebounded the next day to take second at Iowa 2, and placed fourth at the last oval at World Wide Technology Raceway. He’s still chasing his first oval win, and Penske is expected to continue its oval dominance at the final three races, but Palou’s average oval finishing position is 3.6 when he reaches the checkered flag — and he almost always reaches the checkered flag. Reinforcing the point, Palou finished every oval race in 2023 and did so with an average result of fifth.

Power needs to win and win and win and hope Palou doesn’t stick to his oval average of 3.6, or even 5.0 at the finish lines, because if he does, there’s nothing the Penske driver, or Herta at Andretti Global, or Penske’s McLaughlin can do to prevent him from becoming a three-timer.

With 54 points on Palou’s side, the settling of the championship isn’t centered on how well Power and the rest perform. For the pursuers to have realistic shots at the title, Milwaukee 1, Milwaukee 2 and Nashville will be about Palou and whether he’s struck with adversity. For them to win, he needs to fail. Minus the adversity, Palou is on the way to claiming his third championship in five seasons.

In the Rookie of the Year standings, it will be a Ganassi driver winning the award, and with Linus Lundqvist sitting on a 64-point margin over Kyffin Simpson, Lundqvist in total control.

Sting Ray Robb has put Foyt’s No. 41 into the top 22, and his oval form augurs well for his chances of keeping it there. Josh Tons/Motorsport Images

The fascinating squabble to secure Penske Entertainment’s final Leaders Circle contracts — which split the bulk of the season’s prize money into 22 equal contracts worth approximately $1 million apiece for those who finish in the top 22 of the entrants’ championship — is getting down to business time. Landing in Milwaukee, the cluster of teams on the right side and wrong side of the top 22 threshold has evolved.

The No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda driven by David Malukas went into Portland in 19th with 154 points and left in 19th with 164. Barring a dramatic downward turn, Shank’s call to park Tom Blomqvist, hire Malukas and get the No. 66 into the green with the Leaders Circle has worked. Credit is also due to Sting Ray Robb, who took the No. 41 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy from 21st to 20th (156 points) entering the ovals where he’s particularly solid.

Tied at 156 points, but behind the No. 41 Chevy, is the No. 30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda, which went to Portland in 20th with Pietro Fittipaldi and exited in 21st after a punishing race.

In 22nd, it’s the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy, which holds its spot on the bubble (141 points). In 23rd and tied on points at 141, Conor Daly in the No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy is locked in a battle with Christian Rasmussen in the No. 20 ECR car — his former ride — to claim the last contract.

Of the many plot lines to follow this weekend, the ECR vs JHR, Rasmussen vs Daly thread is a big one.

Last again among Leaders Circle contenders in 24th is the No. 51 Dale Coyne Racing Honda (133 points), but it wouldn’t take much for Katherine Legge to join the ECR vs JHR scrap if she has a strong showing in Milwaukee. Coyne’s No. 18 Honda remains a distant 25th (107 points).