Itβs back.
The famed Milwaukee Mile, which was honored for years as a traditional open-wheel venue, is next on the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series schedule.Β
After Road America returned by hosting IndyCar in 2016, Milwaukee remained with Michigan International Speedway as the holy grail of tracks not on the open series’ schedule. That was finally corrected this year.
The Hy-Vee Milwaukee 250s will put the championship race on maximum this weekend, with two races on the 1-mile, 9-degree banked course. While no race has been held since 2015 on this track, some expectations can be pulled from an earlier round this year.Β
Milwaukee: Gateway Sequel?
The best race of the year wasnβt at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but rather at World Wide Technology Raceway for the Bommarito Automotive 500. The flat, egg-shaped oval put on a fearsome display of motorsports competition, entertaining the fans in attendance and on television. The drivers seemed to be pleased as well as surprised that the product turned out that well. I know I was, as I completely admit to prophesying that a procession was on the weekend ticket after the Iowa doubleheaders seemed to be affected by the weight of the hybrid.Β
Well, I was wrong. Not only could IndyCar drivers pass on the 1.25-mile oval, but they were able to run a second groove which created the best race at Gateway in the history of the series.Β
If IndyCar put on that great of a show there, do they provide a sequel for the Milwaukee fandom this weekend? Milwaukee was always a relatively wide track, as drivers could run a high line depending on car handling. While the track is shorter than Gateway, the turns are the same so teams wonβt have two unique characteristics to dial in.Β
It will come down to tires and downforce, just as it did at St. Louis. There will be what is becoming the norm now, a high-line practice to rubber in the upper groove, something not done there before. So as drivers hit the track on Friday (Aug. 30) more will be known. But, if Milwaukee is as entertaining as Gateway was, then growing the fans in attendance from 15,000-plus wonβt be a problem at all.Β
At the very least, the series has taken steps to ensure there won’t be any restart confusion the likes of which hung over Josef Newgarden‘s win at Gateway.
2-Man Show
Will Power did his best. He won at Portland International Raceway, and showed that road course domination that defined his early IndyCar career. It says a lot about his championship rival Alex Palou that when you beat him to the checkered, youβve accomplished something worthy of praise.
However, Palou did what he needed to do to maintain his championship lead by finishing second. Talk about death by a thousand papercuts. Power, looking to do his best to make up for his crash at Gatway, wins but as he crosses the finish line he sees the No. 10 car rally behind him. At least Power did what he needed to do by taking βthe fight to Alexβ as he said in victory lane.Β
Power heads into the Milwaukee weekend with a surefire advantage over Palou – heβs just one of five current drivers to have previously raced on the Mile in IndyCar machinery and even got a win in 2014. If IndyCar is to have any type of championship storyline heading to the banked oval at Nashville Superspeedway, then it falls on Powerβs shoulders to make it happen. Poles and wins are musts for the Team Penske driver, and while team orders donβt exist in IndyCar, Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin will aim to be as wide as possible on track if Palou is around them. Of course, likewise for Chip Ganassi Racingβs quartet supporting Palou.Β
However, the idea that Palou has any weak links is about ready for retirement. He finished second at the second Iowa race and has shown that while he may not lead at ovals like he does at road and street courses, he surely will finish well.Β
By Sunday, the title chase picture will be as clear as the sunny skies predicted for this weekendβs doubleheader.
Finish Strong
While the title is between two fellows, the fight for third, and possibly second, is well underway. Even though I touched on Power being in the hunt for the title, if something goes wrong early in the weekend and he DNFs, then holding on to second isn’t a guarantee.
Just 13 points behind him is Colton Herta, who is trending toward tying his career-best finish in the season standings. He’s on a run of four top fives. Power’s teammate McLaughlin has been steadily rising and is 21 points behind Herta, which would place him where he finished last year.
Then there is the all-timer Scott Dixon whose wreck on the first lap of Portland relegated him to fifth and 47 points behind Power, 34 behind Herta. But Dixon’s modus operandi is to charge hard in the final rounds of a season, so he isn’t going anywhere.
It will be a tight battle in points placing, even if Palou holds the top spot to the end.
Experience Always Matters
Five drivers in the field have run at Milwaukee before. Besides Power, his teammate Newgarden, Graham Rahal, Dixon, and newly minted oval specialist Katherine Legge have experienced the festival at the Mile. Ed Carpenter would have made six, but he bowed out to put rookie Christian Rasmussen in his No. 20 to chase for the Leaders Circle fund.
Besides Power, Dixon is the only other previous winner to make laps this weekend, having won in 2009. In his last nine starts, he finished no worse than 11th with a runner-up in his 2008 championship campaign and two fourth-place runs. He even racked up his second-ever podium of his career when racing in CART during his rookie year.Β
Rahal figured something out about Milwaukee early inΒ his career, as he finished fourth in 2009. That was followed two years later with a second place in 2011 in his first season at Chip Ganassi Racing. Another podium followed in 2015.
Newgarden didn’t quite light the short oval scene on fire in the few attempts he has made at Milwaukee. In four tries, he notched two fifth-place results, but both came in his last attempts there, so maybe he did learn a thing or two over the years that will bode well this weekend.
For Legge, sheβs only completed two races at Milwaukee, but her 2006 effort in the Champ Car World Series tied a career-best finish, a sixth.Β
Rest of the Field
David Malukas had a race-winning car at Gatway. If he meshes well with Milwaukee, it might be the same story. This time he will aim to not end the race in the wall.Β
With Thursdayβs announcement that owner Carpenter was stepping aside to let rookie Rasmussen compete in the last three events, the fight for the last Leaders Circle spot will heat up. The rookie has started to show why he was worthy of an IndyCar seat after a ninth at Mid-Ohio.Β
Romain Grosjeanβs day at Portland wasnβt a great one. His attempt to rejoin the field after spinning in turn 1, which collected other cars, just wasnβt a great look for the former Formula 1 driver. He has five top10s this year, and his career-best is seven in 2022, so just getting to the finish needs to be the focus over these last three races.Β
The last three races haven’t been great for Pato O’Ward. After his win at Mid-Ohio in July, he had a runner-up at Iowa, then a sixth in the second race of that weekend. His next three race results were 17th, 26th and 15th. Milwaukee is the perfect place for him to save his season.
Frontstretch Predictions
Newgarden right? It’s insane not to pick him since he won a few weeks ago at Gatway. But then again, do I pick him, and then it ends up being some weird and crazy race where someone comes out of left field and wins? It’s hard to tell.
Letβs go with a sure thing in the first race, crazy results in the second.Β
Race 1:
- Palou – crazy, right? He notches his first oval win and everyone in the field groans at the same time.Β
- Power – while Palou is in victory lane, he looks for ways to cut Palouβs tires on his rental so he misses driver introductions for Race 2.Β
- Newgarden – leads a bunch, unlike Gateway, but runs afoul of strategy. No worries, he has one more race.
Race 2:
- Newgarden – he brings balance back to the force.
- Power – canβt beat his teammate in traffic and racks up a second runner-up.
- OβWard – remember him? You should, heβs pretty good at these short ovals.
After nearly a decade, IndyCar returns to the Milwaukee Mile in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for the Hy-Vee Milwaukee 250s Doubleheader. Coverage will begin on Saturday, Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. exclusively on Peacock and Sunday, Sept. 1 at 2:30 p.m. on the USA Network and Peacock.
About the author
Tom is an IndyCar writer at Frontstretch, joining in March 2023. Besides writing the IndyCar Previews and the occasional Inside Indycar, he will hop on as a fill-in guest on the Open Wheel podcast The Pit Straight. His full-time job is with the Department of Veterans Affairs History Office and is a lieutenant colonel in the Army National Guard. After graduating from Purdue University with a Creative Writing degree, he was commissioned in the Army and served a 15-month deployment as a tank platoon leader with the 3d ACR in Mosul, Iraq. A native Hoosier, he calls Fort Wayne home. Follow Tom on Twitter @TomBlackburn42.
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