Christian Rasmussen shocked the IndyCar world with his first-ever win the NTT IndyCar Series after storming past Alex Palou to the lead with 15 laps to go in Sunday’s (Aug. 24) Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250.
What seemed like a formality with Palou dominating the day turned upside down thanks to a sun shower and a daring drive in the final run to the checkered flag at the Milwaukee Mile. The win is Ed Carpenter Racing’s first since 2021.
Rasmussen fought on the edge of the top 10 all day with a loose car and nearly no regard for his own wellbeing, similar to his drive at World Wide Technology Raceway earlier in the year. However, when Mother Nature spawned a cloud over the Milwaukee sky, he and his No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing team took advantage of the top three staying out on old tires and put fresh Firestones on to go on the attack.
The Dane then made his way past others with fresh tires on the restart, such as Pato O’Ward and teammate Alexander Rossi, before passing the Penske duo on older tires and taking on the Surgeon one-on-one and coming on top.
He continued to storm his way past lap traffic even as his team urged him to take a step back. Uninterested in playing it safe, Rasmussen still charged on to ECR’s first victory since Rinus VeeKay‘s win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in 2021.
“Today was amazing,” Rasmussen told FOX. “We were talking about before the race that if there’s a late caution, then we wanted to go on new tires because it’s such an advantage. There was more people that did it than I thought there would on the last stint, but it was definitely the right choice. We were so good on new tires, even compared to other cars on new tires. Wow, that’s a good Sunday.”
“I knew this was coming for Christian,” said team owner Ed Carpenter. “He’s the best there is on short ovals. He’s shown it all season long. That late yellow played into his hands, and he did an amazing job taking advantage of his new tires and Chevy power. It feels so good. It’s been a while since we won a race.”
Palou’s bid to tie A. J. Foyt with 10 wins in a season concluded with that miraculous pass, but it absolutely looked like he would head to Nashville Superspeedway next weekend with a chance to do so before the final green flag run.
Scott McLaughlin, the defending winner at Milwaukee, completed the podium, unable to match the pace to compete with Palou all day and struggling behind lapped traffic.
Rossi employed a good strategy from the opening stop to gain valuable track position. He also used new tires to improve to fourth, marking a double top-five result for ECR. O’Ward completed the top five but led all the drivers with fresh tires on the final restart.
O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren teammate Christian Lundgaard finished sixth in his strongest run on an oval this season.
Josef Newgarden finished seventh while David Malukas, who led 25 laps early in the race and looked like a contender to beat Palou, recovered from a long stop due to a wheel gun malfunction that trapped him a lap down to finish eighth.
“Another weekend of almost,” Malukas told Frontstretch. “I feel like how this season’s been: almost, almost almost, and yesterday, almost get a pole. Today, things were looking good, and now we missed it again. So, it’s another almost weekend. It’s going to be one of those big finale movie endings, right? That’s what I hope the story is written, right? I just want a good ending here, and hopefully in Nashville, we can at least get a sticker or something.”
Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top 10.
Will Power was running in the top 10 for most of the day, but a spin during the second round of stops and contact with the wall while trying to pass Kyffin Simpson parked last week’s winner at Portland International Raceway.
“I thought I’d go high this time around, then he drove me all the way up and got into the marbles and touched the wall, and it broke the toe link, and I went into the next corner and just no rear,” Power said.
Team PREMA’s Callum Ilott‘s run of top 10 finishes came to an end after his engine expired, but it allowed leaders to make their third stop under caution.
Nolan Siegel made an early exit on the first lap after riding too low in turns 3 and 4, clipping the yellow rumple strip and slamming into the wall.
2025 IndyCar Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 Results
The season finale for the IndyCar Series takes place at Nashville Superspeedway next Sunday, Aug. 31, at 2 p.m. ET. Broadcasting will be provided by FOX.
Wyatt Watson has followed motorsports closely since 2007. He joined Frontstretch as a journalist in February 2023 after serving in the United States Navy for five years as an Electronic Technician Navigation working on submarines. Wyatt is one of Frontstretch's primary IndyCar correspondents, providing exclusive video content on site. He hosts Frontstretch's Through the Gears podcast and occasionally The Pit Straight.You can find Wyatt's written work in columns such as Friday Faceoff and 2-Headed Monsteras well as exclusive IndyCar features. Wyatt also contributes to Frontstretch's social media team, posting unique and engaging content for Frontstretch.
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