With two rounds remaining, Alex Palou clinched the drivers’ championship, but the fight to the finish remains far from complete. The penultimate round of the 2025 IndyCar season comes in Milwaukee, and there’s still plenty to play for as drivers tackle the mile-long oval circuit.
2024 In Milwaukee
Last year, the drivers contended with 500 action-packed laps across the double-header weekend. After its hiatus, 2024 saw Milwaukee return with a bang.
In race one, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was victorious despite Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin taking pole position. O’Ward took the lead on lap 99 and was able to defend to keep the win. Conor Daly, after starting P18, got his second podium and first for Juncos Hollinger Racing.
3 caution periods featured in the first race, but only two drivers retired – Josef Newgarden and Marcus Ericsson. The two collided on lap 146 after Newgarden had made up positions due to an overcut. Colton Herta lost a tyre after his final pit stop. Despite being able to continue, this cost him a podium finish.
Race two was even more dramatic. It started under caution when Alex Palou’s car broke down during the warm-up laps. When the race restarted, Marcus Armstrong’s teammate Linus Lundqvist rear-ended him, and the collision spun pole-sitter Newgarden into the barrier. The two remaining Team Penske drivers, McLaughlin and Power, switched the lead between them throughout the race.
It was heartbreak for Power though, as he spun out on a lap 132 restart. Staying out longer on his tyres brought Scott Dixon into contention, and Herta also joined the fight for first. McLaughlin was able to hold both off however, and went on to win the race.
In a weekend that was crucial for the championship, Power was able to close the points gap to Palou. With a total of 8 caution periods and 12 retirements, the 2024 Milwaukee Mile was a pair of chaotic races, leaving everything down to the final race in Nashville.
The Penultimate Round in 2025
Coming into the 16th race in 2025, the drivers’ championship has been sealed by Palou. Honda also has the manufacturers’ championship all but sealed up with a 212-point lead. Despite that, all is still to play for in the fight for Rookie of the Year. Louis Foster leads Robert Shwartzman by only 6 points – can he extend that lead this weekend?
The Milwaukee Mile
The Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 is held at the Milwaukee Mile – an oval track in West Allis, Wisconsin. The track remains relatively unchanged since it opened in 1903. Featuring 9 degrees of banking on the corners, drivers are unable to go flat out. Due to this, it is more comparable to road courses than other oval tracks.
Speaking to The Girls Who ahead of the weekend, Arrow McLaren Driver Christian Lundgaard said that the Milwaukee Mile is “the biggest outlier” of the oval tracks. He went on to describe that “there’s hardly any banking … essentially it’s just a very high speed corner right from a road course.”
Being the oldest operating motor speedway in the world, it has held races every year. The exception to this was during the U.S. involvement in World War 2. Holding races for open-wheel cars, stock cars, and dirt cars, the track has seen plenty of action. Located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park, it used to be home to a football stadium which was used by the Green Bay Packers from 1934 to 1951.
Having a long history in IndyCar’s previous iterations, the Milwaukee Mile was a staple on the IndyCar calendar until 2015. After an 8-year hiatus, 2024 marked its return. In current history Andretti have the most success here with 5 wins, whereas 3 drivers (Dario Franchitti, Tony Kanaan, and Ryan Hunter-Reay) have 2 wins each. With 4 drivers on the current grid having wins here, can any of them match the record?
Schedule
The schedule for the weekend is as follows. Please note, the times are in CEST.
Drivers will face 250 laps of the 1-mile track as they look towards the end of the season. Can Alex Palou take a 9th win this season and further his championship lead? It may be the penultimate round, but there’s still plenty of action to come, so don’t miss it!