The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is back on the road this week, this time on an oval track.
This weekend’s doubleheader at The Milwaukee Mile will be the second time in three weekends that the competitors will go round and round. On Aug. 17, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden won the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway.
SEE: Milwaukee Event Details
Newgarden and the rest of the 27-car field get two opportunities to reach victory lane this weekend as the series returns to Wisconsin State Fair Park for the first time since 2015. The Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s will be held at 5:40 p.m. ET Saturday (Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network) and at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday (USA Network, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network). As the name suggests, both races will be 250 laps – and 250 miles.
Six current drivers have competed on the historic track in this series, with Newgarden winning the NTT P1 Award in 2015. His average speed that day as a Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing driver was 170.223 mph – it also was his first career pole in the series. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon won the 2009 race while Team Penske’s Will Power won from the pole in 2014.
Power and Newgarden are the only active drivers to have won poles at this relatively flat track.
The last time the series raced at Milwaukee, Sebastien Bourdais went to victory lane. Graham Rahal was third, Newgarden fifth, Dixon seventh, Ed Carpenter 10th and Power 22nd. Jack Harvey finished fourth in that weekend’s INDY NXT by Firestone race.
As with most categories, Dixon leads active drivers in Milwaukee experience. He has competed in 13 races, adding a third-place finish as a rookie in 2001 to his win.
Carpenter has competed in 11 races at the Mile, Power and Rahal seven each and Newgarden four, plus an INDY NXT by Firestone race in 2011. Katherine Legge has made one start (2012), and Harvey has competed in two INDY NXT by Firestone races.
Otherwise, these are competitive newbies, which adds to the anticipation.
After following Power across the finish line last weekend at Portland International Raceway, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou hopes to take a big step toward securing his third series title in the past four years. He’ll have it locked up if he exits Sunday’s race with a 55-point lead.
But as we know, there is so much unpredictability with an oval race – or any race in this series, for that matter. Power is Palou’s nearest challenger, and there is a 54-point separation. Power has 10 career oval wins, Palou none. Power also has racing experience at Milwaukee, Palou does not. Additionally, Team Penske has won all four oval races this season (Newgarden twice, Power and Scott McLaughlin one each).
Colton Herta of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian needs a big weekend to have a chance at the title in the season’s final race, Sept. 15 at Nashville Superspeedway. He is 67 points in arrears.
Palou and Herta have this in common: Neither has won an oval race in this series. Oval winners in this field include Dixon (22 wins), Newgarden (17), Power (10), Carpenter (three), Rahal (two), Alexander Rossi (two), Pato O’Ward (two) and one each for Marcus Ericsson and McLaughlin. Newgarden has won 10 of the past 15 oval races over the past three years, including the Aug. 17 race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The season still has 162 points to offer. But the fact remains, Palou’s challengers have a lot of ground to make up in a short period of time.