Should NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship points leader Alex Palou find victory lane in either Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s race this weekend at the Milwaukee Mile, the two-time series champion who is also 0-for-24 on ovals could join elite company.

An astonishing 18 drivers earned their first paved oval victories at the historic 1.015-mile oval. Half of them scored their first career series victory.

Among the names to do so are some of the best to ever drive in the sport.

• Pat Flaherty (8/28/55, first career win)
• Rodger Ward (6/9/57)
• Jim Rathman (8/25/57, first career win)
• Art Bisch (6/8/58, first career win)
• Lloyd Ruby (8/20/61, first career win)
• Jim Clark (8/18/63)
• Joe Leonard (8/14/65, first career win)
• Gordon Johncock (8/22/65, first career win)
• Mario Andretti (6/5/66)
• Art Pollard (6/8/69)
• Wally Dallenbach (8/12/73, first career win)
• Rick Mears (6/18/78, first career win)
• Michael Andretti (6/8/86)
• Al Unser Jr. (6/3/90)
• Nigel Mansell (6/6/93)
• Greg Moore (6/1/97)
• Michel Jourdain Jr. (5/31/03, first career win
• Ryan Hunter-Reay (6/5/04)

Palou has 11 NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories in 54 road and street course starts, but with the final three races on circle tracks this season, including two this weekend at Milwaukee, Palou strives to join a historical list of drivers.

“I just want to be an oval winner,” Palou said. “Obviously, that list would make it more special.”

Palou is off to a good start setting the ninth fastest lap Friday with a top speed of 156.793 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

With Will Power (No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet) trailing Palou by 54 points and 11th fastest in the practice session (156.539), a victory this weekend would all but assure Palou his third championship in the last four years, including two straight.

“I think we’re closer,” Palou said on securing his first oval victory. “I don’t know if we’re one day closer or one year closer, but it could be one of those. At least we’re going in the right direction in both the Indy 500 and on short ovals.”

Palou has 15 top-10 finishes and eight top-five results on ovals in the series since joining Chip Ganassi Racing in 2021.

He is one of 18 drivers competing this weekend without an oval victory. Joining Palou on the winless list is Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Felix Rosenqvist, Christian Lundgaard, Marcus Armstrong, Rinus VeeKay, Romain Grosjean, Linus Lundqvist, Sting Ray Robb, Pietro Fittipaldi, Kyffin Simpson, Nolan Siegel, David Malukas, Jack Harvey, Conor Daly and Katherine Legge.

“I sure hope so,” Herta said on joining that list this weekend. “It would be awesome and super special to win at this track.”

Herta, third in points, was 10th fastest in the session with a top speed of 156.647 in his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda for Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian.

Palou’s Aggression Surprises Power

Palou believes Team Penske’s oval domination soon will end.

“We know they will be the cars to beat,” Palou said. “We were cars to beat last year at the ‘500,’ but this year we were nowhere. So, their time will come, as well. Hopefully this weekend.”

If that’s going to happen this weekend, bad luck may have to strike the Team Penske camp.

Team Penske had two cars in the top five of Friday’s practice session with Josef Newgarden setting the quickest lap of 158.762 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet and Scott McLaughlin fifth at 157.581 in the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet.

Power led a Team Penske 1-2-3 on the speed chart at Milwaukee in the Open Test on June 11, and the team is a perfect 4-for-4 on ovals this season. Team Penske drivers have led 601 of the 960 oval laps this season.

So, Palou isn’t going to ease his aggression despite a 54-point lead over Power. The fear is Team Penske could retain the speed flashed in practice, and a conservative approach could push Palou further down the running order.

“I think we need to be conservative on a couple of things, but not on the way we race,” Palou said. “I can allow myself to be aggressive.”

Power was surprised to hear Palou isn’t playing it safe this weekend and mentioned he must match his rival’s intensity.

“Yeah, it does,” Power said. “He’s going to run his race. I have to finish ahead. Basically, if I don’t win, it’s almost over. I know what I have to do.”

Drivers Look for Low-Line Grip

Before the 90-minute NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice session at Milwaukee, the 27 drivers were given 30 minutes of track time for a “low lane session.”

The drivers were split into two groups of 15 minutes each, to practice only in the low racing groove of each set of corners. This was similar in nature to the high-line sessions this season at Iowa Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway.

“It’s funny because in the past, the low line had more grip on that dark pavement,” Power said of Milwaukee. “Now it’s degraded so much, it actually has less grip. The car just pushes straight up, and you can’t continue on the throttle. We’re hoping that this (session) will bring that in a little.”

Power said if drivers get desperate enough this weekend, he won’t rule out a third lane being available.

“I think the thing is with INDYCAR, we don’t do enough ovals where we go up and try like in NASCAR – it’s all they do, so they search for grip,” Power said. “We all get stuck sort of down low until someone does it. Gateway, it wasn’t until Josef (Newgarden) went up there that I went. Maybe some people that have nothing to lose will take that risk and open a lane further up.”

Penske, PPG Announce Winners of Kids’ Contest

The pit wall banner for the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet driven by Newgarden will feature a unique design Saturday at the Milwaukee Mile. Team Penske and PPG announced 10-year-old Lily Boehm and her 8-year-old sister Charlotte were winners of the contest.

The winning design features four different dog breeds that show Lily’s and Charlotte’s love of canine friends, but also a nod to one of Newgarden’s passions. One of his two charities of choice is Wags and Walks in Nashville, where the Newgarden family adopted its dog, Axel.

This is the third year of the Kids Color PPG campaign that provided a way for kids to design Newgarden’s helmet (2022) and fire suit (2023) in past seasons. This year’s campaign brought in nearly 100 submissions of pit wall banner designs.

Dixon Visits Discovery World

Revving up ahead of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s, six-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Scott Dixon made a quick visit Thursday to the Discovery World science museum in Milwaukee, where PNC is welcoming young visitors to its Mobile Learning Adventure. The educational exhibit allows parents and children to engage in unique, interactive learning activities, including a “When I Grow Up” station where they can dress up for a future career.

Dixon provided a show-and-tell of his racing gear and signed autographs.

Schmidt To Speak in New York

Former NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver and winning team owner Sam Schmidt will be the keynote speaker at the luncheon of the prestigious Madison Avenue Sports Car Driving and Chowder Society (MASCDCS) on Sept. 3 in New York.

MASCDCS was founded in 1957 as a way for like-minded individuals to gather and share their passion for sports cars and automobile competition. Members and speakers over the years have included the likes of Walter Cronkite, Brock Yates, Edsel Ford, Bill France Sr., Janet Guthrie, Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, David Hobbs, Sam Posey and many more.

Schmidt is also the founder of Conquer Paralysis Now and will recount his inspiring life story that’s seen him bounce back from a tragic accident that left him a quadriplegic in January 2000, four months after his first career INDYCAR SERIES victory.

Odds and Ends

• INDYCAR officials announced nine-spot grid penalties for Newgarden, Siegel, Armstrong, Fittipaldi and Lundgaard following unapproved engine changes after the Sunday, Aug. 25 race at Portland International Raceway.

• INDYCAR announced Friday an updated race length for the INDY NXT by Firestone at the Milwaukee Mile race Saturday. After fuel calculations from the series event at the previous oval at World Wide Technology Raceway and to ensure the most exciting and compelling event, the race distance has been updated to 90 laps.

• Harvey was an impressive 12th fastest on the speed charts Friday in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda after ending up 19th in the Open Test in June.

• Herta has gained 115 more points through 14 races this season compared to last. He was 11th in points with 302 points accumulated after 14 races in 2023 compared to having 417 points and third in the championship standings this season.

• McLaughlin has led 391 oval laps in four races this season, most among all drivers. Power is second with 167 laps led followed by Palou (104), Herta (86) and Newgarden (43).

• McLaughlin has accumulated 175 oval points this season, most among all drivers, too. Newgarden has the second most with 173 followed by Dixon (120), Pato O’Ward (119) and Palou (113).

• Rodger Ward has the most Milwaukee Mile victories with seven. A.J. Foyt has the most poles, also with seven.

• Team Penske leads all teams with most Milwaukee Mile victories with eight (1978, 1980, 1988, 1989, 1994, 2005, 2008, 2014).