Oilpressure

We are nearing one of the most anticlimactic ends to an IndyCar season that I’ve ever seen. From the season-opener at St. Petersburg, Alex Palou let everyone know that he was the man to beat (again) in his quest for a fourth title in five seasons. In winning two of his titles (2021 and 2024), Palou waited until the final race of the season to clinch his championships. In 2023, he became the first driver to clinch the title before the season finale since Dan Wheldon clinched his 2005 title by simply starting the penultimate race of the season at Watkins Glen (or Sébastien Bourdais in Champ Car in 2007). Palou clinched his 2023 title at Portland, before heading to Laguna Seca for the season finale.

This season, Palou one-upped himself by clinching the title (again at Portland) with two races to go. One would like to think he would simply cruise through these final two race weekends, but he can still make history by tying AJ Foyt and Al Unser with ten wins in a season. That’s all the rest of this field needs, Palou with motivation to make more history.

After a week off, the NTT IndyCar Series heads to The Milwaukee Mile for this weekend’s Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250. Since I am no longer posting regularly, I decided to run this race-preview ahead of its normal Friday slot. Last year, Milwaukee was held over the Labor Day weekend, and was run as a double-header. It was the series’ first return to The Mile since 2015. The race was promoted by Penske Entertainment in conjunction with Hy-Vee. It was a rousing success! The racing was good and the crowds for both races were much larger than most people expected.

Susan and I attended the Milwaukee race last year. Other than a mix-up with our credentials that eventually got resolved – we had a blast. The facility was much newer and nicer than what I had been led to believe. In watching races from years past, I had gotten the impression that the entire venue was run down and sat in an old impoverished neighborhood. Nothing could be further from the truth. West Allis is a thriving community and the track, stands, paddock and media center are all in good shape – for a track (1903) that is older than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (1909).

There are several bars and restaurants that sit just across the street from Turn One. On Saturday night last year, between Race One and Race Two – we went to a great place named Paulie’s Pub & Eatery. It’s been a year, so I can’t remember what we had, but I remember it was good. We got to sit out on the terrace, drink local beer and watch the sun set over the race track. For a racing fan, that’s just about as good as it gets.

If we had not cut back our racing schedule this season in order to save expenses for my upcoming retirement from my day job; we would definitely be headed back to Milwaukee this weekend. Hopefully, this weekend will be as well attended as last year’s; and the event will stay on the schedule for a few years. If it does, we will definitely work it back into our travel plans.

As mentioned earlier, there is the possibility that Alex Palou may sort of go through the motions now that he has secured his fourth IndyCar title. Then again, now that the pressure is off, he may be more aggressive than ever. I suppose it’s worth mentioning that Palou has never won at Milwaukee. Then again, a double-header weekend is not a huge sample size. He finished fifth in Race Two last year, and nineteenth in Race Two. If you’ll recall – Palou experienced mechanical issues just before the green flag, and his car was taken behind the wall to the paddock. But the crew fixed whatever the problem was and got him back out there – but he was several laps down and out of contention. Pato O’Ward and Scott McLaughlin won the two races last year.

Milwaukee is the type of track where the Chevy engine excels. That sounds like I know what I’m talking about with power curves and acceleration patterns. I don’t. But I can look at results on short ovals and which engine performed better last year at The Mile. I would think that the same two teams – Arrow McLaren and Team Penske – might do well again this season. Pato O’Ward has had a good season and would’ve been stellar enough to win the championship had Palou not had a record performance this season. He will certainly be in contention this weekend.

This weekend will also offer Josef Newgarden a shot at redemption, after suffering just an outrageously brutal season that sees him mired in eighteenth.

But I think that this might be a chance to muddy some waters further. Will Power made a possible decision on his future more complicated by winning at Portland two weeks ago. Things could get even more complicated this weekend. Who could win and over-complicate an already complicated situation? David Malukas.

It could be that David Malukas might have it in his contract with Foyt/Penske, that if he wins a race this season at Foyt, that activates a clause that will put him in a Penske seat for 2026. The only current Penske driver not under contract for 2026 is Power. That could explain why Team Penske can’t tell Power anything until after the season. Maybe if Malukas goes winless this season, Power stays. If he does win a race or finishes in a predetermined spot in points, Power goes. I’m a Will Power fan, and I hope he stays.

So who will win this weekend? Santino Ferrucci.

Ferrucci is strong on ovals, and he has some redemption coming his way after going out at the beginning of the race at Portland. Stranger things have happened.

Since Milwaukee is an oval, this will be a two-day event. Practice One will get underway on Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT on FS1. Qualifying will take place at 2:00 pm EDT on FS1, while the final practice and high-line practice will begin at 4:30 pm EDT on FS2. Sunday’s race coverage begins at 2:00 pm EDT on Big FOX.

If you happen to be in Milwaukee this weekend, check out Paulie’s across the street. You’re welcome.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 20, 2025 at 4:02 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.