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After what turned out to be a phenomenally successful Freedom 250 weekend that actually matched all the hype that preceded it; things sort of get back to normal within the NTT IndyCar Series as they head to the Milwaukee Mile. I said sort of because this will be the only double-header weekend of the season, and there is nothing normal about a double-header weekend.

I believe the official name for the weekend is the Snap-on IndyCar Weekend at the Milwaukee Mile. Saturday’s race will be the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250, while Sunday’s race is simply called the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250. Both races are full points-paying races, so a lot of ground can be made up or lost this weekend.

While Alex Palou had a huge bite taken out of his points lead last week in the Freedom 250, he still leads last week’s race winner, Kyle Kirkwood, by 91 points with three races to go. Two of those three races will be run this weekend. Like last weekend in Washington DC, there is a chance that Palou can clinch his fifth championship in six years either Saturday or Sunday; but there is also a chance that the battle carries over to next weekend’s season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Don’t be lulled into thinking that Palou will struggle this weekend because the series is on an oval for two races. Keep in mind that Palou won the last time the series was on an oval – the 1.33-mile oval that is Nashville Superspeedway. I think for the first time this season, we are going to see an angry Alex Palou after his horrible weekend where two of three major mistakes suffered by the No. 10 car were actually caused by Palou. I think he is disgusted with himself and wants to get things corrected. Sometimes an angry driver is prone to make even more mistakes. I think with Alex Palou; and angry Palou is a dangerous Palou.

The Milwaukee Mile is the oldest track on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule. It opened in 1903 – six years before IMS. It sits on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair. I’ve got to say, the Fairgrounds in Milwaukee look a lot better than the Tennessee State Fairgrounds in Nashville. The buildings for the Wisconsin State Fair all appear to be brand new. Those in Nashville all appear to be over 100 years-old.

Like IMS, the Milwaukee Mile oozes with racing history. Susan and I attended the double-header two years ago – our first time to witness racing at the historic venue. However, it was not our first time to visit the track. Ten years ago in 2016, we attended our first race at nearby Road America, which is a little more than an hour to the north. On our way back though on our way home, we stopped to visit the track. IndyCar had just raced there the year before, but it had fallen off of the 2016 schedule with no indication when or if it would ever return.

As it turned out, the next time IndyCar raced at Milwaukee was 2024 – the year we first attended.

After a slight hiccup with our credentials to start our weekend, we ended up having an absolute blast at the Milwaukee Mile. I can remember standing in the pits and looking out onto Turn One, thinking that was where Ed Elisian met his demise in a fiery crash in 1959. From the stands, I looked down at Turn Four, thinking about when Jim Hurtubise crashed along with AJ Foyt and Rodger Ward in 1964. Hurtubise was hospitalized for months with third-degree burns. The doctors realized he would have very limited use of his hands, so he asked them to set his hands in a position where he could grip the steering wheel. Less than two years later, Hurtubise won NASCAR’s Atlanta 500.

Fire has history at Milwaukee. Along with Elisian and Hurtubise, AJ Foyt suffered a broken rear-suspension in practice for the June race in 1966. In those days, USAC racm twice in Milwaukee – the race immediately following the Indianapolis 500 in June, and again in August. Foyt hit the wall and the car burst into flames. Foyt badly burned both hands getting out of the burning wreckage, and had to be hospitalized.

But The Milwaukee Mile was also the site of one of AJ Foyt’s greatest accomplishments. In August of 1965 – for reasons beyond his control – Foyt had to qualify his dirt car at Milwaukee, instead of his low-slung rear-engine Lotus. Incredibly, Foyt put the dirt car on the pole. In the race, the smaller fuel tank meant time in the pits, but Foyt still managed to finish second, behind race-winner Lloyd Ruby.

Jim Clark won at Milwaukee in 1963, marking the first time a rear-engine car visited an IndyCar victory lane.

From AAA as the sanctioning body, through USAC, CART, Champ Car and IndyCar – The Milwaukee Mile has been a common thread of American open-wheel racing. Rex Mays won the first “IndyCar” race at Milwaukee in 1937. Winners at the historic one-mile oval include names like Ted Horn, Bill Holland, Tony Bettenhausen, Jack McGrath, Pat Flaherty, Jimmy Bryan, Rodger Ward, Jim Rathmann, Len Sutton, Lloyd Ruby, AJ Foyt, Parnelli Jones, Gordon Johncock, Joe Leonard, Mario Andretti, Michael Andretti, Al Unser, Al Unser, Jr., Bobby Unser, Tom Sneva, Rick Mears, Nigel Mansell, Paul Tracy, Greg Moore, Juan Montoya, Sébastien Bourdais, Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan.

Among current drivers, winners include Scott Dixon, Will Power, Pato O’Ward, Scott McLaughlin and last year’s winner – Christian Rasmussen.

Since that first race in 1937, Indy cars raced at Milwaukee at least once a year until 2010. Beginning in 1947, a second race was added that ran the next week immediately following the Indianapolis 500. In 1983 the August race was removed from the schedule, but the June race remained in place after the 500 until 2010, when the race was not held. It should be noted that Champ Car filled that date through 2006. The .current IndyCar Series took that date over in 2007 and it remained until 2010.

When racing resumed at Milwaukee in 2011, the date jumped around from late June, July or into late August – never providing the date equity that is so important. After the 2015 race in July of that year, Milwaukee went away until Hy-Vee and Penske Entertainment revived the event with a double-headed in 2024. Susan and I went just to make sure we were able to cross Milwaukee off of our list. Since The Milwaukee Mile had seemed to fall out of favor, we weren’t sure what to expect – but we had an absolute blast. We were disappointed that it dropped to only one race in 2025, but when the double-header format resumed for this season – we decided to go back.

For an old-timer like myself, it doesn’t get much better than Indy cars on a flat track. But I’ll admit that when you are standing just inside and at track level – it sure doesn’t look flat. You can’t tell it on television, but the track looks much more banked in person.

There seem to be a lot of new liveries on several cars this weekend. All three Arrow McLaren cars will look different, as will Graham Rahal’s car. Josef Newgarden will carry a special Snap-on livery.

The first IndyCar practice doesn’t get underway until 5:00 pm local time (6:00 pm EDT) on FS1. Saturday will be much busier, as it is Race Day I. There is apparently no practice befgorehand, but Qualifying for both races will run at 10:00 am local time (11:00 am EDT) on FS1. Saturday’s race coverage will begin on Big FOX at 1:30 pm local time (2:30 pm EDT).

The official schedule from IndyCar shows a 15-minute Sunday morning warmup at 9:15 am local time, but with no TV coverage. Has IndyCar done this on ovals on Sunday of a double-header? The fact it is only 15-minutes tells me it may be to test cars repaired from crash damage from the day before for a systems check. IndyCar abandoned Sunday morning warmups on ovals 20 years ago, after Paul Dana was fatally injured at Homestead during the morning warmup. Chances are, it would not be worth televising. Sunday’s Race II coverage begins at Noon local time (1:00 pm EDT) on Big FOX. After a relatively quiet day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday will be jam-packed.

We drove up yesterday and plan on being at the track before 11:00 am CDT, when the IndyCar bullpen takes place, when we can talk to drivers. We will post sometime that morning and again later this evening after the first practice is over. But there will be a lot of dead time in the afternoon, with IndyCar practice not beginning until late in the day. That will give us a chance to really take things in. We will post at least a couple of times each day from the track.

Who will win this weekend’s races? History says it will be a Chevy. Since the current engine formula was introduced in 2012, every single race at Milwaukee has been won by a Chevy. Not most – every single one. Of course, there were eight years when there were no IndyCar races at Milwaukee. But counting the double-header in 2024, that’s still a sample size of seven races where Chevy won them all. Chances are, that streak will continue. Team Penske is coming off of a stretch where things have not gone well. They still have a very strong short oval program, and of course – they are powered by Chevy.

Of course, I can’t say who will win which race; but I’m pretty confident that Josef Newgarden will win at least one of them. The other? If Newgarden doesn’t sweep them both, look for David Malukas to finally break though for his first career IndyCar win. He sounded very down and dejected after crashing in Washington, DC. Look for him to turn things around and bounce back in a big way. So, I’m picking Newgarden and Malukas. We’ll see.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 28, 2026 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.