Track News

Paddock Buzz: Test Gives RLL, Coyne Hope for Better Milwaukee

10 HOURS AGO

With short ovals long presenting a challenge, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Dale Coyne Racing took the unusual step of testing at Milwaukee on June 10, one of the few permitted test days this season. The other teams used a test day at Iowa Speedway.

“We know this type of track is our Achilles’ heel,” Graham Rahal said. “We tested at Milwaukee, and I feel like we should be significantly stronger than we’ve been.”

Rahal (No. 15 WWEX Group Honda) heads into the weekend coming off a season-best fourth-place finish Aug. 10 at Portland International Raceway. Still, RLL has struggled on short ovals this year. At World Wide Technology Raceway, Rahal was the top team finisher in 22nd. At the Iowa Speedway doubleheader, the best results were 11th (Rahal) in Race 1 and 14th (Louis Foster) in Race 2.

Last year at Milwaukee Mile, Rahal finished 20th and 23rd in the pair of 250-lap races, while then-teammates Pietro Fittipaldi (18th, 21st) and Christian Lundgaard (ninth, 12th) fared slightly better.

Despite being a rookie, Foster may represent the team’s best hope this weekend in the No. 45 Droplight Honda. He dominated last year’s INDY NXT race at Milwaukee, leading all 90 laps from pole to clinch the championship.

“I have fond memories of the track,” Foster said. “It’s a unique oval, very little banking, so the car moves around more, but you feel more secure. That’s why we used a test day. We want to be better here.”

The June test marked his first time at Milwaukee for Devlin De Francesco (No. 30 EVTEC Honda).

“We had a pretty good test a couple months ago,” DeFrancesco said. “We tried new things that definitely seemed to make the car better. I think we found some interesting things to try.”

The test also proved valuable for Rinus VeeKay and Dale Coyne Racing. VeeKay finished 14th and seventh, respectively, last year driving for Ed Carpenter Racing.

“We were pretty competitive,” VeeKay said. “The pace was good. I’m really excited to come here and race well. From what I felt, the DCR car was better than what I remember with the ECR car.”

VeeKay noted that the Milwaukee test helped him finish seventh at WWTR the following weekend. Much of what they learned carried over. Could that happen again Sunday?

“Having done a full day of testing when others are trying to find a rhythm with 27 cars on track Saturday is going to make a difference,” he said. “We’re ready to go from the first minute of practice.”

The series has two practice sessions bookending qualifying Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m. ET on FS1, FOX One, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Final practice airs at 5:30 p.m. ET on FS2, FOX One, the FOX Sports app and INDYCAR Radio Network. NTT P1 Award qualifying starts at 2 p.m. ET on FS1, FOX One, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.

Alex Palou

Final Two Races Could Set Up Palou for Another Title

Alex Palou (photo, front) clinched his fourth career NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship and third in a row Aug. 10 at Portland International Raceway.

With the title secured, Palou enters Sunday’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) racing not for points but for pride and progress.

“I can just focus on trying to win, which I always do,” Palou said. “It doesn’t change much.”

Palou has dominated on street and road courses with 17 of his 19 career wins coming on them, but ovals -- especially short ones -- remain an area for growth. These final two races, including the season-ending race Aug. 31 at Nashville Superspeedway, offer a low-pressure opportunity to improve in that area.

“You go to a street course, and we’re fast out of the gate,” he said. “That’s not always the case on ovals.”

Qualifying on Saturday (2 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) will be less stressful than usual, giving Palou more freedom to experiment.

“There are times when you play it safe and qualify eighth instead of risking 17th,” he said. “Now I can explore more.”

That’s a worrying prospect for the rest of the field. Though just two of Palou’s 19 career wins have come on ovals, both were this season, the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and Farm to Finish 275 at Iowa Speedway. That indicated significant progress.

“On short weekends, I’ve sometimes just survived with a car I didn’t love,” Palou said. “Now, if it’s not great, we can change it. I can focus more on setup, race lines and feel. I hope it helps. I need to be better, I struggle a lot on short ovals.”

Santino Ferrucci

Ferrucci Looks To Rebound on Familiar Ground

Santino Ferrucci (photo, above) opened the summer with four straight top-five finishes, including third the last time he was in Wisconsin, in June on the Road America permanent road course near Elkhart Lake. Since then, he’s managed just one top-10 finish, the first Iowa race, and missed the Toronto round after a crash in race morning practice.

His last two results: 22nd at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and 27th at Portland.

The good news? Ovals are ahead, and Ferrucci excels on them. He’s sixth in oval points this season and finished fourth in both Milwaukee races last year, plus sixth at Nashville.

“I'm just really excited to be back here,” Ferrucci said. “This is probably the best short oval I've ever raced. The smile on my face was huge. Just how much fun you get to have around this place. I’m happy to be back here.”

Entering the weekend 14th in the standings, Ferrucci is just 34 points behind teammate David Malukas for a top-10 championship finish.

“I really want to go out and win a race,” Ferrucci said. “We've had so many good high points this year with podiums and top fives that there's no reason as to why we can't enjoy ourselves going out and try to win one.”

He’s driving the No. 14 Phoenix Investors Chevrolet this weekend and next.

Marcus Armstrong

Armstrong Gaining Confidence on Ovals

Marcus Armstrong (photo, front) had never raced on ovals before joining the NTT INDYCAR SERIES part-time in 2023.

After a rough oval debut in last year’s Indy 500 while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing (30th due to an early-race engine failure), Armstrong has quietly gained ground. His other 2024 oval results: 10th and 19th at Iowa, eighth at WWTR, 21st and 26th at Milwaukee, and seventh at Nashville.

This season his first with Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian, Armstrong ranks ninth in oval points (92), just behind teammate Felix Rosenqvist (94). He finished ninth at WWTR and ninth and third, respectively, at Iowa.

“I enjoy it,” Armstrong said. “It's also somewhat similar to racing in Europe. There's a lot more of an aero wake in Europe, and for whatever reason, and you always sort of needed clean air when you're racing in Europe, because the cars are so aero-sensitive.

“In this current car, you need to just go searching for clean air and use the downforce. So, I feel like I'm just comfortable doing that, for sure.”

The team confirmed this week that Armstrong will return to the team in 2026.

Track Unaffected by Recent Flooding

Heavy rain dropped almost 9 inches of rain Aug. 8 on the Wisconsin State Fair Park, affecting the Milwaukee Mile, which is on the property.

Photos on social media showed a flooded infield tunnel that runs beneath Turn 4 and parked cars partially submerged by water.

Track officials said no damage occurred to the 1-mile Milwaukee oval, with water quickly receding.

Safety officials inspected the track last week and found no damage to any structures, the track or SAFER Barriers.

Odds and Ends

Will Power confirmed he spoke with team owner Roger Penske following his victory in Portland. He said no changes have been made to his status, and the two plan to sit down after the season finale in Nashville to discuss future plans.

Power boldly predicted a Team Penske podium sweep Sunday in Milwaukee, saying the team’s pace this season and change in luck sets it up for a 1-2-3 finish.