Reporting by Dave Kallmann, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Here’s a look at some of the drivers with a good chance to callenge for spots on the podium in the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 at 1:50 p.m. Saturday and the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 at 12:20 p.m. Sunday on Fox.
Josef Newgarden
In the three races on the series’ short ovals – those outside of Indianapolis – this season, the two-time series champion has won twice (Phoenix, World Wide Technology Raceway) and finished second in the other (Nashville Superspeedway). Newgarden has scored 14 of his 34 IndyCar victories on short ovals and sat on the pole twice at the Mile. Yet one of the biggest proponents of getting Milwaukee back on the schedule has finished no better than seventh since that return and fifth in his four races beforehand.
Alex Palou
The 29-year-old Spaniard is within reach of a fifth championship in six seasons with three races to spare and already might have wrapped it up if not for a rare mistake-plagued performance in Washington. While his natural talents and early training set him up for his best success on road and street circuits, Palou has won on a large oval (Indianapolis, 2025), one oval of less than a mile (Iowa, 2025) and the longest short oval (1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway, 2026). He led 199 laps at the Mile in 2025 but chose not to pit from the lead on a late caution and was caught from behind by Christian Rasmussen, who had stopped for fresh tires.
Christian Rasmussen
The aggressive 26-year-old Dane earned his first IndyCar victory a year ago at the Mile, running down Palou. Although Rasmussen was a surprise winner, he had shown himself to be strong on the ovals in his first full season on the circuit with five of his six top-10s entering Milwaukee having come on oval tracks. This season he was on the podium in June at the 1.25-mile World Wild Technology Raceway. Rasmussen isn’t the favorite, but it’d be a lot less of a surprise if he did win.
Scott McLaughlin
The 33-year-old New Zealander is going on two years without a victory since he won the second race of the 2024 Milwaukee doubleheader. He led both races that season, totaling 165 laps, second-most since the series’ return. McLaughlin won at Iowa (2024) and has been on the podium at all the current and recent short ovals on the circuit (Iowa 2022, ’23, ’24 twice; Milwaukee 2024, ’25; Nashville Superspeedway 2025; World Wide Technology Raceway 2022, ’24).
Pato O’Ward
The winner in Milwaukee’s first race back on the schedule in 2024 also was fifth last year at the track. O’Ward also twice at Iowa Speedway, a 0.875-mile oval, but Arrow McLaren has been unremarkable on ovals this season. While the team tested at Milwaukee, so did everyone else. We’ll see soon who got the most out of that session.
An Andretti trio
Kyle Kirkwood, won on the streets of the nation’s capital in the most recent race, Marcus Ericsson won a week earlier in Markham, Ontario, and teammate Will Power was on the podium for both. Clearly Andretti Global is heating up, and while the team has been best on street courses, Milwaukee, with its relatively flat corners, is seen as the oval most like a street circuit. It’s been 14 years and a team change since Power won at the Mile, but that’s also only five races ago. Kirkwood, who scored his top Milwaukee finish of eighth in the second race of 2024, picked up his first oval track victory last season at World Wide Technology Raceway. The resurgent Ericsson is an Indianapolis 500 winner, and he finished fifth at the Mile in ’24.
David Malukas
The Chicago native led 25 laps last year on his way to finishing eighth with A.J. Foyt Enterprises and has since moved to the stronger Team Penske. After a pair of runner-up finishes on ovals this season, including Indianapolis 500 heartbreak, Malukas has two chances to claim his first IndyCar victory on that type of track.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: IndyCar drivers to watch in the Milwaukee Mile doubleheader this weekend
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