The best of IndyCar racing was on display in Milwaukee. Alex Palou led almost the entire race from pole position, cementing himself as a new every-oval-on-the-schedule threat in the same vein as Josef Newgarden. David Malukas reminded us that he’s one clean race away from a big result, and Christian Rasmussen demonstrated what outrageous confidence and car control can do to change a team’s fortunes.
All three deserve to take a bow for their parts in making the Snap-on 250 at the Milwaukee Mile one to remember, and they aren’t alone.
Folks at the Wisconsin State Fairgrounds, who took sole control of promoting the event after IndyCar lent its support last year, deserve a huge round of applause for getting the facility back in shape after the recent flooding and putting on an event that surpassed the series’ return in 2024 by a considerable margin. Milwaukee’s grandstands weren’t completely packed, but the visuals were overwhelmingly positive.
The many fans who turned up on Saturday for practice and qualifying and then doubled or tripled in volume on Sunday – while the Milwaukee Brewers were playing two miles away and paying tribute to their late and beloved Bob Uecker – sent a powerful message. They deserve our gratitude for reminding everyone that IndyCar oval racing can thrive outside of May’s Indianapolis 500.
“I think [Wisconsinites are always] massive supporters of the sport, as we see at Road America,” said Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin who won one of the doubleheaders last year and finished third Sunday in the No. 3 Chevy.
“Massive credit goes out to Wisconsin State Fair Park. I think this is their first time doing it, which it’s pretty cool. I think Roger and Penske [Entertainment] did it last year. I was really happy to have a big crowd today, seeing them in the grandstands. It was awesome.”
Palou was equally impressed with the size and spirit of the crowd on the way to taking second with the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
“I loved it,” he said. “It was amazing. The atmosphere… I think we had more people on Saturday than we had Sunday last year. The crowd, the atmosphere… In the car, I could hear them. It was amazing, yeah.”
Ed Carpenter raced at Milwaukee in its previous visits to the IndyCar calendar and loved what he witnessed in 2025 as the co-owner of Rasmussen’s winning No. 21 Chevy entry and the fourth-place No. 20 car of Alexander Rossi.
“I was on Alex’s radio calling his race, obviously watching Christian as well,” he said. “I could hear the cheer when he passed Alex (Palou) under green even before the donuts. Yeah, we’d returned to this track a couple times since I’ve been doing this, but it seems like it’s finally working. The combination and the growth and the strength here – and also Road America – we’ve got a strong fan base here. We need to keep building on it.
“Super proud of the crowd today. I’d love to see when we come back next year that we don’t have to have the sponsor covers on the stands coming down into Turn 1. Want to keep pushing that and getting it better and better. It’s a great racetrack, a ton of history. The past two years it’s been a great show, so I’m happy it’s working.”
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