Favorites and Sleepers: Milwaukee

Milwaukee Mile is twice as nice this weekend as the historic 1.015-mile oval hosts two NTT INDYCAR SERIES races.

The Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 airs at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday, while the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 airs at 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Catch each on FOX, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.

Milwaukee Mile has hosted three races since the series returned in 2024 following a nine-year hiatus from the Wisconsin State Fair track. Chevrolet has won all three, but each victory came from a different driver and team.

Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren (photo, top, right) and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin won the 2024 doubleheader, while ECR’s Christian Rasmussen won last year’s lone race.

Does that trend continue?

Chevrolet also has enjoyed a commanding advantage on short ovals since the introduction of the 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6 engine in 2012. Chevrolet-powered drivers have won 33 of 44 races contested at Iowa Speedway, Milwaukee Mile, Nashville Superspeedway, Phoenix Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway during that span.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden (photo, top, left) won this season at Phoenix Raceway and at World Wide Technology Raceway, while Honda driver Alex Palou won at Nashville Superspeedway.

Favorites

Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevrolet)

Newgarden has made seven Milwaukee Mile starts, including four from 2012-15 before the series left the track and returned in 2024. He is winless at the Mile but has three top-10 finishes, including a seventh-place result last year.

The two-time INDYCAR SERIES champion has 12 short-oval wins in 27 starts since 2019 and 20 overall oval victories. Newgarden also has three top-two finishes in four oval starts this season, and he’s second in oval points accumulated.

Scott McLaughlin (No. 3 Clarience Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet in Race 1, No. 3 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet in Race 2)

McLaughlin’s worst finish in three Milwaukee Mile starts is eighth in Race 1 of the 2024 doubleheader. He started that race from pole and led 147 of 250 laps before winning the second race a day later from second on the grid after leading 85 more laps.

McLaughlin started fourth and finished third last year.

In 21 short-oval starts at Iowa Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway, Nashville Superspeedway, Milwaukee Mile and Phoenix Raceway, McLaughlin has two wins and 16 top-five finishes. He has finished eighth, third, fifth and fourth, respectively, in his four oval starts this season, good for third in oval points scored.

Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet)

O’Ward has a 5.3 average starting position and 10th-place average finish at Milwaukee. He won the return race in 2024 but finished 24th in Race 2 the following day. He started third and finished fifth last year.

In 35 career oval starts, O’Ward has four wins, nine runner-up finishes and 24 top-five results. He has finished fourth, fourth, 11th and seventh, respectively, in his four oval starts this season and is fifth in oval points accumulated.

Alex Palou (No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)

Palou has two top-five finishes in three Milwaukee starts, including fifth in Race 1 of the 2024 doubleheader and second last year.

He finished 19th in the second race of the 2024 weekend after suffering a mechanical problem before the start and re-entering several laps down. He started 10th that day.

Palou started from pole and led 199 of 250 laps last year before falling prey to Rasmussen’s late charge. He also won the prior oval this season at Nashville and enters the weekend sixth in oval points scored in 2026.

David Malukas (No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet)

Malukas started second in two of his three Milwaukee starts, including Race 1 of the 2024 doubleheader while driving for Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian. He finished 15th that day and 22nd in Race 2.

Last year, a slow pit stop dropped Malukas from second to eighth despite leading 25 laps.

Malukas won the pole and led 73 of 250 laps at Phoenix this season before finishing third. He finished seventh at World Wide Technology Raceway and third at Nashville, as he has scored the most oval points of any driver this season.

Sleepers

Alexander Rossi (No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet)

Rossi has a 5.7 average finish across three Milwaukee starts, with finishes of seventh, sixth and fourth, respectively.

He finished sixth this year at Phoenix, but that is his lone top-10 finish on an oval this season.

Christian Rasmussen (No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet)

The defending Milwaukee Mile race winner also finished 11th and 16th, respectively, in the 2024 doubleheader.

Rasmussen was the show at Phoenix before late-race contact with Will Power while battling for the lead left him 14th. He rebounded with a third-place finish at World Wide Technology Raceway.

Marcus Ericsson (No. 28 InPwr Honda)

Ericsson led 114 laps and finished second at World Wide Technology Raceway, a track with similarities to Milwaukee Mile. He finished fifth at Nashville, the most recent oval race, and has six top-eight finishes in his last 10 starts this season, including three consecutive top-six results.

Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 REMAX Honda)

Armstrong had four top-10 finishes in six oval starts last season, including a third-place finish in Race 2 at Iowa Speedway. He finished fifth at Phoenix, ninth at World Wide Technology Raceway, 24th at Nashville and fifth at Indianapolis this season.

In three Milwaukee starts, Armstrong has finished 21st, 26th and 10th, respectively.

Rinus VeeKay (No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet)

VeeKay has finished 14th, seventh and 15th, respectively, in three Milwaukee starts. He also has a proven car beneath him, taking over the No. 76 Chevrolet that Conor Daly drove to a third-place finish in Race 1 of the 2024 Milwaukee doubleheader.

VeeKay finished fourth this year at World Wide Technology Raceway. He was in the top five for much of the Nashville race before a caution came at the wrong time during a pit sequence, costing him track position.