Written by Archie O’Reilly
Heading into its return to the Milwaukee Mile after a nine-year absence, the IndyCar paddock did not quite know how things would pan out. There were unknowns aplenty.
The post-weekend sentiment: a big ‘thank you’ to IndyCar for instigating a return.
Saturday night’s race - the first of the doubleheader weekend - was a thrill and Sunday’s daytime running only followed suit. A tally of 763 on-track passes on Sunday was a season-high and far cry from the struggle for even 200 at Iowa Speedway in July. Milwaukee certainly delivered.
Here is the second part of Drivers’ View from Milwaukee (you can read Part One here), rounding up the views of the Race Two podium…
Embracing the Milwaukee challenge
“I love a challenge,” Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon said after a second-place finish in the second race. “This weekend was a challenge on many fronts.”
This challenge is part and parcel of what makes Milwaukee such a spectacle.
“Qualifying was a mess, practice [too]... it was full of highs and lows,” he added. “That kind of sums up Milwaukee. That’s what you have in the race. You kind of have these peaks - everything is going well - then you might right run on top of somebody or get high, they come by, you’re kind of in the crap again.”
This level of challenge for the drivers is by no means a bad thing. It is a track that inspires creativity and brings out the very best in drivers.
“It’s fun - I love it just because it is so difficult,” Dixon said. “Honestly, the crowds were a lot better than I thought they were going to be coming back, especially for a doubleheader. It’s hard to do that.
“Congratulations to IndyCar and everybody that made what the two-day event was. Doubleheaders are hard to pull off.”
A successful return to the Mile
The action delivered on the iconic 1.015-mile short oval - and the respectable fan turnout after an extended hiatus - deems IndyCar’s Milwaukee return a resounding success.
“It was pretty wild,” Dixon said. “I think there was never a lap that you were relaxing. It was just flat-out the whole time. What a wild day. Alex [Palou]’s issue, then [Will] Power having his issue. Definitely made for TV.”
After a June test at the Mile, there were some doubts over how the track would race. But there is a sense that, after a tough Iowa, IndyCar and Firestone have really started to deliver a package conducive to vintage short-oval racing.
“It was an awesome weekend,” Race Two winner Scott McLaughlin said. “Honestly, I thought the racing was a lot better than we all expected. That’s props to IndyCar. That’s props to Firestone. The drivers as well - there were a couple incidents but we were mostly pretty good.”
The impression from the many that had not raced at Milwaukee before was that it was a proper drivers’ track. A lot of thought had to go into making passes, whether for position or on lapped traffic, which adds so much by way of overtaking opportunities on short ovals.
“Depending on that you could run in different areas upon the track,” said Colton Herta, third-place finisher in Race Two for Andretti Global. “Some guys could run in other areas so it locked them into one or two lanes. Other guys could run the whole three, four lanes.
“It was an interesting race. Lane choice was very important going into the corner. That kind of decided your fate on if you were going to pass or be passed.”
And across multiple drivers, “fun” was the watchword. Race-winner McLaughlin suggested he had scarcely enjoyed a race more across his four complete seasons in IndyCar.
“It was a lot of fun,” Herta said. “It was tough to get the balance right - I think that’s why you saw so many passes. When you had the turbulent air, it really upset the cars. It was tough to choose the right line through the corners and not get hurt by that. It was a lot of fun to race.”
Dramatic race of championship swings
Drama in the championship battle only added to what was a classic pair of races.
Alex Palou grinding to a halt on the pace laps with a battery issue, which saw him fall 29 laps down on the day he could have sealed a third championship title in four years, was a major twist. In the early parts of the race, Will Power unthinkably moved atop the live standings.
“I was kind of trying to make sure we weren’t doing the same thing, making sure it wasn’t the same problem I had at Mid-Ohio,” said Dixon, who similarly ground to a halt prior to the debut race of the hybrid system in July. Albeit Palou’s issue is not necessarily hybrid-related.
“I don’t know,” Dixon added. “They just said: ‘We’ve asked for information and haven’t got any.’ The DC to the DC on the hybrid could kill that, as well. There’s a lot more parts now. It could be any kind of issue. Ours was similar to that.
“The hybrid can get into a funny mode which will just kill the car, which is kind of the last thing it should do because it’s the only thing that can charge the actual battery. It could be something totally different. I think they’ve worked a lot of the kinks out from my problem.”
Palou was to be given a lifeline though.
A spin for Power on a Lap 131 restart, pinning the throttle too hard as the field came to the green flag, offered yet another gulp-inducing twist in the tale. At that point, he had led 64 laps.
The Penske driver emerged relatively lightly with a grazed front wing - needing to be changed and sending him a lap down - but his Ganassi rival was able to circulate and capitalise on attrition to pick up places.
“When Palou didn’t start the race, it’s like things shifted to Will in terms of trying to get him back,” said McLaughlin, who ensured not to make it too tricky as he was passed by his teammate for the lead on Lap 44. “That’s sort of why it made it a little bit easier in the stint.
“Man, it sucks. Look, he’s still in with a chance. Probably could have capitalised a lot.”
What looked to be a catastrophe for the Palou at one stage in the race turned into a lead atop the standings that remains at 33 points heading into the Nashville Superspeedway finale. As had looked impossible as he was sprinting frantically through the paddock as his car was repaired, Palou is somehow back in the driving seat.
It was a crisis averted.
“When I saw that, I was feeling for the team because you know how hard every single person works on it,” Dixon said. “[The title] could have been sewn up. Alex had it last year but very few times do you get to go to the last race and it’s all over, which would make the feeling pretty nice for the whole team.
“You feel for Alex, but you also feel for the whole crew - not just the 10 but all the cars that work extremely hard together.”
Dixon, who had indicated on Friday that he could assist teammate Palou in his title bid if required given his own championship fight was curtailed by a Portland crash, was relieved for his teammate that Power had “luckily” had his own incident.
He even took time to quip about the similarities with his own pace-lap issue at Mid-Ohio.
“It sucks - same situation,” Dixon said. “I think he at least did one parade lap or two parade laps.”
McLaughlin thriving on ovals
McLaughlin headed into the 2024 season with many near misses but no victories to show for his rapid ascension on ovals after moving over from V8 Supercars as a three-time champion to pursue a single-seater career.
He now has two oval wins to his name.
“Definitely an IndyCar driver now,” he quipped after commenting that he could now feel like a proper IndyCar driver after his maiden oval win at Iowa two months ago.
McLaughlin quickly got up to speed on ovals with a second-place finish on oval debut at Texas Motor Speedway - incidentally losing out to Dixon, who he beat to the Milwaukee Race Two win. But there was still a learning process to undergo.
Of three second-place oval results, losing out to oval supremo teammate Josef Newgarden on the last lap at Texas in 2022 was the most excruciating. So it is understandable to see why pipping Newgarden to pole at Gateway in 2023 may have proven meaningful.
McLaughlin has since taken five of the last seven poles on ovals, including for the Indianapolis 500, and has a pole position to his name on each of IndyCar’s last five visits to an oval (given the two poles he missed out on were on doubleheader weekends).
“Not saying [winning on] road and street courses isn’t satisfying, because I’ll never forget my first race win and whatnot, but it’s incredible winning on an oval,” McLaughlin said. “A lot of things have to go right. You have to make the right moves at the right time.
“That’s probably why I put Indy above a championship in some ways because it’s just incredible how perfect it has to go on an oval. It’s the backbone of our sport.”
A big recovery from Race One
It was the first race at Milwaukee for which McLaughlin took pole. But despite leading 80 laps, he was displeased with a “really bad” display and “couldn’t do anything” with his car after getting into traffic.
“It’s my first flat track,” said McLaughlin, reflecting on recovering from finishing eighth to win on Sunday. “I was pretty peeved. I’m going to sleep like a baby tonight. I only slept like four hours last night. I was up till probably 3 in the morning. I couldn’t sleep. I was rolling over.
“I think it's a lot to do with a doubleheader. The adrenaline is just going. But I generally just was p**sed off with the way it went and my performance, a little bit of the team’s performance, the car performance. It was just trying to think of ways to make it better.
“That’s passion. It’s a passion to be better.”
McLaughlin inherited the lead of Race Two from the front row at the start after pole-sitter Newgarden was collected in a crash triggered by a misread waved-off run to the green flag.
“Just a Penske start,” Dixon joked with a smirk. “Typical.”
McLaughlin saw the win as a collective effort. He said his pit crew were “ripping” and thanked Rinus VeeKay’s “super helpful” Ed Carpenter Racing team for their “really good sportsmanship” in making a tight pit-box entrance easier.
Struggles in the opening race stemmed somewhat from elements such as the tyre having changed since a Penske-dominated test; it was when traffic was caught and the pace of the race slowed that he really struggled. But the story was different on Sunday,
“In traffic, oh my god, like 10 out of 10, 100 percent better,” McLaughlin said. “It was night and day. I could pick where I wanted. It took me a little bit of time to get comfortable and confident. Ultimately, it was just lights out for me today in traffic. I think some of my moves on the restarts were showing my confidence, what I had underneath me.
“Yesterday, I was hanging on for dear life.”
Dixon’s “very special” milestone weekend
Scott Dixon’s second-place finish marked the 142nd podium of his illustrious IndyCar career, moving him into the all-time lead ahead of Mario Andretti. And how fitting it was that it came on the weekend where he made his 400th start.
“It’s cool,” Dixon said. “I’m a massive fan of Mario. He’s a huge part of our series. It’s so cool that him and AJ [Foyt] and many others, whether it’s Rick [Mears], come to a lot of our races. Obviously Mario raced in a lot of different categories as well and achieved many great things.
“Just to be mentioned with any of those guys is very special.”
Much like McLaughlin, it was a weekend of two very different races for Dixon. He did move forward in both after starting a disappointing 17th in each, though there remained a lot to find after finishing 10th on Saturday.
“For us it was a bit up and down throughout,” Dixon said. “I think we changed everything but the kitchen sink last night after [Saturday’s] car. It was definitely very positive. It was nice to have a good car today - moved up when we needed to, had a good restart on the last one.”
Dixon had issues with “the drivability” on Saturday but gradually improved through the weekend. By the chequered flag on Sunday, the car was better than at any point.
“I think I ran faster than I did in qualifying,” he said. “Need to get that around the other way.”
Given “maybe another 10 to 20 laps”, Dixon feels he could have passed McLaughlin for the win after initially overtaking Alexander Rossi and Herta on the late restart.
But he is content with second and now looking forward to trying to win for a fourth consecutive race at Nashville Superspeedway to round out the season. Dixon won the last three IndyCar events at the 1.33-mile oval between 2006 and 2008.
“Just give me the trophy now,” he said with a smile.
Herta battles to first oval podium
Astonishingly, Herta - one of the series’ finest oval talents - had never stepped on an oval podium before Milwaukee. But he added a fifth podium to his season tally - a marked uptick on only one rostrum visit last year - in the second race.
He heads into the finale fourth in the standings.
“It’s nice when you can finish strong and have good results,” Herta said. “You’ve just got to keep it going. Obviously we’re out of the championship hunt now. If we can get a win or another podium in Nashville, it would be really good for myself and all the guys going into the off-season.”
Herta had to battle hard to get the podium. That included close duels with McLaughlin and Dixon, delivering an outstanding fightback to re-pass the former at close proximity on older tyres.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for them,” Herta said. “They haven’t done anything bad to me in the five years I’ve been here. That’s probably the reason why I could hang out there on the outside and not worry about it. There was a little bit of touching but it was fine.”
McLaughlin commented about being raced “hard” but “fair” by traffic attempting to stay on the lead lap and relished his battle for position with Herta.
“I had a blast racing Colton for the lead,” he said. “That was awesome. We were banging, side by side. But it was legit. That’s how it should be.
“I knew he was there. I slid up a little bit. He pinched me. We hit. It was proper. It was so cool. Like being in Supercars again. You’re just banging doors. This place is nice because you haven’t got much banking. It’s like a big road course. It was fun.”
Dixon also enjoyed duelling with Herta.
“We don’t have battles all the time. When we have had, it’s been fair,” he said. “Some guys you obviously know that it’s probably not going to go that way.
“There were definitely some extremely aggressive moves out there. If you didn’t get out of the way, you were going to be in the fence today. Probably just two or three cars… It’s always been good for me and Herta. A lot of respect there - no issues.”
Nashville (and its billboards) ahead
Only one race remains in the 2024 IndyCar season - the series’ 14-years-in-waiting return to Nashville Superspeedway.
“A lot of talk about billboards there,” Herta said pointedly. “There have been billboards the last few months. There are billboards, yes.”
Of course, Herta’s comments were aimed at Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles' suggestion that Pato O’Ward was not famous enough to warrant an IndyCar race in his homeland in Mexico. Miles had suggested O’Ward is only just being seen on billboards.
“I haven’t seen [Pato] on one,” Herta said with a smile. “Maybe that’s just the few in Mexico.”
Scott Borchetta, chairman and founder of existing event sponsor Big Machine Label Group, has taken charge of IndyCar’s Nashville event since last year’s running on the city streets. This year’s finale was intended to be run on a downtown track layout but Borchetta realised that would not be possible amid construction on the Tennessee Titans’ NFL stadium.
Determined to still have a Nashville event to close out the season - despite mismanagement under previous leadership, who did not realise the issues with running the event downtown - Borchetta secured IndyCar a move to the nearby oval for the foreseeable future.
“You can’t thank Scott Borchetta enough,” Dixon said. “The amount of effort he’s cleaned up - obviously got handed not a great situation. I know they’ve been promoting the heck out of it. He’s a hell of a person. Huge partner for our sport.
“All of us want this to go extremely well, whether it’s just a couple years or whether it’s going to become the primary situation. Everybody loves the Nashville downtown street race. The race itself was interesting, I thought. Would have been a great spot for a last championship race just because of the unknowns and the atmosphere is what we need for the sport.
“Finishing on an oval, I think is always good. I think the highs and lows as we saw today can come pretty quick and pretty heavy. I just hope it’s well-attended and we can keep building.”
Herta dished out similar praise towards the “really good” promotion efforts from Borchetta and company.
“They do a really good job of pooling money together and putting it in the right areas,” he said. “They’re committed to open-wheel racing and IndyCar as a whole. I think that’s what they grew up on. They grew up on going to the Indianapolis 500 and they love IndyCar racing… I love what they’re doing.
“It’s hard to say I wasn't a little upset at losing the downtown race. It was really fun. More importantly, our cars were really good there. This is a new challenge. It’s exciting. I’m not sure how it’s going to race - I hope it races well.”
To the vast majority, McLaughlin included, it is another big unknown to end the year.
“I haven’t stepped foot in that joint yet,” he said. “It’s a whole new place for me. I’ve seen some footage, watched the NASCAR race there and old IndyCar footage. It’s going to be interesting. I’m hoping we come with a similar tire to what we’ve done this weekend and we can have some really good racing.
“I’m expecting a little bit of action, man. People are crazy right now. There’s a lot of people out there that don’t give an ‘F’.”
תגובות