“It’s ride or die” - Rasmussen’s exhilarating first IndyCar win
- Archie O’Reilly
- 4 hours ago
- 12 min read
“Nice and smooth, bro,” came the call from the spotters’ stand at the Milwaukee Mile. This was not the first nervous demand for Christian Rasmussen to tone things down.
But the advice went unanswered. Not for the first time, the box-office young Dane was producing a heart palpitation-inducing display on an oval. On this occasion, the Ed Carpenter Racing (ECR) hotshot was chasing the to-date crescendo of his thrilling but brief career.
All the more cause for nail-biting and anxiety.
Only coming to the end of his second season as an IndyCar driver, Rasmussen has already built a name for himself through his aggressive, on-the-edge driving style - particularly on ovals. In some quarters, his reputation is already one of notoriety.
But you cannot help but be captivated by the trademark all-out style that has become his early racing identity.
A lot of the time - and it was no different at the famed mile-long Wisconsin oval on Sunday - he can look out of control. It is a wild ride. But somehow, no doubt speaking to the skill of this hotshot prodigy, he always manages to remain in control.
He makes an unorthodox watch at times - quite marvellously running lines you had no idea could generate such performance. A constant sense of precariously walking a tightrope, his No.21 machine wobbling and sliding around, but still an ability to generate speed and gain ground without falling into the clutches of a SAFER barrier.
With his uniquely bold skillset, this 25-year-old is emerging as one of IndyCar’s finest oval racers. And at pace.
Quite the stage for his oval debut, the Indianapolis 500 was initially slated as Rasmussen’s only oval race as a rookie last year - alongside a road-and-street programme. He finished an impressive 12th and caught the eye with his striking style at the first time of asking.
But despite not being scheduled to run again on an oval in 2024 - with team owner Ed Carpenter filling the other part of the then-No.20 programme - a crossroads came late in the year. Carpenter felt his own performances were waning and, with a look ahead to a full season for Rasmussen in 2025, stepped aside for the final three oval races of the year.
Rasmussen was a little streaky in these additional outings but his talents clear. And flipping the calendar to his sophomore 2025 season, that experience has paid dividends.
“I just felt like it was the right thing to do, the best thing for the team,” Carpenter reflected. “Needed to give him an opportunity to continue to grow. I was confident with the decision back then. [His 2025 performance] obviously reaffirms that.”
Even before heading to Milwaukee, Rasmussen’s oval record this year was exquisite. From Indy to Gateway and twice Iowa Speedway, he recorded no result worse than eighth in four oval rounds; a stunning third-place finish at Gateway marked his first career podium and ECR’s first in over three years.
All through the junior series, Rasmussen was adept on ovals - an unfamiliar prospect to a European. In his 2023 Indy NXT-winning campaign, he was a victor at both Gateway and Iowa - and that level has only translated to the big league.
“I’ve had a lot of success on the ovals,” Rasmussen said. “Getting the opportunity last year, it was a tough situation coming in but we had three good races towards the end of the year. It was good for me just to have something to go into the off-season with, see what did we do well, what did we not do so well - just so we have something to work on. It’s paid off.”
Milwaukee was an emphatic continuation of his form. Where he has sometimes not qualified so well on ovals, this time he was primed with a top-10 start. And from the start, it was the same on-edge car with which he has excelled this season.
Every time television went onboard with Rasmussen, you could not help but wince.
“It was a handful,” Rasmussen admitted. “It was interesting. We started the race on the loose side and took a little bit of wing out, tried to do stuff, use my tools. Then I feel like I would pick up a little bit too much understeer in the mid-corner. I just got to a point where it was always going to snap on exit.”
Rasmussen was in the ballpark of the top 10 throughout much of the race. But just shy of the midway point, he was struck with a pit speed penalty, dropping him to the rear of the lead lap. But he always thrives in recovery mode and again brought himself back into the game.
It was not necessarily a drive to the very front of the field but enough to be set to preserve the all-top-10 record. But then a curveball. And a brilliant strategy call to boot.
On Lap 209, the fifth caution of the race was brandished for a light, unexpected sprinkling of rain. It fell not longer after the final pit cycle - within 20-to-30 laps - but offered the chance to go against the grain. And as the podium trio of Álex Palou, Scott McLaughlin and Josef Newgarden stayed out, those behind - Rasmussen included - opted to pit for fresh tyres.
“We talked about this before the race, knowing if there’s going to be a late yellow, if you can have a 20-lap advantage on the other cars, that’s going to make a big difference,” Rasmussen recalled. “That’s what we did. We went to the new tyres. I’ve been very comfortable on the new tyres, passing other cars.”
Rasmussen restarted seventh, but one-by-one on the restart, he decisively picked off the cars ahead. Past Christian Lundgaard. Past Pato O’Ward. Past teammate Alexander Rossi. Through traffic and past the Penske pair, onto the podium and suddenly second.
He hurtled towards the front of the field in a manner nobody else - not even O’Ward, in the argument for IndyCar’s best oval driver - could on the new rubber. He resoundingly outduelled the rest who rolled the dice but became stuck and was promptly in pursuit of Palou, who had looked set to deliver a beatdown.
Forty-eight on-track passes would be Rasmussen’s tally by the chequered flag - a field-high total. But as he chased down Palou - in the midst of an all-time great season having already clinched his fourth championship - he knew that would be the most pivotal of all passes.
The biggest of his career to date.
“I know you don’t put it all in one lap,” Rasmussen explained. “Just seeing the gap get smaller and smaller and smaller, I kept doing my thing. “The tyre deg was huge here this weekend. I knew I had a tyre advantage on him, but once the peak of your tyre goes off, it gets you down into a level where it can be kind of tough to overtake still.
“I didn’t know how it was going to go but I knew I was going to go for it.”
With 16 laps to go, Rasmussen eked himself into a side-by-side battle with the eight-time winner on the year. Up high the Dane ran through Turn 3 and Turn 4, agonisingly close to contact entering the frontstretch.
But as he entered Turn 1, Rasmussen had the run and, in a blink, was around the outside to rapturous applause.
“I knew he was going to race hard,” Palou suggested. “He always races hard. He was going to pass me or go to the fence.”
Rasmussen’s aggression has not always appeased his competitors. Only a fortnight prior to Milwaukee at Portland International Raceway, he came under fire for contact with Conor Daly, initially forcing his rival off track at Turn 7 before further contact the following lap sent Daly heavily into the tyre barriers.
Conversations ensued about whether Rasmussen has overstepped the mark. One thing is certain: his rivals are more than aware of the threat he can pose - both through the quality of driving but also his aggression.
“That’s how he races,” McLaughlin said. “It’s ride or die with him. You’ve got to respect it. He’s very fast, he’s very brave and he makes some really nice split-second decisions. As we’ve seen, it’s bit him in the backside a couple of times as well.
“He’s learning. He’s getting better. On an oval, I’ve said for a long time he’s going to win a race at some point. He’s been really strong. He’s not scared of taking the chance.”
Rasmussen is not blind to the perception of the way he drives and knows he has a particularly distinct way of going about things. But he feels like gained an education and found the right balance over his two years in IndyCar.
“I’m aggressive on track,” he acknowledged. “I feel like I learned a lot of lessons last year of how people drive in the series. I’ve taken that and kind of replicated that. I’m on the aggressive side but I also don’t think I’m over-aggressive.
“Feel like we had last year to tone that or get it into the right spot. I feel like we’re doing really well with it this year. We haven’t had a race we didn’t finish because of something that I did. We had an engine failure, which was unfortunate, and we had another fuel issue. Other than that, we finished every race.
“But to be honest, I don’t really care.”
Even once he had passed Palou, there was not necessarily a step down in his aggression. It came as no wonder spotter Packy Wheeler was so seemingly panicked on the radio with his driver in the race lead.
Trying to navigate remaining backmarkers to place between himself and Palou, Rasmussen was still putting his car where it seemed barely even a car width was available - inches away from the walls and still sideways every lap.
“It’s still not won,” Rasmussen said. “We all know how well Palou saves his tyres. You don’t know how that tyre advantage might go away. I wanted a couple of cars in between us to feel like I was safe so that’s what I did. Once I had a two-car gap in between us, I thought that we can calm down and just ride it to the finish.
“I have full confidence. It was no different. I was confident in what I was doing.”
Eventually, Lap 250. The chequered flag beckoned. Pedalling towards a first career win. Surging to ECR’s first victory since 2021. Flying towards only the team’s second success since Newgarden’s departure in 2016.
“Did we just win our first IndyCar race?” came a jubilant call from the cockpit as Rasmussen crossed the line at the end of the 250th tour. A first new name to IndyCar’s roll of honour in over two years and the 302nd to ever visit Victory Lane.
Vindication for Carpenter and his faith in Rasmussen. Vindication for supporting and embracing his driver just the way he is - as stress-inducing as that occasionally may be.
“People talk about they don’t like everything he does… we haven’t asked him to change one thing,” Carpenter disclosed. “He’s attacking and being aggressive, not settling for anything. That’s the mentality we want to have as a team. Really proud of the effort.
“I think he showed on ovals especially but everywhere really all year, he’s pretty relentless when he’s feeling it and is confident in the car. I think he wanted it more than anyone else. That’s what it looked like to me.”
It was one of the most exhilarating 30-lap race-winning flourishes you will ever have the pleasure of seeing. Palou was in a different league all weekend - as he has been all year - but Rasmussen edged his way into that league and topped the table on Sunday afternoon.
Even Palou, despite the prospect of a single-season record-equalling 10 victories being extinguished, could only tip his hat to Rasmussen and ECR’s efforts - bolstered by investment from Indiana-based businessman Ted Gelov last off-season
“It’s great to see a smaller team that it’s not as small now, with a partner,” Palou said. “They’ve grown up a lot. They’ve been really fast at many, many places. I’m sure it’s not going to be their last… we’re going to see more wins.”
The celebrations were emphatic. One race remains in 2025 but Rasmussen held wholehearted disregard for his engine on the frontstretch, disappearing into a cloud of smoke as he delivered a sequence of highly impressive donuts, capped by a burnout. Not that anyone could care any less about the state of the engine on a day so joyous.
“I missed it,” Rasmussen said of the feeling. “Getting my first win [and the first] for the team in a long time as well, being the driver to do that is a privilege.”
Once Rasmussen had reached Victory Lane, stood atop his aeroscreen and punched the air, Rossi had already made a beeline for the celebrations. As soon as Rasmussen had turned to his left to jump from his car, Rossi was there ready to catch and embrace his young teammate with a sense of genuine delight.
The relationship between the pair is a strong one - veteran Rossi acting as a valuable mentor for Rasmussen in the infancy of his career.
“Not only for me but for the whole team, Alex has been a massive, massive help, having a real veteran driver that has been with all the top teams,” Rasmussen explained. “[He has] obviously has been around IndyCar, top level of open-wheel [racing] for a very long time.
“Seeing up close how he operates is quite different from what I’ve been used to coming through the ranks. Having him as a mentor, also trusting whenever he says something to me that it’s the right thing, you also don’t always have that.
“Both on the racetrack and off the racetrack, we get along super well - kind of similar personalities in a way. We keep a little bit to ourselves. I really enjoy the relationship. We’ll continue to grow together.”
It was a true team affair for ECR. Rossi himself notched a second successive top-five result with his fourth-place finish, marking the team’s first double-top-five result since its formation in 2012. It was an all-time great day for one of IndyCar’s smallest outfits, which is very much on the rise after its big reset ahead of the 2025 season.
The results have not been immediate and there have been tougher weekends amid this transition term. But Rasmussen and Rossi now sit 12th and 14th in the standings, which would be the first double-top-15 championship result for ECR if it remains post-Nashville.
“We’ve been feeling it build all season,” Carpenter said. “We haven’t been as consistent as we want to be at times. A lot of weekends Christian will have a good day; Alex will have a bad day. Or vice versa. Today especially, really this weekend, was the best group effort we’ve had all year.
“The championship was over with Álex [Palou] the previous race. For us, there was a lot left to prove. [The win] is great but we still have one left to go. We hope to do this again.”
Carpenter showed his belief in Rasmussen by handing him a multi-year deal last year after the fresh investment in the team. His rookie season was unspectacular but ECR’s leadership saw the potential in Rasmussen - a champion at USF2000, USF Pro 2000 and Indy NXT level.
He impressed Carpenter initially with the manner in which he won the Indy NXT title in 2023, seizing control of the championship after a tight battle throughout the season. Then came a first IndyCar test with the team - head-to-head with a former IndyCar driver also being evaluated for the team’s vacant seat. He relished that pressure.
“That level of intensity, dedication and improvement that he showed from his two years in [Indy NXT] is really what stood out to me,” Carpenter remembered. “Then we put him in a car at Barber against Oliver Askew - a bit of a showdown. He rose to that challenge as well.
“When you put a car in front of him, especially when he’s got a tyre advantage, it’s a scary thing.”
ECR has been a haven for developing young talent across its time in IndyCar. Newgarden is the name that stands out above all having gone on to immediately win the championship with Penske after leaving ECR at the end of the 2016 season.
“Just need to keep Christian home will be the key moving forward,” Carpenter said, fearing losing another driver to one of IndyCar’s established powerhouse teams.
Maybe the biggest showcase of Rasmussen’s pedigree has been the manner in which he has stood up to multi-time race winner and former championship runner-up Rossi. He sits 32 points ahead of his experienced stablemate and only 12 points shy of the top 10 in points - where only Newgarden (fourth in 2016) has finished for ECR.
“It’s going the right direction,” assessed Rasmussen. “Massive step up from last year. Even through this year, we’re just getting better and better. It’s also not only a testament to my improvement, it’s also where this team is going.
“There’s so much talk about our team with [Gelov’s] Heartland Food Group, Splenda and Java House coming in, giving us some opportunities we haven’t really had before. It’s good to have that opportunity. It’s really what you do with it - that’s starting to show. It makes me very excited to see where this team’s going in the future.”
More steps are set to be made during the off-season to address outstanding weaknesses at the team. But Carpenter believes there is already some validation for Gelov’s commitment and investment in the team - plus the dedication inside the operation.
After a trying few years of uncertainty and instability, a special return to the winners’ circle marks exciting days ahead for ECR and its enthralling driver lineup.
“Now we’ve just got to keep fighting to not have such a gap between wins,” Carpenter insisted. “It gets frustrating at times when you’re not performing the way you want to - me personally as a driver or as team owner. The motivation to get back here has never wavered.
“Especially in this era right now, the dominance we’re seeing out of one driver and one team, that’s what makes this one the most special to me, watching Christian beat the best in the business right now. When you can go head-to-head and beat Álex, it’s that much sweeter.
“The expectation is to win races, to be fighting for a championship. A lot more work to do.”
