Written by Jake O'Callaghan
This weekend, IndyCar arrived in Milwaukee for the first time in nine years. The mile-long low banked and wide oval presented a unique challenge to IndyCar's drivers. The qualifying format for today's session is typical of an oval double-header, where the drivers would set a two-lap run. The first lap of that run would determine their position for race one, where their second lap would determine their position for race two.
Josef Newgarden took the most recent pole in Milwaukee in 2015 and entered this session as one of the favourites after topping the only practice session on Friday.
The Qualifying Session
Jack Harvey was the first driver to set a time for qualifying. The Dale Coyne Racing driver set a benchmark of 157 mph after a generally uneventful run. Harvey’s teammate Katherine Legge was next to run. The British driver has driven each of the oval races in the No. 51 car this season. Her averages showed good consistency and she lined up just behind teammate Harvey.
Conor Daly was next for Juncos Hollinger racing. He has a nine-place penalty hanging over him for the race so his intention was to minimise the damage from that penalty. He sat behind both DCR cars, setting speeds in the 156 mph range. Christian Rasmussen similarly will take a nine-place penalty. Rasmussen and his team have had to rebuild and recover after a crash in Friday practice. The Ed Carpenter Racing driver set a 156 mph time in his first lap, and a 154 in his second lap.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Caymanian driver Kyffin Simpson did not manage to light up the timesheet. He set a 155 mph lap first, and his second lap was a 154 which put him last at the time. Like Simpson, Pietro Fittipaldi really struggled in his run. Runs of 151 and 147 mph were really disappointing for his Rahal Letterman Lanigan team. “What the hell was that? Just no grip” the Brazilian driver stated over the radio. His laps were so slow, in fact, that he was slower than the pole time for the supporting Indy NXT series.
AJ Foyt Racing’s Sting Ray Robb set good speeds in his runs. At the time he sat fifth and third in each run. He actually managed to improve on his lap one speed on lap two.
Next was one of the favourites this weekend. Meyer Shank Racing’s David Malukas could have won the previous oval race in Gateway if not for late contact with Will Power. His first lap was 161 mph, his second 158. He went top of the timings with ease.
Rookie of the year contender Linus Lundqvist was next. His laps put him second and first as it stood with 160 and 159 mph laps respectively.
The other Juncos Hollinger Racing car of Romain Grosjean showed good speed in his first qualifying appearance at Milwaukee. A solid run of 157 mph in his second lap left him sitting third.
Arrow McLaren rookie Nolan Siegel set times of 156 and 158 mph. He had considerable improvement on his second lap as he struggled with balance over the bumpy Milwaukee track surface.
Graham Rahal had big understeer in his run and struggled with low grip, echoing the struggles experienced by his teammate Fittipaldi, though he had much more speed. 155 and 152mph times left him low in the standings. “Very low grip, almost crashed on my warmup lap,” the Ohio native said over the radio.
Rinus VeeKay similarly struggled with balance issues. Despite this, he set respectable speeds of 157 and 156 mph in his respective runs.
Andretti Global’s first driver to run was Marcus Ericsson. He set a good run of 159 mph in his first lap. His second lap was plagued with balance issues and showed a considerable drop in speed, only managing a 156 mph average.
Chip Ganassi’s Marcus Armstrong was quick. He set two 160 mph laps. His consistent speed left him provisionally third in race one, and top of the standings for race two.
Christian Lundgaard’s runs were a reprise of Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s struggles. All three RLL drivers sat in the bottom three of the race two standings.
Felix Rosenqvist demonstrated impressive balance on his laps. Meyer Shank Racing have been one of the best teams in qualifying in 2024. He provisionally sat sixth and third for each respective race.
Last weekend’s pole sitter in Portland; Santino Ferrucci; was next up. The AJ Foyt Racing driver had good speed in practice but had a major moment of oversteer in lap one. He made a good save and continued the run, and a 155 mph speed reflected that moment. His second lap of 157 mph was more representative of his speed, though he was experiencing more balance issues.
Alexander Rossi was really working the steering wheel in his runs. Good speeds of 160 and 159 mph put him high in the provisional standings in his second-last qualifying as an Arrow McLaren driver.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood was not able to set very fast times. Two laps of 156 mph put him deep in the mid-pack.
The most recent pole sitter at Milwaukee was next, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden. His team showed tremendous speed in practice and that continued into qualifying. Speeds of 161 and 160 mph put him top of the standings provisionally for both races.
Arrow McLaren really struggled with balance over the bumpy Milwaukee surface across all three of their drivers. Pato O’Ward’s runs did have good raw speed but the car’s lack of compliance over the bumps prevented him from fighting for the top spots. The Mexican driver set speeds of 159 and 158 mph respectively.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon really struggled for speed. His car was really difficult to drive across his runs. Two laps of 156 mph left the six-time IndyCar champion languishing deep in the pack for both races.
Next was another favourite this weekend, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin. He had fantastic speed and his car looked good to drive. His first lap was a 162 mph, though he experienced some falloff towards the end of his run, only managing to go provisionally third with a 160 mph lap.
Andretti Global’s final driver to run was Colton Herta. He struggled with understeer on his laps and it reflected in his speeds. 158 and 156 mph speeds were disappointing for the driver fighting to stay in the championship conversation.
Team Penske’s Will Power was the main favourite going into qualifying. His team showed great speed in practice but he only managed to set laps of 160 and 159 mph. Sixth and fourth provisionally was disappointing for the greatest qualifier in IndyCar history.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou was the last to run by virtue of being the championship leader. He needs solid results to maintain that championship lead. His runs of 158 mph in both laps left him in the middle of the timings. This meant that Scott McLaughlin will race from pole in race one tonight, whilst his teammate Josef Newgarden took pole for Sunday’s race two.
IndyCar Milwaukee 250s Qualifying Results
Race One
Scott McLaughlin
Josef Newgarden*
David Malukas
Alexander Rossi
Linus Lundqvist
Will Power
Marcus Armstrong*
Pato O'Ward
Marcus Ericsson
Felix Rosenqvist
Romain Grosjean
Colton Herta
Alex Palou
Rinus VeeKay
Jack Harvey
Christian Rasmussen*
Nolan Siegel
Conor Daly*
Kyle Kirkwood
Scott Dixon
Katherine Legge
Santino Ferrucci
Sting Ray Robb
Graham Rahal
Kyffin Simpson
Christian Lundgaard*
Pietro Fittipaldi*
*subject to nine-place grid penalty
Race Two
Josef Newgarden
Scott McLaughlin
Marcus Armstrong
Will Power
Linus Lundqvist
Alexander Rossi
Pato O'Ward
Felix Rosenqvist
David Malukas
Alex Palou
Nolan Siegel
Santino Ferrucci
Jack Harvey
Romain Grosjean
Rinus VeeKay
Marcus Ericsson
Scott Dixon
Colton Herta
Kyle Kirkwood
Conor Daly
Sting Ray Robb
Katherine Legge
Christian Rasmussen
Kyffin Simpson
Christian Lundgaard
Graham Rahal
Pietro Fittipaldi
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