RACE PREVIEW – Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 – The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisc.
Pre-Race Notes
Round 16 of 17 in the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES

DATE:     August 23 – August 24, 2025

PRACTICE BROADCAST:     Live on FS1 on Saturday from 11:00 – 12:00 p.m. ET and FS2 from 4:30 – 6:30
p.m. ET. Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).

QUALIFYING BROADCAST:     Live on FS1, the IRN and www.indycar.com from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET Saturday.

RACE BROADCAST:     Live on FOX on Sunday, August 24 from 2:00 – 4:30 p.m. ET. And also on the IRN and
Sirius XM INDYCAR Nation 218.

TRACK LAYOUT:     1-mile oval
RACE LENGTH:     250 laps / 250 miles

2024 WINNER(S):     Pato O’Ward (Race 1), Scott McLaughlin (Race 2)
2024 POLESITTER(S):     Scott McLaughlin (162.341 mph; Race 1), Josef Newgarden (160.983 mph; Race 2)

RAHAL’S BEST OVAL START / FINISH:     Pole (Kansas 2009) / 1st (Fontana 2015; Texas 2016)
RAHAL’S BEST START / FINISH AT MILWAUKEE:     2nd in 2008 & 2009 / 2nd in 2011
RAHAL’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH:     5 poles – Pole at St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017, IMS (road) 2023 August, Portland (road) / 6 wins – 1st in St. Pete in 2008, Fontana & Mid-Ohio 2015, Texas 2016, Detroit Race 1 & Race 2 2017

DEFRANCESCO’S BEST MILWAUKEE START / FINISH:     Will be his first race here
DEFRANCESCO’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH:     5th at the IMS road course (August 2023, 2025) / 11th at Indy 500 (2025)

FOSTER’S BEST MILWAUKEE START / FINISH:     1st / 1st – 2024 INDY NXT; will be his first INDYCAR race here
FOSTER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     Pole at Road America 2025 / 11th (Indy GP and Road America 2025)

RLL’S TOP START / FINISH AT MILWAUKEE:     1st by Rahal (1992), Brack (2001), Meira (2004) / 1st by Brack (2001) and Jourdain Jr. (2003)

NEWS & NOTES:

2 WINS, 3 POLES, 5 PODIUMS & 4 FRONT ROW STARTS AT MILWAUKEE MILE FOR RLL
The Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 will mark the 24th event for RLL at the legendary Milwaukee Mile oval.  The team WON here twice (Kenny Brack 2001 & Michel Jourdain Jr. 2003), started from POLE three times (Bobby Rahal 1992, Kenny Brack 2001, Vitor Meira 2004), made four FRONT ROW STARTS (2nd – Jourdain Jr. 2003) and earned FOUR PODIUMS (2nd: Rahal 2004, Rice 2004; G. Rahal 2015).  Prior to the 2025 event, the team prepared a total of 44 entries for drivers such as Bobby Rahal (1992-98), Mike Groff (1993-94), Raul Boesel (1995), Bryan Herta (1996-99), Max Papis (1999-2001), Kenny Brack (2000-2001), Jimmy Vasser (2002), Michel Jourdain Jr. (2002-03), Buddy Rice (2004-06), Vitor Meira (2004-05), Danica Patrick (2005-06), Jeff Simmons (2006-07), Scott Sharp (2007), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2008), Takuma Sato (2012), Graham Rahal (2013-2015; 2024), James Jakes (2013), Christian Lundgaard (2024) and Pietro Fittipaldi (2024). The team has earned 11 top five finishes and 21 top-10’s at the track, including Lundgaard’s 9th place finish in Race 1 last year. The team will enter the No. 15 WWEX Group Honda for Graham Rahal, the No. 30 EVTEC Honda for Devlin DeFrancesco and the No. 45 Droplight Honda for Louis Foster to bring that total to 47 in 2025.

GRAHAM AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE – SITE OF 2 FRONT ROW STARTS + 2 PODIUMS
The Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 will mark Graham’s 10th race here. He narrowly missed winning his first pole here in 2008 by 2/10th of a second over a four-lap average and started a career best second to Marco Andretti with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing (NHLR) in what was the first Andretti/Rahal front row since 1992 in Loudon, NH.  He ran between second and fourth until Lap 130 when he drove over “marbles” and lost control of his car after trying to go around the slower car of Darren Manning and retired in 25th place. He qualified second with NHLR in 2009 and briefly took the lead at the start but dropped to third by the end of the lap and ultimately finished fourth, his highest finish on an oval at the time. In 2010, he ran a partial season and did not race in Milwaukee. In 2011, he qualified 12th and finished second with Service Central/Chip Ganassi Racing (SCCGR).  He qualified 17th, started 11th with SCCGR after many ahead served an engine change penalty and finished ninth in 2012 with SCCGR. In 2013, he qualified 23rd with RLL but started 24th due to a 10-grid penalty for an unapproved engine change and he finished 16th. In 2014, he qualified and finished 14th with RLL. In 2015, he qualified sixth, led five laps, and finished third to depart the event third in points with four races to go. After a hiatus, INDYCAR returned to the track in 2024 for a doubleheader. In Race 1 in 2024, Rahal qualified 24th but started 21st after three cars received a grid penalty for an unapproved engine change. He had an unexpected additional pit stop due to getting a cut in his left front tire after contact from Rasmussen. He took the checkered flag in 20th place. In Race 2, he started 26th and moved up three spots as the first 15 laps of the race were run under FCC due to Palou’s car stopping on the pace lap and then Lundqvist and Armstrong got together as the field try to go green on Lap 6 and they collected Newgarden. The team used the opportunity to top off on fuel. On a restart from a FCC for Sting Ray Robb on Lap 124/250, Rahal was hit from behind by rookie Rasmussen and sent into the wall. He was checked and released by INDYCAR Medical afterward. Rasmussen was able to continue but received a drive through penalty for avoidable contact. He is ready to get back to the historic Milwaukee Mile after a good test here on June 10.
“I’m excited to go back to the Milwaukee Mile, which is probably my favorite oval of the year. It was scary to see the recent floods, but it seems everything came out okay, which is great. It’s definitely not something you want to see for the people of Milwaukee or the Fair Grounds and I’m sure there is a lot of clean up and work that went into that. We’re excited to put on a great show for them.
“We really want to make sure we can make a jump in the point standings at the last two races and move forward. We know this type of track is our Achilles heel and that we’ve got work to do on the short ovals. We did test at Milwaukee, and I feel we should be significantly stronger than we have been. We’ll see what happens and see if what we learned at the test transfers to race weekend. It’s important to make sure we finish the next two on a high note.”

DEFRANCESCO AT MILWAUKEE
The race will mark Devlin’s first at this track. He got his first experience of the unique layout here during a team test on June 10 and is looking forward to going back.
“I’m very much looking forward to the Milwaukee race. We had a pretty good test there a couple of months ago and tried new things that definitely seemed to make the car better. We’ve also had a very good, productive couple of days on the simulator, and I think we found some interesting things to try at Milwaukee. I’m interested to see what we roll off with on Saturday in the EVTEC Honda. I look forward to getting going and the chance to end this season on a high.”

LOUIS FOSTER AT MILWAUKEE
Foster competed at the Milwaukee Mile in last year’s INDY NXT race where he clinched the title in style after he started from pole, led all 90 laps and won the race. The track is the site of one of the few pre-event tests he has participated in prior to coming to a track for the first time in an INDYCAR. He hopes this bodes well for his Rookie of the Year battle with Robert Schwartzman where he holds a mere six-point advantage, 189-183.
“Last year was my first race at the Milwaukee Mile. I clinched the INDY NXT championship there with a win from pole, so I have fond memories of the track. I basically managed my tires and won in the end. It’s unique for an oval because there is very little banking, which allows the car to move around a lot more securely. It’s definitely an interesting oval and a place where the team wants to improve the level of competitiveness, hence why we used one of our days to test there. We’re looking forward to getting back on track there and making progress on our short oval package. The last two tracks are ovals, and we have put a lot of effort into making sure we are competitive at these next two circuits. We want to try some new things for these last two races, work through what doesn’t so we have things to work on during the off season. Obviously, the main goal is to clinch the rookie championship and maintain or improve our spot in the overall standings. It’s obviously a tight battle between myself and Robert (Schwartzman). At the end of the day, the team and I are going to do the best job possible to try to secure a good result.”

BOBBY RAHAL AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE
Team co-owner Bobby Rahal competed in 18 IndyCar races at the Milwaukee Mile between 1982 and 1998.  His best start was pole in 1992 and best finish was second place, three times (1982, 1987, 1992).

POINTS BATTLE AFTER 15 OF 17 RACES
Heading into Round 16 at Milwaukee, Rahal is in 15th place in the series standings with a total of 246 points, Foster is 23rd with 189 and DeFrancesco is 26th with 145. Foster holds a six-point lead in the Rookie of the Year standings over Robert Schwartzman with 189 points to his 183 with two races to go.