Rahal, Foster & Schumacher Close Out Oval Portion of the 2026 INDYCAR Season at the Snap-On Makers and Fixers 250 Doubleheader at the Milwaukee Mile

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Snap-On Makers and Fixers 250 – The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wisc.
Pre-Race Notes
Rounds 16 & 17 of 18 in the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES

DATE:     August 28 – 30, 2026

PRACTICE BROADCAST:     Live on FS1 on Friday from 6:00 – 7:30 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 11:00 – 12:00 p.m. ET Saturday.

RACE BROADCAST:     Live on FOX on Saturday, August 29 from 2:30 – 5:00 p.m. ET and Sunday, August 30
from 1:00 – 3:30 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

2025 WINNER:     Christian Rassmussen
2025 POLESITTER:     Alex Palou (162.971 mph)

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

FOSTER’S BEST OVAL START / FINISH:     12th (Iowa Race 1 – 2025) / 12th (Indy 500 – 2025)
FOSTER’S BEST START / FINISH AT MILWAUKEE:     22nd (started 27th after grid penalty) / 17th – 2025; will be his second INDYCAR race here
FOSTER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     Pole at Road America 2025 and Markham 2026 / 7th (Indy GP and Detroit 2027)

SCHUMACHER’S BEST OVAL START / FINISH:     4th (Phoenix 2026) / 8th (Nashville 2026)
SCHUMACHERS BEST START / FINISH AT MILWAUKEE:     Will be his first race here
SCHUMACHER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     4th (Phoenix oval 2026) / 8th (Nashville oval 2026)

RLL’S TOP START / FINISH AT MILW:     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 THE MILWAUKEE MILE FOR RLL
The Snap-On Makers and Fixers 250 at the Milwaukee Mile will mark the 25th and 26th events 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 2026 event, the team prepared a total of 47 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; 2024×2, 2025), James Jakes (2013), Christian Lundgaard (2024), Pietro Fittipaldi (2024) and Devlin DeFrancesco (2025). 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 in 2024. The team will enter the No. 15 Luther Automotive Honda for Graham Rahal, the No. 45 Desnuda Organic Tequila Honda for Louis Foster and the No. 47 ENVE Honda to bring that total to 53 in two races in 2026.

GRAHAM AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE – SITE OF 2 FRONT ROW STARTS + 2 PODIUMS
The Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250 will mark Graham’s 11th race here. He has earned two front row starts and four top-10 finishes including two podiums (2nd – 2011; 3rd – 2015) in his 10 races. 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. In the first of his two podium race in 2011, he qualified 12th and finished second with Service Central/Chip Ganassi Racing (SCCGR). In 2015 with RLL, he qualified sixth, led five laps, and finished third to depart the event third in points with four races to go. Last year, he started 11th and dropped to 14th at the start. When a caution came out at the end of the first lap for Seigel, who crashed, Rahal reported he had no rear grip. When the field went back to green, he lost traction and completed a three-quarter spin which led to the series bringing out another caution. The race resumed and he continued to struggle and ultimately took the checkered flag in 24th place in his 10th race here. Other recaps are available upon request. The Milwaukee Mile has been one of his favorite oval tracks over the years, and he is looking forward to the return to this historic event.
“I love racing at the Milwaukee Mile; always have. We had a decent starting place last year but struggled in the race and have worked hard to improve our overall oval package. We have three more chances to make up some ground in the point standings in this final stretch and we’re going to do everything we can to do that. It’s important that we end the season on a high note.”

LOUIS FOSTER AT MILWAUKEE
Foster will make his second INDYCAR start at the Milwaukee Mile. Last year he only ran approx. 1/2 of a lap in the morning practice session before being called into the pits due to data from the engine monitoring systems, which ultimately resulted in his engine being changed. When he made his qualifying run, it was the first full lap he completed at speed. He was given a 9-position grid penalty for an unapproved engine change and started 27th (last in the field) after qualifying 22nd^.and steadily moved up in the field to ultimately finish 17th. His top oval start and finish is 12th place and he is hoping to better that mark.
“I think it will be an interesting oval race for us. We’ve had ups and downs at ovals this year and I’m hoping that we can we can finish the oval part of the season on a high. We’ve made good progress in certain areas and we’ll just keep digging and try and find a bit more grip and a bit more pace from the cars. Milwaukee is a fun event. It’s going to be two races so double the fun for us. I’m looking forward to it.”

SCHUMACHER AT THE MILWAUKEE MILE
The doubleheader will mark Schumacher’s fifth and sixth oval races of his career. His experience and comfort has steadily increased each time he is on track. With a best start of fourth place in his oval debut in Phoenix and best finish of 8th place at the previous oval race in Nashville, he is optimistic of continuing the trajectory.
“We tested at Milwaukee and it didn’t go as well as we hoped but we came away with a better understanding of what we needed to do. We have some ideas that we want to try, and hopefully that will put us in a good window for the races. We’re on the final stretch here and there are still three races to go with a doubleheader oval race and road course so we’re hoping to maximize this stretch.”

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 18 RACES
Heading into Round 16 at Milwaukee, Rahal is in 14th place in the series standings with a total of 276 points, Foster is 20th with 212 and Schumacher is 24th with 170.