The Lone Practice is Complete for the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s; Qualifying and Race 1 of the Doubleheader Up Saturday

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s – The Milwaukee Mile

NTT INDYCAR SERIES – Rounds 15 & 16 of 17

PRACTICE NOTES / QUOTES – Friday, August 30, 2024

THE LONE PRACTICE IS COMPLETE FOR THE HY-VEE MILWAUKEE MILE 250s; QUALIFYING AND RACE 1 UP NEXT SATURDAY

1st: Josef Newgarden 23.0156 / 158.762 mph

22nd: Graham Rahal 23.9003 / 152.885 mph

23rd: Pietro Fittipaldi 23.9347 / 152.665 mph

24th: Christian Lundgaard 23.9368 / 152.652 mph

GRAHAM RAHAL, No. 15 Hendrickson Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “The car was a genuine handful today and I don’t understand why. I felt positive coming out of St. Louis about the changes we made and we get here and aren’t where I thought we would be. We have some work to do.”

FAST FACTS: Will mark his eighth and ninth races 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 at 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, the last time the series raced here, he qualified sixth, led five laps, and finished third to depart the event third in points with four races to go… Rahal is ranked 16th in series point standings with a total of 227.

PIETRO FITTIPALDI, 30 Mi-Jack Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “It was a tough session. We’re working hard as a team to get the car right. We have a lot of work to do overnight to make sure we are ready for the races.”

FAST FACTS: It will be Pietro’s first time to race at this track. His grandfather, Emerson, finished second here in 1994 and finished third three times (1988, ’90, ’93). After a competitive race at World Wide Technology Raceway a few weeks ago, he’s is optimistic of a good weekend… He is ranked 20th in series point standings with a total of 156.

CHRISTIAN LUNDGAARD, No. 45 Hy-Vee Dallara/Honda/Firestone: “We were trying a lot of things in that lone practice. Some of them seemed to work, some of the didn’t. We’re out of the window but seem to pick up small bits and pieces of pace. Across the team, we’re within 3/100ths of a tenth (of a second). We will work hard tonight and give it all we’ve got the next two days.”

FAST FACTS: It will be his first race here. His best oval finish to date is 10th place in Race 1 of the 2022 Hy-Vee INDYCAR Weekend doubleheader and he hopes to surpass that this weekend. He is ranked 12th place in the point standings with a total of 261.

RLL AT MILWAUKEE: The Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s will mark the 22nd and 23rd 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 five podiums (2nd: Rahal 2004, Rice 2004; 3rd: G. Rahal 2015). Prior to the 2024 event, the team prepared a total of 38 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) and James Jakes (2013). The team has earned 11 top-five finishes and 20 top-10’s at the track.

NEXT UP: Qualifying for both races will take place from 1:15 – 2:15 PM CT Saturday. Saturday’s Race 1 will be televised on Peacock beginning at 5:40 pm ET. Race 2 will take place on Sunday with coverage being aired on USA Network beginning at 1:30 PM ET. Timing and Scoring information is available for all sessions from www.indycar.com and includes commentary by the INDYCAR Radio Network.