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Fantastic Five of 2025: Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250

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Note: This is the last of a five-part series looking back at the five best races of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season – in chronological order – as judged by INDYCAR.com staff writers Curt Cavin, Eric Smith and Paul Kelly, including the writers’ analysis of why those events were great.

THE RACE

Race: Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250
Site: Milwaukee Mile (oval)
Date: Sunday, Aug. 24
Winner: Christian Rasmussen
NTT P1 Award winner: Alex Palou

Christian Rasmussen got the break he needed from Mother Nature, and then he and Ed Carpenter Racing did the rest.

Rasmussen (photo, top) used deft tire strategy by his team during a late caution period and then powered his No. 21 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet past the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of pole sitter and freshly crowned series champion Alex Palou with 16 laps to go to win the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250, his first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory.

SEE: Race Results

2023 INDY NXT by Firestone season champion Rasmussen, in his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with ECR, earned his breakthrough victory in his 30th career start. He became the newest first-time winner in the series since fellow Danish driver Christian Lundgaard in July 2023 at Toronto, and this was the first victory for ECR since Rinus VeeKay triumphed in May 2021 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Rasmussen, who started ninth, beat Palou to the finish by 1.9463 seconds after taking the lead on Lap 235 of 250. Scott McLaughlin finished third in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Chevrolet of Team Penske, tying his season best.

Alexander Rossi finished a season-best fourth in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet to put two ECR cars in the top five at the checkered flag for the first time this year. Pato O’Ward rounded out the top five in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

Palou, who led 199 laps, saw a 2.011-second lead over McLaughlin evaporate when sprinkles around the historic 1.015-mile oval were reported on Lap 209, triggering the fifth and final caution period of the race.

During that caution, Palou, McLaughlin and third-place Josef Newgarden elected to stay out of the pits and keep their track position. Meanwhile, Rasmussen, Rossi and O’Ward were among a handful of drivers to dive into the pits for a quick change to fresh Firestone Firehawk tires, knowing speed diminished quickly when tire wear ramped up during this race.

After the restart on Lap 222, it took Rossi and Rasmussen just one lap to climb to fourth and fifth, respectively. Rasmussen then passed Rossi for fourth, with his sights set on Newgarden in third.

Rasmussen dove under Newgarden’s No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevrolet in Turn 3 on Lap 227 and was .6 of a second behind second-place McLaughlin and 2.2 seconds behind Palou.

Milwaukee Mile action

But the traction provided by the fresh Firestone tires – Palou, McLaughlin and Newgarden each made their final stops on Laps 196 or 197, nearly 15 laps earlier than Rasmussen – proved decisive.

Rasmussen was gobbling time on every area of the track with fresh rubber and his typically aggressive style, driving around McLaughlin with a high-line move in Turn 2 on Lap 230. Palou was 1.321 seconds ahead in the lead, but it appeared to be only a matter of time until Rasmussen would catch the four-time series champion and pounce.

That moment arrived on Lap 235 when Palou and Rasmussen went side by side through Turns 3 and 4, inches apart, with Palou hugging the low line and Rasmussen in the high groove. Rasmussen edged ahead on the front straightaway, officially taking the lead for good at the start-finish line, and finally got around Palou for clear sailing in Turn 1 on Lap 236.

It was the first time Rasmussen led all day, a spot he wouldn’t surrender. The Dane held steady while navigating lapped traffic over the closing laps for his momentous first win, which maybe shouldn’t be considered a stunner considering he, Palou and O’Ward are the only three drivers to finish in the top 10 in all five series oval races this season.

WHY IT WAS GREAT

Curt Cavin: What Christian Rasmussen did in that race, particularly in the closing laps, was exciting, to be sure. But don’t overlook what Alex Palou did – or more importantly, what he didn’t have to do. Greatness isn’t just being great when a championship is on the line; Palou’s legacy is becoming that he races like a champion at all times on all types of tracks. He entered the Milwaukee weekend assured of a third consecutive season title and fourth in five years, and he was a staggering 151 points north of his nearest competitor. Yet, he won the pole on a short oval by a staggering two-tenths of a second and then led 199 of the race’s first 234 laps. Without a late caution and Rasmussen driving like his hair was on fire, Palou likely would have won by 10 or more seconds, and remember, ovals didn’t use to be his thing. There were six such races on this year’s schedule, and he won two of them, including Indy, with two seconds, a fifth and two poles. Palou never finished lower than eighth on an oval track, giving him an average finish in those races of 3.16. He’s such a joy to watch drive a race car.

Eric Smith: My Milwaukee takeaway is the entire event itself. For the second consecutive year, the crowd showed up. Signs were placed around the venue on race morning stating that the general admission tickets were sold out. Word traveled quickly as the already eager buzz took on a new level of excitement for the big crowd. The energetic fan base roared with excitement in the thrilling race fight from Christian Rasmussen, who charged through the front half of the field on fresh tires and delivered a dramatic and exciting first-time winner and the first first-time winner since the Streets of Toronto in 2023. The race featured 685 on-track passes (306 for position) – second-most on record for INDYCAR at the Milwaukee Mile.

Paul Kelly: Who doesn’t like a first-time winner? Christian Rasmussen joining the club of NTT INDYCAR SERIES race winners would have been enough to elevate this race toward the top of the pack of 2025 events. But the magical mile at Milwaukee also delivered a fun race, especially Rasmussen’s late charge to the front and past Alex Palou on fresher tires. It’s so rare to see a driver gobble huge chunks of time like that per lap in a series this competitive, regardless of the reason, so that was unique. Looking deeper, I think this race validated Rasmussen as a driver who could be an INDYCAR SERIES mainstay for a decade or longer. The Dane had a bit of a reputation from some fans and peers as being fast, fearless … and reckless since his rookie season in 2024. But it took great precision to guide such a rocket ship of a race car to the front in such a short period of time, including a driver in Alex Palou who already has cemented his legend in the sport’s long history. That was super impressive by Rasmussen and a sign of what could come in the future with more improvement and consistent composure.

Milwaukee Mile crowd