After a disastrous Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., Alex Palou has no choice but to turn the page. Kyle Kirkwood wants to see a familiar story.

That’s the championship picture as the NTT INDYCAR SERIES refocuses from a potentially season-changing Washington street race to attack this weekend’s oval doubleheader at the Milwaukee Mile.

SEE: Milwaukee Event Details – Race 1 / Race 2

Palou still controls the standings by a healthy 91 points, but his 20th-place finish in the nation’s capital – coupled with Kirkwood’s dominating victory – wiped 30 percent of their separation. The path to a record-tying fourth consecutive series title and fifth in six years remains clear for Chip Ganassi Racing’s driver: Score 71 points over the final three races, an average finish of 8.0, and he won’t need to do that well if Kirkwood can’t maximize the rest of the way.

Palou’s average finish this season is 6.3, and it’s 5.1 over the past two seasons.

Kyle Kirkwood

Kirkwood (photo, above) has only one oval victory in this series – in 2025 at World Wide Technology Raceway -- and the Andretti Global driver has never won on a permanent road course like WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, site of the season-ending race Sunday, Sept. 6. So, the idea that he’d win all three remaining poles and races, plus lead the most laps in each, seems unlikely.

Still, the dynamics of this title chase have changed, and the drivers know it. At a minimum, Kirkwood has a puncher’s chance, something he didn’t expect to have heading just a few days ago.

“I'm just going to go out there and try and win every single race and see where it goes from there,” he said. “It's starting to pan out.”

Kirkwood is bidding for his best series finish. Last year, he finished fourth in the standings.

Christian Rasmussen

Milwaukee offers opportunities for drivers besides Palou and Kirkwood. Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen (photo, above) won last year’s race by chasing down and passing Palou with 16 laps remaining. Rasmussen is one of five former Milwaukee winners in this 25-car field.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon earned his only Milwaukee victory in 2009, a vindication from his infamous 2004 race when he crashed in practice and qualifying and then was held out of the race, the last series race he missed. Dixon has competed in a series-record 371 races since then, and he still seeks to extend his record of 21 straight seasons with at least one race victory.

Will Power won at Milwaukee in 2014 as a Team Penske driver. Now with Andretti Global, the two-time series champion is riding a streak of three straight third-place finishes to climb to 10th in the standings, the highest he’s been this season.

The track returned to the INDYCAR SERIES schedule in 2024, and Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin won on the doubleheader weekend.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden has never won at Milwaukee, but he counts 14 short-oval victories, including two this season, among his 34 career race wins.

Only the top five drivers in points remain mathematically eligible to win this year’s championship. But it boils down to this: It’s still Palou’s to lose.

The weekend’s only practice is at 6 p.m. Friday ET (FS1). Qualifying for both races will be at 11 a.m. Saturday (FS1).

The Snap-on Builders Makers and Fixers 250, the first race of the weekend, is at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday. The second race, the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250, is set for 1 p.m. ET Sunday. Both races will air live on FOX. FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls also will cover all sessions live.