Following a dramatic, three-wide battling all race long event at Auto Club Speedway, the Verizon IndyCar Series will return to the track this weekend with the ABC Supply Co. Inc. Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest. With the oval being shorter and less banked, the racing should be more tame with less three-wide racing, but still highly competitive with the depth of competition in the field.
Graham Rahal enters this weekend with a boat load of confidence after breaking a 125-race winless streak with his victory at Fontana. It wasn’t a fluke victory, either, as Rahal has ran up front all season long and currently sits fourth in points, 73 points behind Juan Pablo Montoya. In six races at Milwaukee, Rahal has posted two top-fives and three top-10s.
“I’m excited for Milwaukee ahead and the chance to put ourselves in a good place in this championship going forward as well,” he commented. “With Courtney’s race (fiancée Courtney Force was runner-up in the NHRA funny car event July 2-5 at Norwalk, Ohio) and everything else, it’s been pretty busy since the win. I haven’t really focused much on the win as much as I have been thinking about going forward and doing well at Milwaukee because this is a big part of our season right now. It’s a big turning point for us as we need to do everything that we can to maximize our points, so really I haven’t thought about it too much. I have just been focused on what’s ahead of us. I have always loved The Milwaukee Mile. It’s a pretty tricky flat track. It has a lot of history in its own right and that’s what makes it special to go there and get to race at that track.”
Speaking of Montoya, he has also had success at Milwaukee, before, finishing second in last year’s event. Currently leading the points with a pair of wins and four podiums, the Columbian will hope to keep the consistency going after finishing fourth at Fontana.
“I have never been more upset with a second-place finish than I was last year at Milwaukee,” he admits. “We had such a good car that it was a shame that we couldn’t win the race, but Will (Power) was just that dominant that day. If I have a Verizon Chevrolet that is even close to how good that car was, I will feel really good about our chances this weekend. I enjoy racing at Milwaukee a lot. It’s a different feel than anywhere else we go because it’s a fairgrounds track. It’s just a cool place with a lot of history. I’m glad I have been able to win there at least once in my career (2000). Unfortunately, last year there wasn’t a lot of passing and, as a result, Will was able to lead so many laps. I’m very anxious to see what the new aero package and downforce levels do to the racing when we get back.”
While Montoya was left looking for the taste of victory, that honor went to his Team Penske teammate Will Power. Power is badly hoping that he can repeat to start making up the 46 points that separate him from Montoya currently. He also is looking to bounce back as a wreck at Fontana resulted in a finish outside of the top-15. In five starts at the Milwaukee Mile, he has three top-five finishes with an average finish of 6.8
“Milwaukee could not be coming at a better time for the Verizon Chevy team,” Power commented. “We need a race to really jumpstart the rest of our season and Milwaukee did that for us last year. The win there kind of cemented our spot as the championship frontrunner, even though we still had to take care of business the rest of the year. When you have a race like we did last year at Milwaukee, it can’t help but give you supreme confidence heading into this year’s event. I had a great feeling about that race at the start of 2014 – it was one that I circled on the calendar – and I feel the same this year. It really comes down to qualifying at Milwaukee because passing can be difficult there. If we can win another Verizon P1 Pole Award, I’m confident we can keep our Verizon Chevy at the front of the field and contend for another Milwaukee win.”
Ryan Hunter-Reay is also hoping to turn things around this weekend after being part of the dramatic last lap crash at Fontana with Ryan Briscoe. Hunter-Reay knows his way around Milwaukee, posting victories in 2012 and 2013. Currently sitting 14th in points, a victory would be a huge boost for the Andretti Autosport driver.
“We were just one lap away from a breakthrough result in Fontana, so hopefully we can put it all together this weekend at one of my favorite tracks, The Milwaukee Mile,” the past champion stated. “We’ve had success at this track in the past and it would be a huge achievement to join the short list of four-time winners at the famed 1-mile oval.”
Tony Kanaan enters this weekend with momentum after finishing second at Fontana while leading 23 laps. He has been good at Milwaukee in the past, posting two wins, seven top-fives and eight top-10s in 10 starts for an average finish of 6.6
“I think it was a good thing we had a weekend off after such an intense race in Fontana to regroup and put our focus back into the remainder of the season, especially Milwaukee,” Kanaan commented. “Over the years, I’ve had some strong finishes in Milwaukee and NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing has a lot of momentum coming off the last few races. This year’s race weekend schedule will be challenging with us practicing, qualifying and racing all in the same day. We’ll need to be on top of our game to make sure we have a good finish, hopefully another win, on the historic short track.”
His Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon is looking for a good run, as well, after winning earlier this year on a high-banked oval at Texas Motor Speedway and currently sitting third in points. Dixon enters the weekend with some momentum as he finished sixth at Fontana, and has the second highest average finish of active drivers with a 6.4. In nine starts at Milwaukee, he has scored a win, four top-fives and seven top-10s.
“Milwaukee might be the only place that is older than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Dixon said. “Nothing has really changed over those hundred-plus years it’s been in existence. It has a lot of character and the track is definitely the toughest short track we go to – maybe even one of the toughest tracks that we’ve ever been to as a series, in my opinion. I was fortunate enough to win there in 2009 and had some great battles there with some podiums. But I’ve also had some dreadful days there, crashing two cars in four laps once in practice and qualifying and then going home before the race. I’ve had many highs and lows there, but as a city with the fans it’s definitely one of the top spots on the schedule.”
