IndyCar moved up Saturday’s Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 at the Milwaukee Mile, chasing rain that threatens to swamp the season’s only doubleheader.
Green flag was supposed to drop at 2:41 p.m. ET instead of 2:50, a nine-minute shift that still leaves officials watching radar as showers close in on West Allis, Wisconsin. But that start time quickly went by the boards.
IndyCar made the rain delay official at 2:38 p.m.
With a second rain delay dragging on into the evening, organizers postponed the second half of the day’s doubleheader, the USF Pro 2000 race at Milwaukee, aiming to reschedule for Sunday. The race will be televised by FS1. IndyCar had not announced any potential race-length adjustments for what is now a Sunday doubleheader.
In the end, the first race was also rescheduled for Sunday, as track drying was not able to be completed in time for sundown. New start time wis set for 8 a.m. CT, 9 a.m. PT, 6 a.m. PT.
“There will be a cutoff of 9:25a CT on Sunday for Race 1,” Bob Pockrass reported. “If it rains in the morning, the Sunday race would run as scheduled at 12p CT and then Race 1 resumes about three hours after the conclusion. …Fans who have tickets for today at Milwaukee can come back Sunday. They’d have to give up their seats for the Sunday race but can stay in the facility and sit in a general admission seat.”
The red flag came down due to rain at about 4:20 p.m. stopping the race again. About 40 minutes later, Pockrass reported, “Rain has picked up enough here at Milwaukee that they will need to dry the entire track after it stops.”
By 6:37 local time, cars had still not moved onto the pit road and the race announced no time to fire engines — with sundown coming in less than one hour.
A breakthrough may have occurred at 6:12 p.m. ET, when race controllers decided to “allow the teams to warm up their engines again in a few minutes, indicating they are holding out hope. I would think they need only 15-30 minutes to get to halfway,” wrote Pockrass.
The rain finally stopped and at 6:50 p.m. ET, 5:50 CT. track drying efforts were well underway.
Teams were informed that they could commence warming up engines at 7:15 ET, 6:15 CT. That announcement came shortly before the hour. Drivers were expected to return to grid shortly thereafter in hopes that they could complete the required 125 laps to make the race official.
“The pit lane is coming around as far as dryness. So after this warmup period is done, let’s get to full readiness and let’s get ready to move,” Race Control announced at 7:15 p.m. ET. 6:15 CT.
They would need to get through 26 more laps before the light runs out, off the rain comes again. Organizer announced that when the race got going again, it would run until 250 laps or until 7:30 p.m. ET, whichever hits first.
When the race starts again, TV viewers will need to switch over to FS1, as Fox will be broadcasting Saturday baseball.
After the first of the day’s two rain delays, the green flag dropped at 3:35 p.m. ET, 2:35 p.m. CT. And after 55 laps, it appeared that more rain was on the way. The race needed to get to at least 125 laps to be official. And in lap 65, the race was placed under caution due to rain.
“Just mild drizzle at the moment. Cars still making laps under caution,” racing journalist Bob Pockrass wrote.
IndyCar announced that the race would now start with engines firing at 3:30 p.m., a delay of 49 minutes, if the rain does not start again.
“Engines fired here at Milwaukee. For 250 laps. Possible rain on the way before getting the full race in. So potential urgency to get to halfway. On FOX,” Pockrass reported.
At 2:34 p.m., Pockrass reported, “INDYCAR says they lost the track and moving cars back to the paddock. …In order to dry pit road they need the cars off pit road is the reason to send cars back to the paddock.”
DeHarde reported that ran was “sprinkling steadily enough to be an annoyance. Enough to wet the track, but not a true storm.”
Pockrass also noted that the Milwaukee Mile has no artificial lights for racing after dark. The 7:32 sundown time Milwaukee, then, puts a hard deadline on when the race could start and end.
The original plan called for a 2:50 p.m. ET start, a window published across Fox Sports and other outlets earlier in the week. Sky Sports F1’s UK coverage shifted along with it, with engines firing at 7:36 p.m. local time and the green flag about 7:41 p.m., according to a post from broadcaster Tom Gaymor.
| NTT INDYCAR SERIES — RACE LEADERBOARD | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SNAP-ON Makers and Fixers 250 • Race 1 • Milwaukee Mile | |||||
| Lap 91 / 250 • Red Flag • Avg. Speed: 121.127 mph • Lead Changes: 5 • On-Track Passes: 238 | |||||
| Pos | No. | Driver | Diff | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | — | — | 90 |
| 2 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | +1.3135 | 1.3135 | 90 |
| 3 | 20 | Alexander Rossi | +4.0544 | 2.7409 | 90 |
| 4 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | +5.2923 | 1.2379 | 90 |
| 5 | 7 | Christian Lundgaard | +6.1988 | 0.9065 | 90 |
| 6 | 26 | Will Power | +9.5860 | 3.3872 | 90 |
| 7 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | +13.1303 | 3.5443 | 90 |
| 8 | 45 | Louis Foster | +15.4767 | 2.3464 | 90 |
| 9 | 8 | Kyffin Simpson | +18.5306 | 3.0539 | 90 |
| 10 | 76 | Rinus VeeKay | 1 Lap | 1 Lap | 89 |
| 11 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 12 | 66 | Marcus Armstrong | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 13 | 12 | David Malukas | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 14 | 10 | Alex Palou | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 15 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 16 | 21 | Christian Rasmussen | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 17 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 18 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 19 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 20 | 77 | Sting Ray Robb | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 21 | 19 | Dennis Hauger | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| 22 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | 1 Lap | 0 Lap | 89 |
| Red flag • Lap 91 of 250 • All cars In Pit. Positions 10–22 all 1 lap down. Diff/Gap shown in seconds for lead-lap cars. | |||||
Milwaukee Mile Race Time Shifts Amid Rain Threat
Saturday’s Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 is 250 laps around the 1.015-mile Milwaukee Mile at Wisconsin State Fair Park. The historic oval carries just nine degrees of banking, so drivers can’t run flat through the corners the way they might on a steeper track. It’s the series’ last oval date before the Laguna Seca finale closes out the year.
Christian Rasmussen defends after passing Alex Palou with 16 laps left to win here in 2025. Scott McLaughlin topped the opening qualifying session at 165.536 mph, with Palou second, David Malukas third and Pato O’Ward fourth, according to Motorsport.com’s qualifying recap. None of those speeds will matter much for Saturday’s grid, though.
Championship Stakes Loom Over a Soggy Milwaukee
Palou, McLaughlin, Malukas, Rinus VeeKay and Sting Ray Robb each drew nine-place grid penalties for unapproved engine changes traced back to last Sunday’s race in Washington, D.C., RACER reported Friday. That promotes O’Ward to Saturday’s pole alongside Josef Newgarden, while Palou starts deep in the field despite the second-fastest Race 1 lap. He still owns Sunday’s pole outright, edging O’Ward by roughly three ten-thousandths of a second.
Kirkwood’s path is rougher. He qualified only 22nd for Race 1 after tangling with Christian Rasmussen in Friday practice, according to a qualifying-results report from RacingNews. Palou carries a 91-point championship lead over Kirkwood, 553-462, with Christian Lundgaard a distant third. A clean weekend hands Palou his fifth title before the cars ever reach Monterey.
Newgarden inherits the front row alongside O’Ward after Friday’s penalties, with Will Power starting third. Penske’s cars have historically run well on the Mile’s flat, grip-dependent surface when the track stays green, though a wet-to-dry restart would only add risk for drivers up front with the most to lose. O’Ward, fifth in points at 399, gets a rare shot at clean air if Saturday holds together.
Why is IndyCar Milwaukee Delayed Today? When Will Race Start?