Qualifying at IndyCar’s Milwaukee Mile 250 is complete, view the full report and results below. Josef Newgarden set the fastest time during practice — Could the Penske driver take pole position at the penultimate race of the 2025 IndyCar season?
Qualifying order in Milwaukee was reversed based on IndyCar’s entrant points. Jacob Abel began the qualifying session.
Abel set a two-lap average speed of 156.599 mph, quite a bit slower than Newgarden’s fastest laps during practice. Then, RLL driver Devlin Defrancesco went faster than Abel at 159.047 mph. Sting Ray Robb was unable to match DeFrancesco’s pace.
PREMA struggles during Milwaukee qualifying
PREMA’s Robert Shwartzman has scored two top-ten finishes on oval races. The rookie’s season highlight has been taking pole position at the Indy 500. In Milwaukee, Shwartman appeared to struggle on his second lap, going an average speed of 158.010 mph. RLL rookie Louis Foster also had difficulties, going 157.529 mph.
Callum Ilott has scored three consecutive top-ten finishes in Toronto, Monterrey, and Portland. Unfortunately he struggled similar to his teammate, going slowest of the lot at 156.460 mph. Illot claimed the team tried a different strategy but it did not work out for the team.
Arrow McLaren driver Nolan Siegel slotted in behind DeFrancesco, going 158.153 mph.
Marcus Ericsson tried a different strategy, saving his tires for his final laps. His strategy paid off and he jumped to the top of the timing sheet, going 159.087.
Short oval specialist Conor Daly is a big fan of Milwaukee. He usurped Ericcson’s lead, setting the first laps in the 160 mph range.
Josef Newgarden sets the benchmark lap
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden made multiple corrections during his laps. The driver who topped practice in Milwaukee went to the top of the charts. Newgarden was the first driver to go faster on his second flying lap at 160.330 mph. However, his lap was slower than the lap he set during practice.
Kyffin Simpson followed Newgarden, setting an average speed of 158.132 mph. ECR’s Alexander Rossi slotted in behind Daly, going 159.378 mph.
Graham Rahal started on pace with Newgarden, showing strong pace in Turns 3 and 4. He jumped ahead of Rossi at 159.995 mph.
Santino Ferrucci struggled with pace during practice in Milwaukee. The AJ Foyt driver managed to go 156.862 mph, continuing his poor form this weekend. He slotted in between Foster and Abel.
Christian Rasmussen strong decent pace, jumping ahead of Rahal with a pace of 160.158 mph. He will started the race ahead of his teammate.
Rinus VeeKay followed Rasmussen. The Dale Coyne racer slots in ahead of Rossi, going 159.514 mph.
David Malukas overtakes Team Penske’s lead
Scott McLaughlin is the second Team Penske driver to qualify in Milwaukee. He sets a strong first lap, setting an average pace of 161.758 mph.
David Malukas followed McLaughlin. Despite a slide, he showed significantly strong pace and jumped to the top of the leaderboard. He went 162.256 mph.
Colton Herta’s close call with the barriers
Colton Herta had a massive slide on his first flying lap, but saved his car from a collision with the barriers. The Andretti driver continued his flying laps but will start from the back of the grid. His average speed was 112.717 mph.
Herta expressed frustration with his qualifying performance, struggling for grip on the lower patches of pavement on the track.
Marcus Armstrong followed Herta’s laps. The Kiwi driver recently re-signed with Meyer Shank Racing for the 2026 season. He set an average pace of 159.018 mph, behind DeFrancesco.
Felix Rosenqvist crashes during Milwaukee qualifying
Felix Rosenqvist went after his teammate. Unfortunately he lost the rear during his first flying lap, crashing into the barriers.
Will Power was the final Team Penske driver to qualify. While he appeared to battle with the car, Power goes ahead of teammate Newgarden with an average speed of 160.819 mph.
Andretti driver Kyle Kirkwood followed Power. He followed teammate Ericsson’s racing line, splitting Penske drivers Power and Newgarden. He went 160.353 mph.
Christian Lundgaard went 158.801 mph, slotting in between Armstrong and Siegel. Chip Ganassi’s Scott Dixon showed strong pace, jumping ahead of Power at 160.951 mph.
Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward looks to maintain P2 in the championship. He sets a strong first flying lap, but is just shy of Malukas’ average speed at 162.078 mph.
Alex Palou secures pole position
Last up was IndyCar championship winner Alex Palou. He set the fastest first lap of the session and took the top spot on the leaderboard, denying the AJ Foyt racer his first pole position. Palou set an average pace of 162.971 mph.
Qualifying results at IndyCar Milwaukee Mile
- Palou
- Malukas
- O’Ward
- McLaughlin
- Dixon
- Power
- Kirkwood
- Newgarden
- Daly
- Rasmussen
- Rahal
- VeeKay
- Rossi
- Ericsson
- DeFrancesco
- Armstrong
- Lundgaard
- Siegel
- Robb
- Simpson
- Shwartzman
- Foster
- Ferrucci
- Abel
- Ilott
- Herta
- Rosenqvist
Grid penalties for Milwaukee
There are several grid penalties affecting the starting grid. IndyCar announced a nine-position grid penalty for Rahal Letterman Lannigan’s Louis Foster for an unscheduled engine change beyond the entry’s season allotment following today’a practice session in Milwaukee.
Additionally, Scott Dixon and Kyffin Simpson received nine-position grid penalties for an unscheduled engine change during team testing at Nashville Superspeedway.
