WEST ALLIS, Wisc. — There are five drivers who have previously competed in IndyCar Series races at The Milwaukee Mile.
Two of them were the fastest in Friday’s only practice session for the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s.
Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was the fastest at 158.762 miles per hour in the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet. The last time Newgarden raced at The Milwaukee Mile was in 2015 when he was with Ed Carpenter Racing.
Scott Dixon, who won the IndyCar race at The Milwaukee Mile on May 31, 2009, was second at 158.080 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
“It’s encouraging,” Newgarden said after practice. “I think our car was really good. I was happy. Took some tuning. The tire was very different on the low-line tire that we ran, then we went to the current tire, and it took a lot of work to get it where it needed to be.
“When we got through the first 30 minutes, I was super happy with the car. The team did a great job feeling comfy and comfortable.
“I think Team Chevy did a good job, too, at least from what I’ve seen preliminarily.
“We have two opportunities for us to have a nice result to end the year.”
Dixon, who will celebrate his 400th consecutive IndyCar start on Saturday, has more experience at Milwaukee and compared what it felt like to be back on the flat track after a nine-year absence.
“It always feels different, especially when there’s more cars,” Dixon said. “At our test, I think there were only seven cars. Dirty air was definitely more of a thing.
“We missed a little bit of time, didn’t get our second Q sim in, but the balance felt pretty good. The car had good balance to it.
“We tried lots of different things. 90% of them didn’t do anything. That’s the way it rolls sometimes. Luckily for us, the cars ran off in a pretty good window.”
Pato O’Ward, who has never raced at Milwaukee, was third at 157.750 mph in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren followed by Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda at 157.638 mph.
Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske rounded out the top five at 157.581 mph in the No. 3 Chevrolet.
Before the start of practice, a competition update was provided informing teams that an end-of-restart zone reference line has been painted.
All oval restart rules and procedures remain unchanged.
A similar reference line also will be provided at Nashville (Tenn.) Superspeedway.
As for practice with heavier cars than in 2015, Newgarden gave his synopsis.
“It feels similar,” Newgarden said. “It’s different compared to 2015 when we left. We had a huge aero kit, big downforce. You were pretty much just flat. Very different from 2015.
“We’re way heavier. From that standpoint, it’s completely different.
“I think it’s still Milwaukee. Like, sort of the general traits of this track are very much there underneath the surface. It’s just a different car. A lot less downforce. It’s heavier, requires a different setup, different finesse. You got to look after things differently than you did 10 years ago.
“It’s the same Milwaukee. There’s a preferred line. There’s kind of an alternate line that’s not great but usable. Yeah, it’s a very interesting track. I think if we get some drop-off, there’s going to be good racing, which I think everybody wants to see.”
One thing of note that Newgarden pointed out is the spread in the field. Newgarden was the fastest at 158.762 and Katherine Legge was the slowest at 150.677 mph.
“I think you’ll have big separation is one thing that I will say,” Newgarden said. “I think you’ll have cars that are really not good, like really not good, and you’ll have some cars that are really good, so …
“That’s one thing I’d predict.”
The only incident in Friday’s practice was rookie Christian Rasmussen, who hit the wall on the backstretch with just a few minutes left in practice in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet.
He was uninjured, but his crew will swap out engines after the crash. That means he will receive a nine grid-spot penalty.