| CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 2501.015-mile Milwaukee Mile short oval A solid day of qualifying for Team Chevy at the Milwaukee Mile saw drivers wearing the Bowtie nail down seven of the top ten spots on the grid for Sunday’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250. David Malukas in the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Clarience Technologies Chevrolet just missed out on his first career pole, with Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Team Penske Chevrolet, Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Snap-On Team Penske Chevrolet, Conor Daly in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet and Christian Rasmussen in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Splenda Stevia Chevrolet joining him in the top ten. As the 18th of 27 drivers to attempt to qualify on the historic 1.015-mile Milwaukee Mile short oval, Malukas survived two lap efforts by eight drivers, including those who qualified 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th, before 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou, the last driver to qualify, grabbed his sixth pole of the season. Malukas, who is still looking for his first career pole, will start on the outside of the front row for the fourth time in his career, including the first race at the Milwaukee Mile in 2024. The 23-year-old from nearby Chicago, Illinois, has a huge family and friends contingent with him this weekend, including his middle school teacher. O’Ward, a winner at ‘The Mile’ last year, will start from the first two rows for the third race in a row and the sixth time this year. McLaughlin, the other 2024 winner in Milwaukee, will start beside O’Ward, which is also his sixth start in the first two rows this season. Newgarden, who will start seventh after Scott Dixon receives a grid penalty for changing an engine early, led the practice before the qualifying with a best lap of 161.066 mph. Four of the six fastest drivers were Chevrolet-powered. After just missing out on his first pole, Malukas was once again second quickest in final practice. His best lap speed was 154.871 mph and was one of five Bowtie-powered drivers in the top eight. The Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 will air on FOX and the INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218 at 2 pm (ET). Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 qualifying results: |
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| Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 Starting Lineup |
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| What They’re Saying David Malukas, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Clarience Technologies Chevrolet qualified 2ndThat was Woohoo! That was on the limit. I am not going to lie! We were right there on the edge of those walls on the exit. Really happy with performance of that. We were doing so much studying in practice trying to learn strategies. I think from a speed perspective, we are right there. That is pretty much as close as we are going to get to maximizing our car, so, we will see what other people are going to do, but I already know that is really a good qualifying run.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 3rd:“I feel like I missed a little bit in Turn 1, but this is a great starting position and much better than where we started last year. We’re going to try and double up and fight for a win. I’m really excited to go for it tomorrow.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Snap-On Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 8th:“Probably not what we wanted there. I mean, we had a good first run-in practice and didn’t quite have the, probably, the balance we were projecting, on that run. So I I’m not sure how good that’s gonna be, but, you know, the race is a different story. I think we learned a little bit on that first practice on what we need to do for tomorrow. But, you know, the name of the game is keeping the tires underneath you. This this track’s hard on tires, and we gotta go forward. So, proud to have Snap on onboard, Great local company that is a big company in the world and and would like to bring them a good race.” Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet qualified 9th:“I had a missed shift out of four, and that is what killed us. I tried to go up to fifth gear, and it never went, so that is what killed us. It’s so bumpy, and it’s just so bumpy. It has nothing to do with other than where I tried to select a gear. That killed it, and that means you start the second lap bad when you end the first lap bad. So that is what it was. “I’m 100 times more confident than I was after first practice last year. We’ve already tried to move to the bottom and figure things out. The deg Is aggressive and that’s good. You are going to see people hating life, and people, even at the front probably upset. It’s who is going to be least upset and I think that it is awesome. I think we are in for s good race.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Splenda Stevia Chevrolet qualified 10th:“Massive applause to the ECR Splenda Stevia crew here! That was a big turnaround from practice where we really struggled for speed. We found a lot here for qualifying! Really happy with that strong run.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Java House Chevrolet qualified 13th: “We didn’t have the same balance we had this morning, so we’ll need to look into that. Fortunately, this is one of the only oval races of the year where qualifying doesn’t matter quite as much. It will be an important final practice session this afternoon.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 17th:“Honestly, the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet felt good during Qualifying, but it felt like it was under-driven. I think there’s much more pace in the car. I think it’s a good race car, most importantly, and we know you don’t score the big points on Saturdays.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 18th:“I didn’t feel like we had the speed there. I feel like when we have rolled off with that, the results have been there, this time it isn’t. So, we kind of just rolled off slow. It’s not a balance problem really, we just don’t have the grip to do what other cars are doing. Not entirely sure why, but we will work on it. We will see what happens in final practice.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet qualified 19th:“Turn one was a little too comfortable. I think that I pushed a little bit too much on our warm-up lap, which, like, that’s kinda crazy to say, but, you know, I think that there’s still a good bit of time in there I think I have a great car underneath me. I’m okay with that session, but we are gonna have a good race.” Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet qualified 21st:“We tried something different with the setup ahead of qualifying to try and find some speed, and unfortunately, it did not work out as hoped. This leaves us towards the back of the order for the race on Sunday. It is important that we make the most of the session after qualifying to find the best racecar for us to move forward.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Phoenix Investors Chevrolet qualified 23rd“I think we kind of just missed the setup. I missed something with the gearing as well, just on my side; I think I should have been holding fifth gear instead of downshifting twice. I think there’s just a couple of small things. I don’t think we had, obviously the pace of our teammate, but we have better pace than where we qualified. So, we’re gonna make some changes, see if we can’t fix the balance for the race and pass some cars tomorrow.”Callum Ilott, No, 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet qualified 25th:“We tried something different with the setup ahead of qualifying to try and find some speed, and unfortunately, it did not work out as hoped. This leaves us towards the back of the order for the race on Sunday. It is important that we make the most of the session after qualifying to find the best racecar for us to move forward.” |
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| NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceSaturday, August 23, 2025David MalukasPress Conference THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up qualifying ahead of tomorrow’s Snap-on Milwaukee 250 here at the always challenging and fun Milwaukee Mile. Currently joined by David Malukas, once again, in the No. 4 Clariance Technologies Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Enterprises with his second front row start of 2025, fourth time he’s started second in his career. Right before you sat down you thought that was a perfect lap you had, eh? DAVID MALUKAS: They were two beautiful laps. I crossed that line, I wasn’t even looking at the time and I knew it was fast. Sometimes you just know it’s going to be good, and I crossed, and I was like, that was really beautiful. I really think that’s going to be the one. I just had to wait until the end, and I saw him come out of 4, and I was like, oh, no, I was like put the ghost thing in there; I think he’s got it on this one. I saw the ghost, and I was like, yeah. It’s still good. Going to be on the front row again here at Milwaukee. We have a good race car. We’ll see what we can do. Q. I was going to ask about the race car. Obviously you feel good — DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, this afternoon is going to be kind of all the answers. It’s just all so unfortunate because I was behind Palou in practice and he was so fast on passing people. It was like, man, this is — I feel like this happened — where was it, Iowa? A race earlier this year where it was just me and Palou in the front and just battling him again. It’s going to be a little bit like that again to start, and then obviously the beautiful chaos of Milwaukee is going to unfold and we’ll see where we end up after all of that. It’s going to be a good race. We have some questions to get answered for this practice this afternoon, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to answer them. Q. Is there any secret or key to what’s important to make a good lap here? And your teammate, how identical are the setups? DAVID MALUKAS: You know, when it comes to setups with every single driver, everybody has their own preferences and they vary drastically. It’s very different, and we’re very much on different wavelengths on where we want the car. It’s hard to say from our perspective. It’s a different story. When it comes to being quick here, it’s a short time. You have one practice session and you’re going straight go qualifying, and it’s about carrying momentum and finding the best line that works for you. I think out of the qualifyings that you’ll see on ovals, this is the track that differs the most on what lines people do use. You’ll see some people going in on that lower line, some people going high and some people try and find something that works more in the middle, and it depends on what car is best on what line. Q. The warmup lap you had the fastest, I think. Do you think you went a little faster? DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, (indiscernible) warmup 2 was (indiscernible) I was the fastest. It just goes into strategy on what we were thinking with tire deg. The tire deg is so bad, you can actually feel it within the few laps that we do in qualifying. I think people were on different strategies in warmup and maybe trying to save some tires, but from our perspective we kind of wanted to go more full push from the beginning. Q. Just talk about how chaotic this race is more than likely to be. Seems like 40 laps is the stint, tires are going to drop off. Walk us through what you expect coming up tomorrow. DAVID MALUKAS: It’s going to be a tire deg race, and it’s going to be a lot of fun. From a viewing standpoint, the car when you put new tires on and you’re going out and doing some undercuts, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a fantastic race, and honestly, it’s one of those races that you don’t know where we’re going to be at until we get a yellow or until the race finishes, and we’re just going to go out there and try to be as fast as we can and try to pass as many people as we can. Q. I know qualifying really seems to have been your big strength this year. What has clicked over one lap, and conversely, how do you start converting that into more race results? DAVID MALUKAS: 100 percent. Going into the season, we’ve made gains from the start. We’ve learned so much. Like I said, it’s a younger crew, and I myself am 23. There’s a lot that I’m learning. We’ve found a very good car when it comes to qualifying, and for road courses as well that one-lap pace and for qualifying here — we’ve had a lot of success in qualifying this season. It’s more just trying to focus on the road courses, on the races especially. There’s a lot of answers that we still need to work on. We have a long off-season, so we’ll make sure to get those answers and figure it out, but from our side we’re very happy. If we look at where we were at the start of the season, it’s been a drastic change. Q. What are some of the big things you feel you have learned across the year? DAVID MALUKAS: Just a street course car (indiscernible) massive gains. We’ve been competitive in (indiscernible). That was the one thing we were struggling the most on, and we made drastic changes in qualifying. The last thing is just trying to figure out our race pace. I think that’s the last puzzle to kind of complete everything, and then we can start fine tuning some things here and there and be competitive. Q. The most important question, are Dorking in the Premier League yet? DAVID MALUKAS: Still not. I’ve been trying so hard. I’m literally mid world championship trying to survive. I’m not going to lie, the championship is very difficult. I am struggling. But I have really good players on there, but they’re just — one has a good season performance and then the next season I’m trying to talk with them and trying to praise them and lift them up a little bit. Q. Last year Santino and James Schnabel turned into a really powerful combination. Santino had his best season in INDYCAR. I love seeing what you’re building this year. Speak to that a little bit; where will you go now? The two of you are producing at a pretty high rate. DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, I think off of that point, it goes a lot of kudos to James Schnabel. He’s transformed Ferrucci, transformed me. In a season it’s crazy what performances he’s been able to accomplish and what he’s been able to do. We sat down, had a lot of talks and felt it out. We built that chemistry from a personality standpoint and getting to know each other and learning what I want from the car, and he’s done an incredible job understanding what I’m needing and giving that to me. Like I said, if I look back at the start of the season St. Pete and just — the first three months, it’s crazy how different things were. We were struggling to even make the top 10 in qualifying, and now we’ve had some Fast Six performances and now we’re here again on the front row at Milwaukee. It’s kudos to James. |
 Chevrolet wins at the Milwaukee Mile: 112024 Race #2 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske2024 Race #1 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren2015 – Sebastien Bourdais – KV Racing Technology2014 – Will Power – Team Penske2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global2012 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Al Unser Jr. – Galles Racing1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1981 Race #1 – Mike Mosley – All-American Racers Chevrolet poles at the Milwaukee Mile: 9 2024 Race #2 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske2024 Race #1 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske2015 – Josef Newgarden – Ed Carpenter Racing2014 – Will Power – Team Penske2013 – Marco Andretti – Andretti Global1992 – Bob Rahal – Rahal Hogan Racing1991 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1990 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske Chevrolet podiums at the Milwaukee Mile: 32 Chevrolet podiums at the Milwaukee Mile by driver: Emerson Fittipaldi (3), Rick Mears (3), Will Power (3), Michael Andretti (2), Helio Castroneves (2), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2), Tony Kanaan (2), John Andretti (1), Mario Andretti (1), Sebastien Bourdais (1), Scott Brayton (1) Conor Daly (1), James Hinchcliffe (1), Scott McLaughlin (1), Juan Montoya (1), Mike Mosley (1), Pato O’Ward (1), Bob Rahal (1), Eddie Sachs (1), Tomas Scheckter (1), Danny Sullivan (1), Al Unser Jr. (1) Chevrolet podiums at the Milwaukee Mile by team: Team Penske (13), Andretti Global (3), Newman Haas Racing (3), KV Racing Technology (2), All-American Racers (1), Arrow McLaren (1), Chip Ganassi Racing (1), Dick Simon Racing (1), Galles Racing (1), Hall-VDS Racing (1), Juncos Hollinger Racing (1), Panther Racing (1), Patrick Racing (1), Rahal Hogan Racing (1), and Walter Meskowski (1). Chevrolet laps led at the Milwaukee Mile: 2225 Chevrolet laps led at the Milwaukee Mile by driver: Michael Andretti (229), Scott McLaughlin (165), Al Unser Jr. (156), Ryan Hunter-Reay (149), Pato O’Ward (133), Sebastien Bourdais (118), Josef Newgarden (113), Mario Andretti (93), Emerson Fittipaldi (69), Marco Andretti (61), Paul Tracy (55), Helio Castroneves (50), Alexander Rossi (46), Mike Mosley (45), Don Davis (39), EJ Viso (37), Bob Rahal (20), Tony Kanaan (17), Santino Ferrucci (6), Scott Dixon (5), Scott Goodyear (4), Juan Montoya (4), Ed Carpenter (3), Danny Sullivan (2), Gary Bettenhausen (1), Mike Groff (1), James Hinchcliffe (1) Chevrolet laps led at the Milwaukee Mile by team: Team Penske (965), Newman Haas Racing (322), Andretti Global (221), Arrow McLaren (179), KV Racing Technology (145), Ed Carpenter Racing (112), Galles Racing (74), Patrick Racing (69), All-American Racers (45), Racing Associates (39), Chip Ganassi Racing (22), Rahal Hogan Racing (21), A.J. Foyt Racing (6), Walker Racing (4), Grant King Racers (1) Manufacturer History at the Milwaukee Mile Wins (with competition): 49- Offenhauser (1976 #1, 1975 #2, 1974 #2, 1974 #1, 1973 #2, 1973 #1, 1972 #2, 1972 #1, 1971 #2, 1969 #1, 1968 #2, 1968 #1, 1965 # 3, 1964 #1, 1963 #1, 1962 #2, 1962 #1, 1961 #2, 1961 #1, 1961 #2, 1961 #1, 1960 #2, 1960 #1, 959 #2, 1959 #1, 1958 #2, 1958 #1, 1957 #2, 1957 #1, 1956 #2, 1956 #1, 1955 #2, !955 #1, 1954 #2, 1954 #1, 1953 #2, 1953 #2, 1952 #2, 1952 #1, 1951 #2, 1951 #1, 1950 #2, 1950 #1, 1949 #2, 1949 #1, 1948 #3, 1948 #2, 1948 #1, 1947 #3, 1939)17 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982 #2, 1982 #1, 1981 #2, 1980 #2, 1980 #1, 1979 #2, 1979 #1, 1978 #2, 1978 #1, 1978 #2, 1978 #1, 1977 #2, 1977 #1, 1976 #2)17 – Ford (2001, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1992, 1971 #1, 1970 #2, 1970 #1, 1969 #2, 1967 #2, 1967 #1, 1966 #2, 1966 #1, 1965 #2, 1965 #1, 1963 #2)11 – Chevrolet (2024 #2, 2024 #1, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1981 #1)4 – Honda (2004 IRL, 2002, 1999, 1998)2 – Toyota (2005 IRL)2 – Winfield (1946, 1941)1 – Foyt (1975 #1)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Lencki (1947 #2)1 – Mercedes (1997) |
| CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIESSnap-on Milwaukee Mile 2501.015-mile Milwaukee Mile short ovalMilwaukee, WisconsinQualifying ReportAugust 23 A solid day of qualifying for Team Chevy at the Milwaukee Mile saw drivers wearing the Bowtie nail down seven of the top ten spots on the grid for Sunday’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250. David Malukas in the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Clarience Technologies Chevrolet just missed out on his first career pole, with Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 Sonsio Vehicle Protection Team Penske Chevrolet, Will Power in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Snap-On Team Penske Chevrolet, Conor Daly in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet and Christian Rasmussen in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Splenda Stevia Chevrolet joining him in the top ten. As the 18th of 27 drivers to attempt to qualify on the historic 1.015-mile Milwaukee Mile short oval, Malukas survived two lap efforts by eight drivers, including those who qualified 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th, before 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou, the last driver to qualify, grabbed his sixth pole of the season. Malukas, who is still looking for his first career pole, will start on the outside of the front row for the fourth time in his career, including the first race at the Milwaukee Mile in 2024. The 23-year-old from nearby Chicago, Illinois, has a huge family and friends contingent with him this weekend, including his middle school teacher. O’Ward, a winner at ‘The Mile’ last year, will start from the first two rows for the third race in a row and the sixth time this year. McLaughlin, the other 2024 winner in Milwaukee, will start beside O’Ward, which is also his sixth start in the first two rows this season. Newgarden, who will start seventh after Scott Dixon receives a grid penalty for changing an engine early, led the practice before the qualifying with a best lap of 161.066 mph. Four of the six fastest drivers were Chevrolet-powered. After just missing out on his first pole, Malukas was once again second quickest in final practice. His best lap speed was 154.871 mph and was one of five Bowtie-powered drivers in the top eight. The Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 will air on FOX and the INDYCAR Radio Network/SIRIUSXM 218 at 2 pm (ET). Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 qualifying results: |
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| Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 Starting Lineup |
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| What They’re Saying David Malukas, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Clarience Technologies Chevrolet qualified 2ndThat was Woohoo! That was on the limit. I am not going to lie! We were right there on the edge of those walls on the exit. Really happy with performance of that. We were doing so much studying in practice trying to learn strategies. I think from a speed perspective, we are right there. That is pretty much as close as we are going to get to maximizing our car, so, we will see what other people are going to do, but I already know that is really a good qualifying run.” Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 3rd:“I feel like I missed a little bit in Turn 1, but this is a great starting position and much better than where we started last year. We’re going to try and double up and fight for a win. I’m really excited to go for it tomorrow.” Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Snap-On Team Penske Chevrolet qualified 8th:“Probably not what we wanted there. I mean, we had a good first run-in practice and didn’t quite have the, probably, the balance we were projecting, on that run. So I I’m not sure how good that’s gonna be, but, you know, the race is a different story. I think we learned a little bit on that first practice on what we need to do for tomorrow. But, you know, the name of the game is keeping the tires underneath you. This this track’s hard on tires, and we gotta go forward. So, proud to have Snap on onboard, Great local company that is a big company in the world and and would like to bring them a good race.” Conor Daly, No. 76 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet qualified 9th:“I had a missed shift out of four, and that is what killed us. I tried to go up to fifth gear, and it never went, so that is what killed us. It’s so bumpy, and it’s just so bumpy. It has nothing to do with other than where I tried to select a gear. That killed it, and that means you start the second lap bad when you end the first lap bad. So that is what it was. “I’m 100 times more confident than I was after first practice last year. We’ve already tried to move to the bottom and figure things out. The deg Is aggressive and that’s good. You are going to see people hating life, and people, even at the front probably upset. It’s who is going to be least upset and I think that it is awesome. I think we are in for s good race.” Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Splenda Stevia Chevrolet qualified 10th:“Massive applause to the ECR Splenda Stevia crew here! That was a big turnaround from practice where we really struggled for speed. We found a lot here for qualifying! Really happy with that strong run.” Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Java House Chevrolet qualified 13th: “We didn’t have the same balance we had this morning, so we’ll need to look into that. Fortunately, this is one of the only oval races of the year where qualifying doesn’t matter quite as much. It will be an important final practice session this afternoon.” Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 17th:“Honestly, the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet felt good during Qualifying, but it felt like it was under-driven. I think there’s much more pace in the car. I think it’s a good race car, most importantly, and we know you don’t score the big points on Saturdays.” Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet qualified 18th:“I didn’t feel like we had the speed there. I feel like when we have rolled off with that, the results have been there, this time it isn’t. So, we kind of just rolled off slow. It’s not a balance problem really, we just don’t have the grip to do what other cars are doing. Not entirely sure why, but we will work on it. We will see what happens in final practice.” Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Holliger Racing Chevrolet qualified 19th:“Turn one was a little too comfortable. I think that I pushed a little bit too much on our warm-up lap, which, like, that’s kinda crazy to say, but, you know, I think that there’s still a good bit of time in there I think I have a great car underneath me. I’m okay with that session, but we are gonna have a good race.” Robert Shwartzman, No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet qualified 21st:“We tried something different with the setup ahead of qualifying to try and find some speed, and unfortunately, it did not work out as hoped. This leaves us towards the back of the order for the race on Sunday. It is important that we make the most of the session after qualifying to find the best racecar for us to move forward.” Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Phoenix Investors Chevrolet qualified 23rd“I think we kind of just missed the setup. I missed something with the gearing as well, just on my side; I think I should have been holding fifth gear instead of downshifting twice. I think there’s just a couple of small things. I don’t think we had, obviously the pace of our teammate, but we have better pace than where we qualified. So, we’re gonna make some changes, see if we can’t fix the balance for the race and pass some cars tomorrow.”Callum Ilott, No, 90 PREMA Racing Chevrolet qualified 25th:“We tried something different with the setup ahead of qualifying to try and find some speed, and unfortunately, it did not work out as hoped. This leaves us towards the back of the order for the race on Sunday. It is important that we make the most of the session after qualifying to find the best racecar for us to move forward.” |
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| NTT INDYCAR SERIES News ConferenceSaturday, August 23, 2025David MalukasPress Conference THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up qualifying ahead of tomorrow’s Snap-on Milwaukee 250 here at the always challenging and fun Milwaukee Mile. Currently joined by David Malukas, once again, in the No. 4 Clariance Technologies Chevrolet for AJ Foyt Enterprises with his second front row start of 2025, fourth time he’s started second in his career. Right before you sat down you thought that was a perfect lap you had, eh? DAVID MALUKAS: They were two beautiful laps. I crossed that line, I wasn’t even looking at the time and I knew it was fast. Sometimes you just know it’s going to be good, and I crossed, and I was like, that was really beautiful. I really think that’s going to be the one. I just had to wait until the end, and I saw him come out of 4, and I was like, oh, no, I was like put the ghost thing in there; I think he’s got it on this one. I saw the ghost, and I was like, yeah. It’s still good. Going to be on the front row again here at Milwaukee. We have a good race car. We’ll see what we can do. Q. I was going to ask about the race car. Obviously you feel good — DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, this afternoon is going to be kind of all the answers. It’s just all so unfortunate because I was behind Palou in practice and he was so fast on passing people. It was like, man, this is — I feel like this happened — where was it, Iowa? A race earlier this year where it was just me and Palou in the front and just battling him again. It’s going to be a little bit like that again to start, and then obviously the beautiful chaos of Milwaukee is going to unfold and we’ll see where we end up after all of that. It’s going to be a good race. We have some questions to get answered for this practice this afternoon, and I’m pretty sure we’ll be able to answer them. Q. Is there any secret or key to what’s important to make a good lap here? And your teammate, how identical are the setups? DAVID MALUKAS: You know, when it comes to setups with every single driver, everybody has their own preferences and they vary drastically. It’s very different, and we’re very much on different wavelengths on where we want the car. It’s hard to say from our perspective. It’s a different story. When it comes to being quick here, it’s a short time. You have one practice session and you’re going straight go qualifying, and it’s about carrying momentum and finding the best line that works for you. I think out of the qualifyings that you’ll see on ovals, this is the track that differs the most on what lines people do use. You’ll see some people going in on that lower line, some people going high and some people try and find something that works more in the middle, and it depends on what car is best on what line. Q. The warmup lap you had the fastest, I think. Do you think you went a little faster? DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, (indiscernible) warmup 2 was (indiscernible) I was the fastest. It just goes into strategy on what we were thinking with tire deg. The tire deg is so bad, you can actually feel it within the few laps that we do in qualifying. I think people were on different strategies in warmup and maybe trying to save some tires, but from our perspective we kind of wanted to go more full push from the beginning. Q. Just talk about how chaotic this race is more than likely to be. Seems like 40 laps is the stint, tires are going to drop off. Walk us through what you expect coming up tomorrow. DAVID MALUKAS: It’s going to be a tire deg race, and it’s going to be a lot of fun. From a viewing standpoint, the car when you put new tires on and you’re going out and doing some undercuts, it’s going to be fun. It’s going to be a fantastic race, and honestly, it’s one of those races that you don’t know where we’re going to be at until we get a yellow or until the race finishes, and we’re just going to go out there and try to be as fast as we can and try to pass as many people as we can. Q. I know qualifying really seems to have been your big strength this year. What has clicked over one lap, and conversely, how do you start converting that into more race results? DAVID MALUKAS: 100 percent. Going into the season, we’ve made gains from the start. We’ve learned so much. Like I said, it’s a younger crew, and I myself am 23. There’s a lot that I’m learning. We’ve found a very good car when it comes to qualifying, and for road courses as well that one-lap pace and for qualifying here — we’ve had a lot of success in qualifying this season. It’s more just trying to focus on the road courses, on the races especially. There’s a lot of answers that we still need to work on. We have a long off-season, so we’ll make sure to get those answers and figure it out, but from our side we’re very happy. If we look at where we were at the start of the season, it’s been a drastic change. Q. What are some of the big things you feel you have learned across the year? DAVID MALUKAS: Just a street course car (indiscernible) massive gains. We’ve been competitive in (indiscernible). That was the one thing we were struggling the most on, and we made drastic changes in qualifying. The last thing is just trying to figure out our race pace. I think that’s the last puzzle to kind of complete everything, and then we can start fine tuning some things here and there and be competitive. Q. The most important question, are Dorking in the Premier League yet? DAVID MALUKAS: Still not. I’ve been trying so hard. I’m literally mid world championship trying to survive. I’m not going to lie, the championship is very difficult. I am struggling. But I have really good players on there, but they’re just — one has a good season performance and then the next season I’m trying to talk with them and trying to praise them and lift them up a little bit. Q. Last year Santino and James Schnabel turned into a really powerful combination. Santino had his best season in INDYCAR. I love seeing what you’re building this year. Speak to that a little bit; where will you go now? The two of you are producing at a pretty high rate. DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, I think off of that point, it goes a lot of kudos to James Schnabel. He’s transformed Ferrucci, transformed me. In a season it’s crazy what performances he’s been able to accomplish and what he’s been able to do. We sat down, had a lot of talks and felt it out. We built that chemistry from a personality standpoint and getting to know each other and learning what I want from the car, and he’s done an incredible job understanding what I’m needing and giving that to me. Like I said, if I look back at the start of the season St. Pete and just — the first three months, it’s crazy how different things were. We were struggling to even make the top 10 in qualifying, and now we’ve had some Fast Six performances and now we’re here again on the front row at Milwaukee. It’s kudos to James. |
| Chevrolet wins at the Milwaukee Mile: 11 2024 Race #2 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske2024 Race #1 – Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren2015 – Sebastien Bourdais – KV Racing Technology2014 – Will Power – Team Penske2013 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global2012 – Ryan Hunter-Reay – Andretti Global1991 – Michael Andretti – Newman Haas Racing1990 – Al Unser Jr. – Galles Racing1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1988 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1981 Race #1 – Mike Mosley – All-American Racers Chevrolet poles at the Milwaukee Mile: 9 2024 Race #2 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske2024 Race #1 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske2015 – Josef Newgarden – Ed Carpenter Racing2014 – Will Power – Team Penske2013 – Marco Andretti – Andretti Global1992 – Bob Rahal – Rahal Hogan Racing1991 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1990 – Rick Mears – Team Penske1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske Chevrolet podiums at the Milwaukee Mile: 32 Chevrolet podiums at the Milwaukee Mile by driver: Emerson Fittipaldi (3), Rick Mears (3), Will Power (3), Michael Andretti (2), Helio Castroneves (2), Ryan Hunter-Reay (2), Tony Kanaan (2), John Andretti (1), Mario Andretti (1), Sebastien Bourdais (1), Scott Brayton (1) Conor Daly (1), James Hinchcliffe (1), Scott McLaughlin (1), Juan Montoya (1), Mike Mosley (1), Pato O’Ward (1), Bob Rahal (1), Eddie Sachs (1), Tomas Scheckter (1), Danny Sullivan (1), Al Unser Jr. (1) Chevrolet podiums at the Milwaukee Mile by team: Team Penske (13), Andretti Global (3), Newman Haas Racing (3), KV Racing Technology (2), All-American Racers (1), Arrow McLaren (1), Chip Ganassi Racing (1), Dick Simon Racing (1), Galles Racing (1), Hall-VDS Racing (1), Juncos Hollinger Racing (1), Panther Racing (1), Patrick Racing (1), Rahal Hogan Racing (1), and Walter Meskowski (1). Chevrolet laps led at the Milwaukee Mile: 2225 Chevrolet laps led at the Milwaukee Mile by driver: Michael Andretti (229), Scott McLaughlin (165), Al Unser Jr. (156), Ryan Hunter-Reay (149), Pato O’Ward (133), Sebastien Bourdais (118), Josef Newgarden (113), Mario Andretti (93), Emerson Fittipaldi (69), Marco Andretti (61), Paul Tracy (55), Helio Castroneves (50), Alexander Rossi (46), Mike Mosley (45), Don Davis (39), EJ Viso (37), Bob Rahal (20), Tony Kanaan (17), Santino Ferrucci (6), Scott Dixon (5), Scott Goodyear (4), Juan Montoya (4), Ed Carpenter (3), Danny Sullivan (2), Gary Bettenhausen (1), Mike Groff (1), James Hinchcliffe (1) Chevrolet laps led at the Milwaukee Mile by team: Team Penske (965), Newman Haas Racing (322), Andretti Global (221), Arrow McLaren (179), KV Racing Technology (145), Ed Carpenter Racing (112), Galles Racing (74), Patrick Racing (69), All-American Racers (45), Racing Associates (39), Chip Ganassi Racing (22), Rahal Hogan Racing (21), A.J. Foyt Racing (6), Walker Racing (4), Grant King Racers (1) Manufacturer History at the Milwaukee Mile Wins (with competition): 49- Offenhauser (1976 #1, 1975 #2, 1974 #2, 1974 #1, 1973 #2, 1973 #1, 1972 #2, 1972 #1, 1971 #2, 1969 #1, 1968 #2, 1968 #1, 1965 # 3, 1964 #1, 1963 #1, 1962 #2, 1962 #1, 1961 #2, 1961 #1, 1961 #2, 1961 #1, 1960 #2, 1960 #1, 959 #2, 1959 #1, 1958 #2, 1958 #1, 1957 #2, 1957 #1, 1956 #2, 1956 #1, 1955 #2, !955 #1, 1954 #2, 1954 #1, 1953 #2, 1953 #2, 1952 #2, 1952 #1, 1951 #2, 1951 #1, 1950 #2, 1950 #1, 1949 #2, 1949 #1, 1948 #3, 1948 #2, 1948 #1, 1947 #3, 1939)17 – Cosworth (1987, 1986, 1985, 1984, 1983, 1982 #2, 1982 #1, 1981 #2, 1980 #2, 1980 #1, 1979 #2, 1979 #1, 1978 #2, 1978 #1, 1978 #2, 1978 #1, 1977 #2, 1977 #1, 1976 #2)17 – Ford (2001, 1996, 1995, 1993, 1992, 1971 #1, 1970 #2, 1970 #1, 1969 #2, 1967 #2, 1967 #1, 1966 #2, 1966 #1, 1965 #2, 1965 #1, 1963 #2)11 – Chevrolet (2024 #2, 2024 #1, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1981 #1)4 – Honda (2004 IRL, 2002, 1999, 1998)2 – Toyota (2005 IRL)2 – Winfield (1946, 1941)1 – Foyt (1975 #1)1 – Ilmor (1994)1 – Lencki (1947 #2)1 – Mercedes (1997) |
Marks raced against Zilisch in Trans Am competition and watched the youngster at the Trackhouse Motorplex go-kart track in North Carolina. Since signing Zilisch to the developmental program, he has gotten to know Zilisch as a driver and as a person “Connor is a rare talent that comes along every few decades,” said Marks. “I have watched Connor grow from a kid racing go-karts at the Trackhouse Motorplex to an up-close seat as he beat all of us in the Trans Am races a few years ago. He quickly adapted to everything we have put him in, and what he is doing with JR Motorsports in Xfinity this season is historic.“Connor is very mature, poised, and I know ready for Cup racing in 2026. He’s been mentored along the way by former racer Josh Wise and Dr. Eric Warren at General Motors. I can speak for everyone at Trackhouse Racing when I say we have a tremendous amount of faith in this young man.”
DILLON EXPANDS TEAM CHEVY PLAYOFF LINEUP Austin Dillon proved he knows how to wrangle Richmond Raceway once again – driving his No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet to the victory and a spot back into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs. The victory was backed by a strong night overall for the team – highlighted by a race-high 54 points accumulated. The 35-year-old Welcome, North Carolina, native extended Chevrolet’s playoff berths to a series-leading six with representation by three different organizations. Joining the Richard Childress Racing driver with a guaranteed postseason position includes Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott, as well as Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen. 
BYRON BRINGS HOME REGULAR SEASON TITLEHendrick Motorsports’ William Byron has checked yet another box in his young career – earning the title as the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Regular Season Champion. The title came one week early for Byron and the No. 24 Chevrolet team after building a 68-point lead over Chase Elliott in the penultimate race of the regular season at Richmond Raceway last weekend. The 27-year-old Charlotte, North Carolina, native solidified his title hopes right out of the gate by earning his second consecutive crown in the 2025 DAYTONA 500. Byron claimed the points lead for the first time just three races into the season at Circuit of The Americas and has since held the top position for 20 of the 25 races. The Hendrick Motorsports driver is one of five repeat winners in the series thus far this season, with Byron making his second trip to victory lane at Iowa Speedway earlier this month. The 2025 season will mark Byron’s seventh consecutive appearance in the Cup Series Playoffs, also entering the postseason with momentum from back-to-back appearances in the Championship Four. 
THREE-TO-GO IN XFINITY SERIES REGULAR SEASON The regular season for the NASCAR Xfinity Series is still in full swing with this weekend starting the three-race countdown to the start of its postseason competition. Building onto an already impressive rookie campaign, Team Chevy’s Connor Zilisch collected his series-leading sixth win at Watkins Glen International two weeks ago – bringing Chevrolet’s win total to 20 with 23 races complete. The series has seen eight full-time competitors win their way into an early playoff berth, including six drivers from three different Chevrolet organizations. Joining Zilisch includes defending Daytona winner, Jesse Love, who earned the first ticket into the postseason with his win in the series’ season-opener at the “World Center of Racing”. 
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 25 NASCAR Cup Series races complete:
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 23 NASCAR Xfinity Series races complete:
Chevrolet’s season statistics with 18 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races complete: