IndyCar Milwaukee
Christian Rasmussen steals maiden IndyCar win after late weather caution
A quick call for new tires paid off as Rasmussen delivered a thrilling final stint to claim victory
Aaron Bearden
Edited: Aug 25, 2025, 5:29 AM
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Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, Will Power, Team Penske
Photo by: Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
A spot of rain on a sunny day made all the difference for Christian Rasmussen at the Milwaukee Mile. Rasmussen came to pit road for a fresh tires after brief rain brought out a caution with 42 laps remaining and chased down a dominant Alex Palou over a final 28-lap run to score his first NTT IndyCar Series victory in the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250.
“Wow,” an overjoyed Rasmussen said after the race. “That’s a good Sunday.”
The Danish driver was running eighth when the caution first flew and sat sixth when the green finally came out 14 laps later. But he quickly surged forward when the final run began. Rasmussen was up to fourth with 25 to go, sneaking ahead of teammate Alexander Rossi to lead all drivers with fresh rubber. He passed Josef Newgarden for third a lap later, surged past Scott McLaughlin for second with 21 laps remaining and quickly chased Palou down.
By the time Rasmussen had caught the 2025 champ with 16 laps remaining, there was little doubt over what was to come. The 25-year-old jumped to Palou’s outside going into turn 3, survived a tense half-lap battle and marched off to a memorable victory for Ed Carpenter Racing.
“Today was amazing,” Rasmussen said. “We were talking about (it) before the race, that if there’s a late caution, then we want to go on new tires. Because it’s such an advantage. There was more people that did it than I thought there would (be) in that last stint, but it was definitely the right choice. We were so good on new tires, even compared to other cars on new tires.“
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing
Photo by: Penske Entertainment
Palou was the dominant driver on the day, but had to settle for second after taking the checkered flag 1.9463s behind Rasmussen. He’ll fall at least one victory short of matching A.J. Foyt and Al Unser Sr. for IndyCar’s single-season win record.
Scott McLaughlin held onto third to score his first podium since Barber Motorsports Park in May. Rossi and Pato O'Ward completed the top-five, with Christian Lundgaard, Josef Newgarden, David Malukas, Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstrong wrapping up the top 10.
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images
The race was stalled out by a pair of early cautions, first for a crashing Nolan Siegel on the opening lap and again when Graham Rahal all-but-crashed on the lap 10 restart.
Those early slowdowns opened the door for a three-stop pit strategy, but significant tire wear left everyone planning for at least four stops over Sunday’s 250 laps. Rossi kicked off the first pit sequence before the race hit lap 50. Stops began again on lap 102 and again every time another 50 laps passed.
David Malukas, A. J. Foyt Enterprises, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Photo by: Geoff Miller / Lumen via Getty Images
For the bulk of the time, it looked like Palou would march off to another comfortable win, particularly after the last scheduled set of stops entering the race’s final 50 laps. But a little fateful rain and some late heroics helped Rasmussen etch his name into the list of IndyCar oval winners.
With Milwaukee complete, just one race remains in the 2025 IndyCar season. The campaign will wrap up next Sunday (Aug. 31), when the series ventures to Nashville Superspeedway for the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix.
Photos from Milwaukee - Race
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
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Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
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Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
Milwaukee - Sunday, in photos
IndyCar
48
Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info
1
-
4
Main Information Additional Data
1
-
2
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval Mph Pits Points Retirement 1
C. Rasmussen Ed Carpenter Racing
21 250
2:02'08.1735
124.656 4 51 2 A. Palou Chip Ganassi Racing 10 250
+1.9463
2:02'10.1198
1.9463 124.623 4 44 3 S. McLaughlin Team Penske 3 250
+10.6611
2:02'18.8346
8.7148 124.475 4 35 4 A. Rossi Ed Carpenter Racing 20 250
+11.4582
2:02'19.6317
0.7971 124.461 5 32 5 P. O'Ward Arrow McLaren 5 250
+12.0829
2:02'20.2564
0.6247 124.451 5 30 6 C. Lundgaard Arrow McLaren 7 250
+12.8287
2:02'21.0022
0.7458 124.438 5 28 7 J. Newgarden Team Penske 2 250
+14.4043
2:02'22.5778
1.5756 124.411 4 26 8 D. Malukas A.J. Foyt Enterprises 4 250
+15.0925
2:02'23.2660
0.6882 124.400 5 25 9 S. Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 9 250
+15.6486
2:02'23.8221
0.5561 124.390 5 22 10 M. Armstrong Meyer Shank Racing 66 250
+16.4456
2:02'24.6191
0.7970 124.377 4 21 11 C. Herta Andretti Global 26 250
+16.8168
2:02'24.9903
0.3712 124.370 5 19 12 K. Kirkwood Andretti Global 27 250
+17.8815
2:02'26.0550
1.0647 124.352 5 18 13 C. Daly Juncos Hollinger Racing 76 250
+19.0209
2:02'27.1944
1.1394 124.333 5 17 14 S. Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises 14 250
+19.8603
2:02'28.0338
0.8394 124.319 5 16 15 R. van Kalmthout Dale Coyne Racing 18 250
+20.2184
2:02'28.3919
0.3581 124.313 5 15 16 D. DeFrancesco Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 30 250
+22.9954
2:02'31.1689
2.7770 124.266 5 14 17
L. Foster Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
45 249
+1 Lap
2:02'08.8417
1 Lap 124.146 5 14 18 R. Shwartzman Prema Racing 83 249
+1 Lap
2:02'17.7622
8.9205 123.995 4 12 19 M. Ericsson Andretti Global 28 249
+1 Lap
2:02'19.0937
1.3315 123.973 4 11 20 K. Simpson Chip Ganassi Racing 8 249
+1 Lap
2:02'31.0458
11.9521 123.771 5 10 21
J. Abel Dale Coyne Racing
50 248
+2 Laps
2:02'09.6193
1 Lap 123.634 5 9 22 F. Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing 60 248
+2 Laps
2:02'11.2425
1.6232 123.607 5 9 23
R. Robb Sting Juncos Hollinger Racing
77 248
+2 Laps
2:02'34.5198
23.2773 123.216 5 7 24 G. Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 15 247
+3 Laps
2:02'14.6791
1 Lap 123.051 5 6 25 C. Ilott Prema Racing 90 138
+112 Laps
1:08'54.0868
109 Laps 121.974 2 5 Mechanical 26 W. Power Team Penske 12 102
+148 Laps
48'22.0696
36 Laps 128.428 2 5 Accident 27
N. Siegel Arrow McLaren
6 0
+250 Laps
1.8498
102 Laps 5 Accident View full results
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