Christian Rasmussen sensationally won the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250. The Dane fought his way into the top six midway through the race, then made an extra pit stop during the final caution and managed to overtake Alex Palou on fresh tires. Palou dominated the race but finished second, ahead of Scott McLaughlin in third.

Palou holds the lead at the start

After the green flag waved to start the race, polesitter Alex Palou managed to hold the lead, ahead of David Malukas. Meanwhile, Scott McLaughlin, who started fourth, passed Pato O’Ward for third place.

The entire field made it through the first two corners, but things went wrong in Turn 4: Nolan Siegel took too low of a line, got on the throttle too aggressively, spun and hit the wall hard. Siegel was able to get out unhurt, but the race had to be neutralized for the first time.

At the restart, the yellow flag quickly flew again: in Turn 2, Graham Rahal suffered from a slightly ‘loose’ rear end on his #15 car but managed to save it. At that moment, however, race control had already thrown another caution.

Right after the restart, Malukas attacked race leader Palou and managed to pass the reigning champion around the outside in Turn 2. The young American even built a lead of 1.5 seconds, until he caught traffic and lost that advantage. On lap 42, Palou restored order by repassing Malukas for the lead.

During the first round of pit stops, McLaughlin continued his charge by undercutting Malukas and taking over second place. At the front, however, no one had an answer for Palou, who built up a lead of as much as nine seconds!

Trouble for Malukas and Power

Malukas lost even more positions during his second pit stop when the wheel gun on the right front wheel failed, causing the AJ Foyt Racing driver to fall a lap behind.

Just as Palou made his second pit stop, the race was neutralized for the second time. Will Power tried to pass backmarker Kyffin Simpson on the high line but got into the marbles and hit the wall in Turn 2. The Penske driver continued on, only to spin in Turn 3.

At halfway, Palou led comfortably ahead of McLaughlin, while Josef Newgarden managed to pass O’Ward for third place.

On lap 142, the pace car was called out again, this time after Callum Ilott’s Chevrolet engine gave up. Nearly the entire field headed to the pits, except for Marcus Armstrong, who chose an alternative pit strategy and took over the lead.

Armstrong, however, couldn’t enjoy his lead for long: the Meyer Shank Racing driver dropped like a rock through the field after the restart and was already down to seventeenth place a few laps later. This handed the lead back to Palou, who quickly built another gap of several seconds.

Late caution turns the race upside down

Palou seemed to be cruising toward his ninth victory of the season, until raindrops started falling on lap 210. During the ensuing caution, nearly the entire field dove into the pits, but the top three – Palou, McLaughlin and Newgarden – stayed out. As a result, they had to complete the final laps on older tires. O’Ward was running fourth on fresh rubber.

O’Ward, however, couldn’t mount a challenge against the top three, but Christian Rasmussen was able to use his fresh tires to pass both Newgarden and McLaughlin. Once up to second, he still faced a 1.5-second gap to Palou, but he closed it at four-tenths per lap. Within a few laps, he attacked Palou and passed the champion around the outside in Turn 4.

From the moment he took the lead, Rasmussen built a two-second gap over Palou and he went on to claim a stunning first IndyCar victory. Palou finished second, with Scott McLaughlin completing the podium.

Full results of the race on Milwaukee Mile