What to watch at the Milwaukee Mile besides the title fight

There is a massive title fight brewing at the Snap-on INDYCAR Weekend doubleheader at the Milwaukee Mile, but the championship battle featuring Alex Palou isn't the only story in town. The paddock is buzzing with plenty of other burning questions as Friday through Sunday action approaches at the historic venue.

For Curt Cavin, all eyes lock onto Christian Lundgaard. The three-time series race winner finds himself needing to silence doubts regarding his oval-track pace as talks swirl around his future seat. Arrow McLaren's primary goal for the 2027 season is to win the Indianapolis 500, leading Zak Brown and Tony Kanaan to assemble a lineup of former Indy winners Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist alongside Pato O'Ward, leaving Lundgaard as the odd man out. Thankfully, the Milwaukee Mile offers an opportune backdrop for him to turn the tide. His history at the track includes three of his best oval results, featuring ninth and 12th-place finishes in the 2024 doubleheader alongside a career-best oval finish of sixth place last year. A legitimate run at victory this weekend could convince team owners he has the all-around speed they are looking to sign.

Eric Smith turns his attention toward none other than Scott Dixon. The six-time series champion sits 12th in the championship and 86 points behind Josef Newgarden for sixth, remaining winless so far this season. The stakes are immense: Dixon is looking to extend his series-record winning streak to 22 consecutive seasons while protecting a standard of excellence that has produced 20 straight top-six championship finishes. Aside from 2002 and 2004, Dixon has won at least one race in every single one of his 25 seasons. With the Milwaukee Mile doubleheader and the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca remaining, time is running out. He previously won at Milwaukee in 2009 and at Laguna Seca in 2023, and with his departure from Chip Ganassi Racing for Arrow McLaren looming at season's end, the six-time champion is fighting to go out with one more victory.

Finally, Paul Kelly asks who might emerge as this year's Christian Rasmussen to storm through the field and secure a stunning first career NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory. The most obvious candidate is David Malukas, who has taken three of his five podium finishes in his first season with Team Penske on ovals, echoing the two podiums he previously recorded at World Wide Technology Raceway with Dale Coyne Racing. Malukas is more than overdue for a breakthrough, and the Milwaukee Mile is fertile ground to make it happen. Meanwhile, a sleeper pick for a first win is Marcus Armstrong. The Kiwi is currently mired in a dry spell without a top-10 finish since placing ninth on the short oval at WWTR back in June, but he has previously shown strong oval prowess by placing fifth at Phoenix and fifth in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. There is no better time or place to snap that slump than right now at Milwaukee.