Inside The Strategic, Physical And Mental Toll Of INDYCAR’s Milwaukee Doubleheader

In Driver’s Eye with James Hinchcliffe, the six-time INDYCAR winner will bring you inside the mind of a racer while breaking down the nuts and bolts of the sport for fans. And then there were two… Two is an important number heading into Milwaukee. Two race weekends left in the 2026 INDYCAR season. Two races at the famed mile-long flat track this weekend. And the No. 2 car is very much the car to beat. Rather than focus on Josef Newgarden’s oval prowess so far in 2026, or how Pato O’Ward, Scott McLaughlin and Christian Rasmussen are recent Milwaukee Mile winners, or that we are nearly done with INDYCAR racing for a while, I want to dig into the doubleheader specifically. Doubleheaders are a massive challenge for teams and drivers alike. Strategically, physically, mentally — both driver and crew get pushed to the limit. Making the double on the fourth consecutive weekend on the road adds another element of wear and tear — both on man and machine. Let’s look deeper into what INDYCAR teams are facing this weekend. Doubleheaders are great value for fans and loved by promoters, but a lot of drivers are lukewarm on the concept at best. The biggest reason that drivers aren’t the biggest fans is the sporting fairness across the season. Allow me to explain. If you happen to have a particularly good car at whatever track is hosting an INDYCAR doubleheader, you’ve automatically got a baked-in competitive advantage for two races. Double the chance to make up some points. To any team that struggles at said track, it feels like an unfair advantage. If I’m Rahal Letterman Lanigan, I want a doubleheader at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course. Andretti Global would love it to be a street track. Team Penske wouldn’t be mad with a short oval. Because of this, no matter where a doubleheader is held, one team will feel elated, and the others will all feel slighted. If every track can’t be a doubleheader, then none should. That’s the position of an inherently competitive group of people! But this is the reality: We have had doubleheaders for a number of years, and they provide tremendous value for fans. I am sure, at some point in the future, INDYCAR will aim not to have any, but for now, it’s the schedule. SURVIVING 250 MILES ON MILWAUKEE’S OVAL — TWICE So how do drivers and teams best cope with such a grueling weekend? While two races on consecutive days is draining for every member of the team, the drivers no doubt have it the worst. I’ve written at length in this column about the physical demands of driving an Indy car. How no power steering and triple-digit temperatures can sap every ounce of energy out of you. After a typical race weekend, a driver has at least four days to recover before getting back behind the wheel. And those first days back in are pretty mild with practice and qualifying. It’s a full week before you are subjected to a race distance again. A full week to rest, rehab, rehydrate and prepare. Following a race like last weekend on the streets of Washington, D.C. — the longest street race we’ve had — drivers will be beat up from the bumps, blistered from the steering wheel and mentally exhausted from not just a long race, but also a long weekend full of extra media and commitments. At Milwaukee, drivers have less than 24 hours to accomplish the same recovery. This track is tough with just nine degrees of banking in the turns. The corners are fast, and the drivers don’t get much rest, given the short straights. Your grip, your shoulders, your neck and core can be burning by the final stint of a race here. You want nothing more than a massage and an ice bath after. A good night’s rest would be nice, too. The latter might be a pipe dream. Especially after an oval race, your adrenaline has been running so high for so long, despite being physically exhausted, it is often hard to sleep the night after a race. At Milwaukee, you have no choice. You’ve got to get fluids in you. You’ve got to rest as best as you can. You’ve got to tend to any ailments that might have popped up in the first race — like oval elbow. When you are turning left 500 times, your right elbow is often thrown into the right side of the tub under the extreme G force, which can bruise and even wear down your skin. It’s not uncommon for drivers to tear off their suits and be greeted by a big red circle on their right arm. I went so far as to build extra padding into the right elbow of my oval suits when I was racing. It helped — but only so much. When you wake up the next morning, all of those sore spots really make themselves known, and you shudder thinking of having to put them through it all again. A huge contributor to how beat you are at the end of a race is how well your car is handling. When the car is hooked up, everything feels easier. You are relaxed, you loosen your grip and you let the car do a big chunk of the work for you. If the team misses the mark on the setup, it is exponentially more physically and mentally draining. The car feels like it’s trying to crash you every lap. You tense up. You grip the wheel tighter. All of those things drain your energy much faster. And with so little practice, if you roll off with a less-than-ideal car, the chances of it being significantly better by the second race are slim. So you’re in for a double dose of torture. THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE FAST: MILWAUKEE Milwaukee is a great place to go racing. Opening in 1903, it’s the oldest racetrack we race on — yes, it predates Indianapolis Motor Speedway — and it’s a unique challenge. Being so flat, it almost feels more like two really fast road-course corners than an oval. Naturally, that means drivers with road-racing backgrounds tend to prefer this place over higher-banked tracks. The corner radii are so tight that the fastest and preferred line is actually about a car width off the bottom of the track. There is also a different pavement on the first lane that doesn’t offer as much grip. To pass on most short ovals, you need to be comfortable going up high. At Milwaukee, you actually need to get the car working down low. It’s not an easy thing to do because the unique track configuration provides a completely different feel, so a setup compromise is needed to be good in both lanes. I always loved racing at Milwaukee. It really feels like you are on the limit in a totally unparalleled way compared with other ovals. The lack of banking means you have less vertical load and more lateral load, throwing you into the right side of your seat so hard you can feel your organs moving in your rib cage. The two lanes lead to some great side-by-side racing, and a good result there always felt extra rewarding. 1 FOR THE ROAD Even with the tough weekend that Alex Palou and his No. 10 team endured in D.C., it’s still their title to lose. But we did see just how big of a swing in points can materialize when one driver wins while their rivals post a DNF. Remember what happened to Palou at Phoenix Raceway in March? He wrecked after only 21 laps and fell to an unusual fifth place in the standings. So, while 91 points is a massive cushion with three rounds to go — the season finale is at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on September 6 — anything can happen at this type of race. If Palou and his No. 10 team struggle in one or both Milwaukee events, his once seemingly guaranteed fifth INDYCAR title in six seasons could slip away. We’re down to the wire, almost at the white flag on the 2026 season, drama in the championship race is brewing. Trust me, you won’t want to miss Saturday’s and Sunday’s races on FOX!