ALEXANDER ROSSI FINISHES 4TH; ECR’S BEST RACE WEEKEND SINCE 2015
RACE RESULTS
1st: CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet
4th: ALEXANDER ROSSI No. 20 Java House Chevrolet
NEXT RACE: Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, August 31 (FOX, 2 p.m. ET)
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet, Finished 1st: “This feels amazing! It’s just a testament to where ECR is going. There’s so much work that’s gone into rebuilding ECR as a great race team this year. This is a great way to end the season. We have one more, but hopefully we can do the same! The No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet crew made the exact right choice to come in and get tires. We even talked about it before the race that if there’s a late caution, we need to go on new tires because it’s such an advantage. Our ovals have been pretty good this year! Wow. This is a good day!”
ED CARPENTER, ECR Co-Owner: “Christian (Rasmussen) is the best there is right now on short ovals. He’s shown it all season long. The late yellow played into his hand and he did an amazing job taking advantage of his new tires and Chevy power. Christian’s a bright star and we knew he had what it takes to win in this series. This feels so good. It’s been a while since we’ve won a race and I am just so happy to make it back to Victory Lane. And then we had Alex (Rossi) in P4 — what a team effort.”
TIM BROYLES, ECR President: “I am really proud of the team effort we put in today! This is a huge day for the whole organization, bringing our cars home in 1st and 4th. Every person on this team has put in so much effort this season to get us back to this level and it’s so great to have this win as a reward. It’s also a big day for our partners, Splenda and Java House — it’s exciting we were able to get them a win in their first year in INDYCAR!”
ALEXANDER ROSSI, NO. 20 JAVA HOUSE CHEVROLET
STARTED: 12TH | FINISHED: 4TH
OF NOTE:
– For the second race in a row, Alexander Rossi earned a Top 5 finish. Two weeks ago at Portland International Raceway, Rossi earned his first Top 5 with ECR, finishing 5th. Today at the short oval of the Milwaukee Mile, he followed that performance with a 4th-place result. It marked the 96th time in his career he has finished inside the Top 10.
– Qualifying yesterday afternoon saw Rossi set a two-lap average of 159.378 mph. While his speed was the 13th-fastest overall, he moved up one position on the starting grid after penalties were issued to other competitors. With the exception of his first green-flag pit stop, Rossi was never outside of the Top 10 from Lap 16 to Lap 250.
– When light rain brought out a yellow flag with less than 40 laps to go, Rossi jumped on the chance to get a fresh set of Firestone Firehawks to finish the race. He brought the No. 20 Java House Chevrolet into the pits on Lap 213, setting himself up for a strong restart on Lap 222. He immediately picked up a position at the green flag, moving up to 4th. Rossi’s teammate and eventual race winner, Christian Rasmussen, passed him on Lap 226, dropping him to 5th, but Rossi was able to pass another competitor to move back into 4th.
– Rossi’s 4th-place finish is a season-best result and his highest since joining ECR. With Rossi in 4th and Rasmussen in 1st, ECR successfully placed two cars in the Top 5 for the first time since finishing 1-2 at Toronto in 2015.
CHRISTIAN RASMUSSEN, NO. 21 SPLENDA STEVIA CHEVROLET
STARTED: 9TH | FINISHED: 1ST
OF NOTE:
– One year ago, Christian Rasmussen made his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES start on a short oval at the Milwaukee Mile. Today, he became a first-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES race winner. Rasmussen raced his way to the front of the field in spectacular fashion, taking the lead with 16 laps to go and never looking back.
– Rasmussen started today’s 250-lap race from 9th, his best starting position of the 2025 season and his highest oval starting position overall. He ran comfortably inside the Top 10 for the first 100 laps of the race. On Lap 118, he was penalized for a pit-lane speed violation and had to take the ensuing restart from the back of the field, putting 24 competitors in front of him. The No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet was back in the Top 10 in less than 40 laps.
– Light sprinkles began to fall across the one-mile oval on Lap 209, despite the sun shining brightly. The moisture was enough to bring out a caution, providing Rasmussen with an opportunity to pit under yellow for a fresh set of tires. When the race went back to green on Lap 222, only six cars stood between Rasmussen and the lead. Within eight laps of the restart, he had chased down race leader and 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou.
– On Lap 235, Rasmussen passed Palou for the lead of the Snap-On Milwaukee Mile 250. He took the checkered flag first, earning his first career INDYCAR win in his 30th start. Rasmussen finished no worse than 8th in any oval race this season, including his first career podium at WWT Raceway earlier in the year. His victory is ECR’s first since May 2021 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
