Ryan Hunter-Reaypeat

The Milwaukee Mile offered us some great race action, so much so that it seemed like the cameras couldn't even keep up with it all! As I expected, Ryan Hunter-Reay found himself in DHL Victory Circle once again. I had such a strong feeling that he would win this race, and I know others did, too. On the very first lap, he seemed like he wanted it more than anyone else, diving to the outside and going three-wide on the start of the race. He drove confidently and consistently, and his efforts were rewarded with a repeat win. It was quite the touching moment to see him share his first Father's Day in Victory Lane with his son. Just as Texas seems to be Helio's track, I think RHR has claimed ownership of the Mile. He seems to love it and has had great success there. Last year Milwaukee jumpstarted RHR's run to the championship, and there's no reason to think we won't see more of the same this year. He just might win three or four races in a row.

As for the other drivers, I think some of them are still trying to simmer down! It seemed like almost everyone was upset with lapped traffic, and as you would expect on a mile racetrack, lapped cars were everywhere. Tony Kanaan apologized to Scott Dixon on Twitter, although I'm still not sure what all that fuss was about. I suspect this will be the first topic of discussion in the drivers' meeting at Iowa, which is an even smaller oval and will likely have even more lapped traffic.

Two drivers had their best results of the year, and one driver had about the worst result possible. EJ Viso finished in fourth place, one of three Andretti Autosport drivers in the top five. Viso could very possibly win an award for "Most Improved Driver" this year, as he has shown increased speed and patience. Recall last year Dario Franchitti humorously remarked that Viso had hit everything but the pace car, but now this year Viso has had more success than Dario! Moving to the Andretti team has certainly seemed to benefit EJ.

Will Power finally scored his first podium of the year, and it surprisingly happened on an oval. Coming off of a pole position at Texas and a blistering speed at Indianapolis, Power has had his best results at ovals this year. Maybe he's finally figuring them out, or perhaps he's driving with less pressure because he hasn't had the success everyone expected. Power wanted more than just the podium, though, judging by his breathtakingly daring late move on teammate Helio. I like Power's chances at Pocono, which is sort of a road-coursey oval that plays into his strengths.

And then there was Marco. After a disappointing pit stop where the fueler had trouble getting the hose out, it was evident that this was not Marco's day. Again. Those kinds of mistakes are disastrous on short ovals but Marco had the speed to make up for some lost time. Shortly after this ill-fated pit stop, however, the car experienced some electrical problems. Fortunately the crew worked to get the car back on the track and he was able to finish in 20th position, scoring a few more points in the process, but overall his championship chances took a big hit in Milwaukee. Marco has had success at Iowa in the past, winning in 2011 (at what I called the best race of that year) so he can definitely turn things around. It seems like we've been saying it's Marco's turn on every oval we've been to this year. Eventually a win has to come, right?

Takuma Sato had an impressive race as well, but it appeared to me that he went too hard too fast once he had the lead, and his tires suffered as a result. Sato likes to drive aggressively, which can sometimes pay off, but in this case that aggression was not rewarded. Once his tires started to wear, his car got loose and almost wound up in the wall. He did well to save it and finish seventh overall.

A lot of pre- and post-race talk centered around Graham Rahal, who has had a very disappointing year after a second-place finish at Long Beach. He has not had the speed nor the performance. Expectations were high for Rahal this year, maybe too high. It's difficult to know where to place the blame for his lack of success, and I've read conflicting viewpoints on the subject. Some believe Rahal is not clicking with his engineer. Some believe the team erred by trying to use Sato's setups from last year, not recognizing the different driving styles of the two men. And still others believe Rahal is an overrated driver who should be doing better. Think what you want, but a year of growing pains with a new team should be somewhat expected. The question is, how long will Dad and team wait before making drastic changes? Or will they just continue to ride the storm?

Other Random Race Notes:
Once again Chevy dominated the top spots, sweeping the podium and the top five, with Dixon being the highest-placing Honda.....Ganassi is still without a win, but the team seems to be getting closer to one each week....Looked like a great crowd, which bodes well for future IndyFests....Welcome back, NBC Sports Network, and thank you for reminding us how a race should be covered on live TV!