Oval skills lead de Alba to podium at Milwaukee Mile
A busy stretch of races for Andretti Cape INDY NXT continued on the Labor Day weekend with a visit to the historic Milwaukee Mile speedway. After not racing on the 1.015-mile course for nine years, the INDY NXT by Firestone series returned and gave a new group of teams and young drivers a chance to compete on the oval.
Salvador de Alba was behind the wheel of the #2 machine once again and placed the Grupo Indi entry sixth on the grid in Saturday’s qualifying. The team maintained high morale after the run, which was completed at an average speed of 150.079 MPH, because de Alba has shown before that making up places on the banking is his specialty.
Just two short hours after qualifying concluded, the green flags waved for the main event. de Alba got a great start and pulled to the outside line into Turn 1, but was nearly shoved into the wall amid the frantic fight for position.
A poor start from front row starter Jacob Abel left him trying to defend his position into the first turn. He moved to block Christian Brooks, made contact with the rookie, who then made contact with de Alba. Brooks’ rear wheel slammed hard into de Alba’s front left, bending his toe link in the process.
de Alba just managed to keep control of his car, and immediately started making up positions despite his damaged suspension. He passed Abel, Brooks, and Caio Collet before the second lap was complete, boosting himself into the podium positions early.
The 24-year-old moved ahead another position into second place on the restart on lap 34, jumping ahead of Andretti team-mate Jamie Chadwick. de Alba then proceeded to hassle Louis Foster for the lead, but could not quite make a move stick on the most dominant driver of the season.
As the end of the 90-lap race drew near, de Alba’s suspension damage led to excessive tire wear and he ended up dropping one position to third. He still walked away with a podium, matching his best ever INDY NXT result and promoting him to fifth in the overall points standings.
There is just one race remaining in the 2024 season, with a visit to Nashville Superspeedway set for September 15. The Andretti Cape team will return to two entries as Michael d’Orlando rejoins the squad to pilot the #3 entry alongside de Alba.
Salvador de Alba
“Definitely, the car was in a pretty good window. The start was crazy for me, as well. Hit the wall before turn one. That bent the car a little bit, but it was still pretty fast. I didn't knew how much it would last. It lasted almost all the laps, then Jacob [Abel] was catching me. Yeah, he took second.
“Pretty happy with the podium, second podium of the year. Having Michel [Jourdain Jr.] here and my dad was awesome. Looking forward for the last race of the season.”