Josef Newgarden led the last six laps of the NTT IndyCar Series Good Ranchers 250.
That’s all he needed Saturday at Phoenix Raceway to put an open-wheel feather in Team Penske’s cap, rejuvenate his own 2026 performance repeat his 2018 triumph, and issue a challenge to his NASCAR counterparts on a special weekend for boss Roger Penske—oh, and to hint that Alex Palou likely will have a rockier road in his quest for a fifth championship this season.
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The No. 2 XPEL Chevrolet driver conquered the mile oval at Avondale, Arizona, and replaced early exiting Alex Palou as the points leader. It’s hardly a cause for commotion with just two of 18 events completed, but it’s a fact nonetheless that he also matched the reigning champion and St. Petersburg winner with victories so far.
“Do we really have the lead?” Newgarden asked afterward. “I mean, it’s two races in, so I wouldn’t bring too much into it, but momentum’s a big deal. It’s very difficult to understand how things work. Sometimes things go against us, some things that go for us. This was just great execution by the team. That’s all. Simple as that. It was a good car, great execution.”
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“I’m just very surprised. It’s only been a race since we haven’t won,” the 2025 season finale winner in his Nashville hometown. “So it’s not like it’s been a while. But in middle of the race, I don’t know that I was fully believing that we had the capability to win. And we kept working through it.” He said he decided that “if we get another opportunity, we’re going to be on the aggressive. We’re going to be on the offense. We took tires and the thing was like a rocket ship when it needed to be. It was right at the end of the race.”
He secured his 33rd victory by leading no more than eight laps all day, including the final six.
“Look, it was very hard. I didn’t think we were going to win today, to be honest with you.”
And he good-naturedly, but competitively, showed a bit of swagger that IndyCar brought a first victory of the weekend to Team Penske—which is celebrating its 60th anniversary here with this special show featuring Roger Penske’s two racing operations at once. Newgarden, grinning, said, “I think it’s incredibly important. It will be so disappointing if the Cup guys do not deliver tomorrow.” Team Penske President Jonathan Diuguid joined in the teasing: “Horribly disappointing.”
Newgarden said, “It’s always fun. We got to go first. It worked out. Now you got to put the pressure on them.” Turning more serious, he said, “Look, it was very hard. I didn’t think we were going to win today, to be honest with you.”
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Racing in Phoenix again pumped up Newgarden. “I love to be here in Phoenix,” he said. “I’m so happy we are here. This is an IndyCar track. I think people that know the history of the sport know this is an IndyCar track. So to be here with NASCAR is fantastic, but we got to be here, as well.”
Runner-up Kyle Kirkwood said, “I think if we would’ve got around Christian [late-race leader Rasmussen] earlier and stretched out a gap, I think it would’ve been hard for Josef to catch up to us and pass us. We didn’t qualify that well, but we got finished second and had a really good shot at winning. So I’m extremely happy with our performance today.”
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Josef Newgarden and David Malukas.
First-time pole-winner David Malukas scored a podium finish and said he was “definitely really satisfied” with third place. The way that race went, it could have gone either way, and things really did play out for us in the end. Congrats to Josef. They decided to do the new tires on the strategy at the end, which paid off for him, but it still wasn’t easy. He had to pass a lot of cars.. That last set [of tires], man, I don’t think I’ve ever pushed the tire so hard and was drifting. I mean, Turns 1 and 2, I think I was 90% sideways. Let’s just say I’m going to sleep really good tonight.”
Palou, who gained six positions at the start of the race for Chip Ganassi Racing, astonishingly crashed with Rinus Veekay just 21 laps into this second of three consecutive events. Veekay, of Juncos Hollinger Racing, was attempting to pass Palou, but Palou slid higher, trapping Veekay against the wall and turning his own No. 10 car sideways into the wall, as well. Veekay eventually continued to race. But Palou was out with a 24th-place finish, giving up the grip he had had on the standings since June 2024 and recording his worst performance since a 25th-place end last June at Detroit.
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Alex Palou hit the wall on lap 21.
Palou said, “I don’t know if I was trying o squeeze somebody or if somebody was trying to get in there. I didn’t think anybody was there.”
As for this return to Phoenix Raceway, Newgarden, the 2018 winner in IndyCar’s previous appearance, said he “didn’t know what we were going to get. That second lane really started to open up. People were exploring. There were some really good cars out there. Guys were doing some amazing things in the middle of the race, even the beginning. It just turned it into certainly a show.”
He said he thinks the “Desert Double” that concludes Sunday with NASCAR’s Straight Talk Wireless 500 made a positive impression on those in the crowd unfamiliar with the NTT IndyCar Series. He called it an “opportunity to have the type of race we had today. I really was hoping we’d have a good show. I think we produced what we expect from the IndyCar Series.
“If you’re a motorsport fan, you’re just getting way more value for your weekend to have the top two motorsport championships together on the same weekend.”
“I hope there was a lot of people that have maybe not seen an IndyCar race in a while that are going to leave here and go, ‘Hey, I should give that another look.’ Today turned into a good IndyCar product. This is what we expect now when we put an IndyCar race on a short oval. This is the type of racing we want to produce.
“Both [NASCAR and IndyCar] should complement each other. If you’re a motorsport fan, you’re just getting way more value for your weekend to have the top two motorsport championships together on the same weekend. I don’t see why we can’t do a little more of this. I think it’s good for everybody,” Newgarden said.
Race No. 3 next weekend, the street-course Java House Grand Prix of Arlington in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, will showcase AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers.
Related StoryRookie Dennis Hauger pulls off amazing backward move
Dennis Hauger provided a surprisingly entertaining move in the early going. The rookie from Dale Coyne Racing spun, stepped off the brake, and powered his car perfectly backwards down the straightaway. After a sizeable distance, amazingly, he spun it around the correct way, like he was backing it out of a parking space, and continued on.
The other side of the Coyne
A mechanical problem plagued Dale Coyne Racing’s Romain Grosjean before the green flag, leaving him without a lap to his credit.
Susan Wade has lived in the Seattle area for 40 years, but motorsports is in the Indianapolis native’s DNA. She has emerged as one of the leading drag-racing writers with nearly 30 seasons at the racetrack, focusing on the human-interest angle. She was the first non-NASCAR recipient of the prestigious Russ Catlin Award and has covered the sport for the Chicago Tribune, Newark Star-Ledger, and Seattle Times. She has contributed to Autoweek as a freelance writer since 2016.