AVONDALE, AZ (March 7, 2026) – Josef Newgarden is reminding everyone that he and the No. 2 Chevrolet are the team to beat on short ovals in the NTT IndyCar Series after winning Saturday’s Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway.

Newgarden only led 8-laps but charged to victory after taking fresh tires following a late caution when the leaders elected to stay on the track.

“We took tires, and the thing was like a rocket ship when it needed to be, right at the end of the race,” said an elated Newgarden in Victory Lane. “Hats off to the whole crew. I’m pumped.”

Newgarden’s charge was set-up when Andretti Global’s Will Power and Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen were battling for the lead on lap 207.  The front wing of Rasmussen’s No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet’s made contact with the right rear tire of Power’s No. 26 TWG Ai Honda, cutting Power’s tire and triggering the final caution.

Rasmussen and second place Kyle Kirkwood elected to keep track position and stayed on the track along with pole sitter David Malukas, Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon and others.

Newgarden and crew elected to go for new tires, along with several others racing around him, as the speed difference between new and old tires were significant.

Rasmussen, who was one of the best cars in the field all day, led the restart on lap 218 but his car was damaged in the incident with Power and clearly was not as strong.

Kirkwood passed Rasmussen for the lead on lap 242 as Newgarden and his fresh tires were busy picking off Dixon, Armstrong and Malukas on their older tires.

“In the middle of the race, I don’t know that I was fully believing that we had the capability to win,” explained Newgarden. “We just kept working through it, and I’m like, ‘Look, if we get another opportunity, we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to be on the offense.’

Newgarden certainly was on offense passing Kirkwood for the lead for good on lap 244 en route to his 33rd career win and first of 2026.

Kirkwood hung on for second and said they considered taking tires.

“We thought about it, but we were talking about it, and the pits opened,” said Kirkwood. “(Staying out) was the right thing to do at the time.”

Newgarden’s victory vaulted him to the top of the Championship standings, thanks in part to Alex Palou crashing out of the event early.

Palou, the defending and four-time series Champion, didn’t know Rinus Veekay had his nose beside the No. 10 DHL Honda and as Palou slid out towards the wall the pair made contact, turning the No. 10 into the wall.  Palou finished 24th, his worst finish since he placed 25th last June in Detroit after contact eliminated him from that race.  VeeKay suffered damage but was able to continue after losing a few laps in the pits for repairs.

Rasmussen faded to 14th in the end after leading 69-laps.

“We were the class of the field today – best car out there,” said Rasmussen. “It’s so frustrating because we should have won the race today.”

New up for the NTT IndyCar Series is the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington on Sunday, March 15 in Arlington, Texas. The temporary street circuit travels around AT&T Stadium, the home of the Dallas Cowboys, and Globe Life Field, the home of the Texas Rangers.

IndyCar Phoenix Results

AVONDALE, AZ (March 6, 2026) – David Malukas is on the pole position for Saturday’s NTT IndyCar Series Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway.

Malukas’ two-lap qualifying average of 175.383 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet was just .1963-seconds quicker than teammate Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Xpel Chevrolet as Team Penske locked out the front row.

“I think the track got in our favor a little bit,” explained Malukas.  “It seemed like it (track conditions) was getting a bit worse. It feels so good. What a way to start our Phoenix race day tomorrow.”

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is off to a great start after locking out Row 2 with Graham Rahal posting the third fastest average at 173.993 in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda.

Rahal’s RLL teammate rookie Mick Schumacher – competing in his first-ever oval race – surprised everyone by qualifying fourth at 173.667 in the No. 47 Honda.

“We knew what we had to do, and we managed to put a good couple of laps together,” said Schumacher, who’s first IndyCar race ended early after being the innocent victim of a Lap 1 crash.

“I’m excited to run the race,” said Schumacher. “It’s going to be a whole different situation in the race with traffic and everything, so it’s going to be tough.”

A disappointing qualifying effort for Chip Ganassi Racing as defending series Champion Alex Palou lines up 10th on the grid in the No. 10 DHL Honda with Scott Dixon five spots behind at 15th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.  Their teammate Kyffin Simpson starts 19th.  Surprising for a team that tested at Phoenix.

Andretti Global’s Will Power crashed on his qualifying attempt continuing his early season struggles with his new team.

Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist did not make a qualifying attempt after crashing his SiriusXM Honda during the first practice.

Saturday’s Good Ranchers 250 will be televised by Fox and can be heard on the IndyCar Radio network starting at 3 p.m. ET

ST. PETERSBURG, FL (March 1, 2026) – Alex Palou and the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing team are picking up in 2026 where they left off in 2025, by winning the NTT IndyCar Series season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for the second year in-a-row.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Palou. “The car was unbelievable today.  It’s been an amazing offseason. Everybody at CGR and Honda has done a tremendous job.”

“It’s been an interesting offseason on the track and off the track and it’s all behind us and we are right back where we want to be,” said team owner Chip Ganassi in Vietory Lane, alluding to the recently settled lawsuit between Palou and McLaren Racing.

Palou started fourth on the grid and quickly got around rookie Dennis Hauger for third on the opening lap right before a caution came out for Sting Ray Robb, Santino Ferrucci and Mick Schumacher making contact.

Palou continued running in third behind pole sitter and leader Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske and Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson until the first round of pit stops when McLaughlin, who started on the harder primary Firestone tires, hit pit road first.

Ericsson and Palou stayed out with Ericsson the next to come to pit road while Palou, who started on the softer alternate Firestone tires, stayed out.  The pit overcut worked and by the time Palou came in the complete his service, the No 10 car was in the lead.

“It felt like those Firestone’s were, they were lasting and would just keep going,” said Palou. “I had an amazing car.”

“We knew we were at a deficit to others that were racing around that had two sets of sticker reds today,” explained Barry Wanser, team strategist. “The pace of the leaders at the time in the early part of the race certainly helped us go the distance.”

Palou led 59-of-100 laps en route to a 12.4948-second victory, the largest margin of victory in the event’s 22-year history.

McLaughlin finished second and thinks the tire choice to start the race ultimately cost the No. 3 team in the end.

“Obviously I think the correct decision today was probably to start on the red (alternate) tires but we didn’t know that going in,” said McLaughlin. “We had a gut feeling and decided to start on the blacks (primary) but we didn’t have the pace on them.”

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard started 12th in the No. 7 Chevrolet and came home third.

“Every time I’m on the podium second or third, he’s first,” said Lundgaard of Palou. “It’s pretty annoying.”

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood finished fourth followed by Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.

The NTT IndyCar Series travels to Phoenix Raceway next week where they will share the track with the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Cup Series.