AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Back on a familiar oval, Josef Newgarden drove back to victory lane and the top of the IndyCar standings.
Newgarden won Saturday at Phoenix Raceway, where IndyCar is bundled with NASCAR for a doubleheader in the desert. IndyCar last raced on the 1-mile oval in 2018 and Newgarden won that race, too.
His victory continued what could be a Team Penske sweep at Phoenix: David Malukas won the pole for the IndyCar race, Joey Logano won the pole for the NASCAR race, Newgarden won the IndyCar race and Ryan Blaney is the BetMGM favorite to win Sunday.
Team Penske is celebrating its 60th season in racing this year and this doubleheader weekend allowed Roger Penske to bring his combined six drivers from the two series together to commemorate the anniversary.
Newgarden, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time IndyCar champion, avoided a winless 2025 season by winning the season finale at his home track at Nashville Superspeedway.
Newgarden has won 12 of the past 25 races on ovals and this victory snapped Alex Palou’s stranglehold on the IndyCar standings.
Palou hit the wall when he had contact with Rinus Veekay very early in the race and logged just his 10th DNF in 100 career IndyCar starts. Three of the DNF’s came his rookie year when Palou had yet to join Chip Ganassi Racing.
Since moving to Ganassi, the Spaniard has won four of the past five championships and has been the IndyCar points leader since June 2024.
Now Newgarden is on top as IndyCar heads next weekend into the inaugural event on the streets of Arlington, Texas.
“Do we really have the lead? I mean, it’s two races in, so it’s early,” Newgarden said.
Palou, who won last week’s season opener, dropped to fifth in the standings after finishing 21st.
Kyle Kirkwood finished second for Andretti Global and Malukas was third as Penske went first and third. Scott McLaughlin was eighth in the third Penske entry.
“Definitely really satisfied,” Malukas said.
Christian Rasmussen was probably the most dominant driver of the race but he hit the wall when trying to pass Will Power on the outside. Power, who was leading at the time, cut a tire on the contact and Rasmussen’s car was damaged enough to allow Newgarden to run him down.
Rasmussen finished a disappointing 14th and said Power ran him into the wall.
“We were the class of the field, I had the best car out there,” Rasmussen said.
Power, who had crashed in qualifying, rallied from starting at the back of the field to lead the race until the late incident with Rasmussen. Power finished 16th.
Mick Schumacher started fourth in his oval debut but the son of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher faded quickly and finished 18th.
Romain Grosjean didn’t start the race because of an issue with his Dale Coyne Racing entry. He didn’t turn a lap.
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