Newgarden, INDYCAR Get It Right at Phoenix

By Dennis Krause

Even with an eight-year gap between races, Josef Newgarden is a back-to-back NTT INDYCAR SERIES race winner at Phoenix Raceway.

But that’s where the similarity ends.

While the 2018 race was a mostly single-file, processional affair, Saturday’s Good Ranchers 250 on the one-mile desert oval was anything but.

“Yeah, what a day,” said the driver of the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet on his 33rd career series win. “I didn't know how today was going to go. I don't think any of us did. We were trying to make our best guess as how do we build a new car, approach this. I think we came in with a good mentality.

“At the end of the day I think the team just executed. They executed at a super high level. That is what it takes to win these races. I am not going to sit here and say we were the best today. I don't think we were. We have work to do leaving here. We're never shy to admit that when we're somewhere. I think we try and be realistic about where we're at.

“We executed at a super high level. Everyone was on it. The timing stand did a great job, made the right calls, great pit stops. When we needed to be fast, we were fast. Really proud of the execution.”

While the win was a boost for Newgarden and Team Penske following a season of upheaval, a puzzling lack of performance and just bad luck, it was also a win for INDYCAR.

Whether it was Christian Rasmussen’s charge to the front to lead 69 laps from his 18th starting position in the No. 21 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet, or Newgarden’s overtake of Kyle Kirkwood’s No. 27 Bullion/Gold.com Honda for Andretti Global with six laps remaining, the race featured 565 on-track passes, a series record at Phoenix.

“It was a good race,” stated Newgarden. “I 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, something you could pick apart. You could choose your battle at the end, what you want to do. It was fun to be a part of that.”

Credit for the increased side-by-side racing at Phoenix can be attributed to INDYCAR’s current downforce and power levels according to race runner-up Kirkwood.

“We do a lot of research of this place, right? Coming back here after a handful of years, we watch all the races back. Quite honestly when we were here last in 2018, there wasn't a whole lot of passing happening. That wasn't the case here today. I think we did the right things with the car, downforce levels, power level to get into a place where it is very racy.”

Kirkwood also pointed out that sharing the track with NASCAR over the weekend contributed to a widening out of the racing groove.

“I think it might have had something to do with it, right? I can't guarantee that. I can't guarantee whether if we came back here by ourselves next weekend, whether we'd have the same exact race or not.

“In my mind, when I was watching NASCAR running, they're running up high, I'm probably going to try that out. That makes it inviting for us INDYCAR drivers. At least for myself, I can't speak for everybody.

"I think it was great having a weekend again with NASCAR. It's been a few years since we raced with NASCAR at the same track, first time on an oval as I'm finding out now.

“There's two of the biggest motorsports categories in the world, in the U.S. especially, coming together on the same weekend I think is a huge thing. We should see more of that. I think there should be even more collaboration between the series.”

According to third-place finisher, David Malukas, the trend is now towards more side-by-side racing on the schedule’s short ovals.

“That's kind of been the case with a lot of these races, these new ovals that we've been going to. I think on top of what Kyle said, I think it also adds to the drivers now, we're trying that second lane more.

“I just feel like first few years in INDYCAR when I came, people didn't really go up there,” said the driver of the pole-winning No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. “Now I feel like there's more people trying and keeping it clean throughout the race as it goes by. Makes for better racing. I think that also adds to it.”

Yet another factor may have been a new, wider right front tire from Firestone.

“The wider tire, I was one of the first drivers to test it at Gateway,” said Kirkwood. “It definitely increased the front grip.

“I can't say what it would have been like if we didn't have that tire there, if we still had the normal tire here. Yeah, zero failures. Running within a very healthy temperature range.

“It seems like there's minimal deg at the right front which is something we have struggled with at short ovals. That might have something to do where how good the racing is, at the end of stints, not just in the beginning.”

In the end, it was multiple factors that made Saturday so much better than the last time INDYCAR raced at Phoenix.

“I'm telling you the number one factor is that we have sort of taught this field a lot of things,” said Newgarden, whose last ten series wins have come on ovals. “The tires are different. For whatever reason, they seemed to produce a little less dust and marbling, kind of both those things. It does happen.

“I'm telling you the number one factor is that more people explore the track now. It is not possible to keep all the lanes open unless people utilize them. You have more individuals now in this series that are open to kind of driving the car all over the place.

“The car is capable of doing that as well. You can run the second lane because of the grip and downforce level and not be super slow. This all kind of feeds on itself.

“I do think the difference we have now is you've got guys that are constantly trying to find that second lane, and they keep in it during the race. That's why I ask my spotter who is using it, where they were at. I could hear people were using it. I was using it. I was trying to keep it clean just so we could have a good show. If they don't do that, 50, 60 laps, it will close off. You have to wait for a caution to get a new opportunity to open that back up. But I think that is the biggest difference.

“Look, we can't make every race the most incredible racing show out there,” Newgarden added. “I think 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.

“There's not an exact science to that. I think this sort of tire compound mixture versus the downforce level and track condition, there's all a little unique, they need fine-tuning.

“When we get it right, this is the type of show we want to produce. I was happy we were able to have that in front of this crowd today.”

Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.

Newgarden, INDYCAR Get It Right at Phoenix

Malukas On His Way To Becoming Big Dave