CHEVROLET IN THE NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Good Ranchers 250
1-mile, Phoenix Raceway short oval
Avondale, Arizona
Saturday Race Report
March 7, 2026
AVONDALE, Arizona (March 7, 2026) For the 33rd time in his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, Josef Newgarden, the pilot of the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet, won a race with Chevrolet power, the most of any driver. In a race that featured a Phoenix Raceway record 565 on-track passes and 18 lead changes among 11 drivers, Newgarden took the lead with six laps remaining, winning his second race at the historic one-mile oval in the “Valley Of The Sun.’
His Team Penske teammate and pole-winner David Malukas stood on the third step of the podium after leading 73 laps, the most of any driver today. The double podium means that nine of the dozen drivers who have stood on the Phoenix Raceway podium since the introduction of the 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012 have been wearing Bowties.
Completing Team Chevy’s strong day were Pato O’Ward in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, his second straight top five to start the 2026 season. Alexander Rossi brought the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet home sixth, making it four of the top six finishing positions for Chevrolet-powered cars.
Rossi’s ECR teammate, Christian Rasmussen, in the No. 21 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet, put on a show all day, twice moving through the field to lead 69 laps.
After his 23rd to seventh-place drive in the season opener, Newgarden now leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship point standings.
Chevrolet by the numbers:
- Newgarden’s win is the 237th for Chevrolet all-time
- Newgarden’s win is the 128th for Chevrolet since the introduction of 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012
- Today’s win is Newgarden’s 33rd with Chevrolet, tops all-time for Team Chevy and since the introduction of 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012
- Today’s win is 125th with Chevrolet, tops all-time for Team Chevy and since the introduction of 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012
- Newgarden and Malukas first and third place finishes are the 679th and 680th podiums all-time for Chevrolet
- Newgarden and Malukas first and third place finishes are the 365th and 366th podiums all-time for Chevrolet since the introduction of 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012
- Newgarden’s podium is his 60th with Chevrolet power, he’s in second all-time and since the introduction of 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012
- Malukas’ podium is his 2nd with Chevrolet power, moving him into a tie for 41st all-time, and 21st since the introduction of 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012
- Newgarden and Malukas’ podiums are the 326th and 327th all-time and 223rd and 224th since the introduction of 2.2L Twin-Turbo V6 in 2012
Good Ranchers 250 race results:
Up next
A three-race in three-week stretch to start the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES concludes with a visit to a new event in and around the Arlington Entertainment District, including AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field, and Choctaw Stadium. The 2.73-mile, 14-turn Arlington Street Circuit will play host to the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, with the race airing on FOX at 1 pm (Eastern).
What They’re Saying – Good Ranchers 250
Josef Newgarden, No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet won:
“I’m just very surprised. I mean, look, we, it’s only been a race since we haven’t won, so it’s not like it’s been a while, but I just, in the middle of the race, I don’t know that I was fully believing that we had the capability to win. and we just we kept working through it and I’m like, look, if we get another opportunity, we’re going be on the aggressive side, we’re going to be on the offense.
“We took tires, and the thing was like a rocket ship when it needed to be, was right at the end of the race. So, hats off to the whole crew. XPEL back in Victory Lane. We had them in 2021.
“Team Chevy!! So, I’m pumped. I love to be here in Phoenix.
“I’m so happy we are here. This is you know, 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 gotta be here as well and, I love being here with this group.
“It’s early going, but you’re in the championship lead again. What does momentum mean?”
“Do we really have the lead?
“I mean, it’s 2 races in, so I don’t want to read too much into it, but look, momentum’s a big deal. You know, I don’t know. it’s very difficult to understand how things work.”
David Malukas, No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet finished 3rd:
“Man. That’s wow. I mean, the whole day we were fighting that car. It didn’t play out for us in the end. But I want to say congrats to Josef. They were there with the new tires there at the end. That last set was, we were burning it. I mean, drifting sideways, but I think that’s actually where we excelled. It seemed like on new tires; I couldn’t really do much. And when the tires degged, I think it showed there.
“We were reeling in Kirkwood. We got round Rasmussen Good job from all everybody in team Penske, Verizon, Chevrolet, everybody. It was, it was a good race. Scott. Big weekend with the pole and the podium.”
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 4th:
“It was a really nice experience. I really enjoyed driving around this place. The team did a great strategy call there in the end, which ended up being the winning strategy. But sadly, we ran out of tools in the inside of the car to get the balance back in the window. We started the race really loose, and, then we really struggled at the end of the race with front and rear. So, I’m definitely bummed because, you know, after our first stop, it looked like we were in great in great shape, but then, you know, we just kinda fell out of our hands and not a lot we could have done balance wise.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet finished 6th:
“A day of many emotions. At the beginning, we thought we were in a really good spot. Then we had some things in the middle of the race that got away from us and we went to the back. We ended up sixth and that kind of up and down was really the story of the whole weekend. The ECR team did a good job of hanging in there and making the most of what we good. We’ll take some good points and go again next week. Looking forward to getting to Texas and the first Java House Grand Prix of Arlington!”
Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet finished 8th:
“Battled all day in the Gallagher Chevy. I wasn’t entirely happy with the balance and it wasn’t really that comfortable. We have to do a little bit of studying. Overall, it’s a great day. The team won. That’s a good thing. Congrats to the No. 2 team. We’ll rebuild and go to a great race in Arlington.”
Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 HOMES FOR OUR TROOPS Chevrolet finished 11th:
“Just honestly unbelievable how we overcame the car issues today. We started not in a great spot [dropped back to last]. Just took multiple pit stops, and we got it right, got into the top 10. The last minute call not to pit was a collective group decision. You know, in our position [were sixth at the time] it’s really hard to make that call. And, we wish we did, but that’s racing sometimes. So we did the best we could, with what we had. Took some points and it was a good finish for the Homes For Our Troops Chevy.”
Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 13th:
“It was a long race. I felt the pace was decent. We were pretty good around the pit sequences which is where it really matters. Obviously we were unlucky with that yellow flag that shuffled us from a top three at that point down to the high teens. It was very unfortunate; it undid the good job that the 7 VELO crew had done up until then. They were awesome on strategy, so it’s a bummer. I thought we had a much better race going for us. I’m proud of what we did. We made some good changes and had some good progression on the 7 Chevy on the ovals, so I’m pretty excited for Indy and also the rest of the short ovals. But first, Arlington.”
Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet finished 14th:
“I think it is very clear what happened. We were the class of the field today. The best car out there.
I was so happy with the car…you can’t just run people into the wall which was what happened today. He ran me straight into the wall, and I had damage. I think lower wishbone front, upper/lower wishbone on the rear and the toe-link which obviously some of that might have been from after, but the car was impossible to drive after that. I did what I could to salvage the day and not crash the car…but…just frustrating. Man so frustrating. We should have won the race today. We obviously didn’t.”
Caio Collet, No. 4 COMBITRANS AMAZONIA Chevrolet finished 19th:
“I think the start and the first stint was quite good. We were able to be up there. Just after that, I just lost a bit of pace and was lacking a bit of confidence on the rear again. Think when the pace started to go quicker, I just was a little bit stuck and but, happy to finish the race. Obviously, there’s a lot of things to improve for myself and just trying to understand a little bit better what I need from the Combitrans car to be able to be quick. A little bit of a tough weekend to be honest, and glad we finished the race and we will move on to the next one.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet finished 20th:
“It was a long race today. There was an issue with the car I fought in Practice 2 that continued in the race. It’s disappointing because I really wanted to make the most of our Qualifying position, but we’re all eager to get and stay up front. Im confident in our group, and we’re looking forward to Arlington.”
Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger – Goodheart Chevrolet finished 21st:
Really, really tough day today. I’ve had a lot of tough short oval races, but that’s the worst one to date. Our best qualifying to date and we squandered it. Really frustrating. Every stint, we struggled a lot and some confusion at the end put us some laps down, with lapped cars. Really, really unfortunate day for the whole JHR team. We deserved a lot more than this and their is definately a lot to learn. There is a long ways to go up and remember our qualifying, and move forward. Huge thank you to Goodheart, Service dogs of America and everybody else involved for supporting us. Good job for the team for being consistent on the pit stops. We’ll look forward to Arlington and put this one behind us.”
Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet finished 22nd:
“Not the day we were looking for. Started eighth, a great staring position. Moved up to fifth and there on the restart and had a run on Palou. I took the outside and had two or three feet alongside him on the outside and I got ran up into the wall. It’s really unfortunate there. I got some damage and lost four laps and was on the back foot the rest of the race. A bit of an unlucky one, unfortunately. Even after the contact the car felt great. I think we could have had a good run at a top five this weekend. So, a tough one to swallow. The good thing is that we’re racing again in a few days. Thank you to ARCO for coming on board. I’m excited to get to Arlington for the first visit there. Great job by the guys to scramble all race and get everything done.”
NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
David Malukas
Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: Currently joined bycthird-place finisher David Malukas with his first podium of the season, first with Team Penske as well.
THE MODERATOR: David, starting from pole today, coming home with a podium finish. Your thoughts on a third-place finish here today.
DAVID MALUKAS: I mean, I was really happy. That race, like Kyle said, it was awesome. There were so many different strategies, so much going on. In the middle of that race, I thought, All right, here we go, hopefully we can stay in the top 10.
Things really played out. Another yellow came out. We still had an opportunity at the end. Big congrats to Josef for getting the win there. New tires, hard work to get through everybody. Last stint, I don’t know what Kyle thought, but that’s the hardest I pushed a tire before. That was drifting. I never drifted in an INDYCAR that much before. Through one and two, the first turn is actually left, then when you’re in the corner, the rest of it you’re turning right. Some big moments.
I’m very excited to go back and clip all the videos of almost spinning out in one and two.
THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.
Q. Every time INDYCAR comes to a new oval, especially with the hybrid, everybody says it’s going to be single file, and it’s not.
DAVID MALUKAS: I just started thinking about the race, what could have been different. I was focused on Kyle. What was the question (laughter)? Why wasn’t it single file?
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. 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.
Q. Were you aware of Rasmussen having a really great drive until the very end, just how aggressive he was. What was it that you saw at the end when the car just started to fade?
DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, he’s just all attack. Even when he was behind me for a few laps, I mean, I don’t know, I was defending. I came to the point that I’m going to stop defending this because I feel like we’re going to crash. He is all or nothing. He is all or nothing. It’s into the wall or I’m making that move. Obviously that strategy works very well.
Fair play to him, that tire deg doesn’t seem to affect him. He can still keep attacking and keep making passes. I think it caught up to him a little bit at the end there. I think he hit the wall multiple times. He was pushing very hard.
Q. David, did you feel in the car just the cinema that was going on? Awesome race, the stands were full. Could you feel how entertaining that race was?
DAVID MALUKAS: I mean, yeah, dude. For my brain-rotted TikTok brain, I was so focused. I didn’t have a second to think about anything else.
We were full drift the whole time. It was an awesome race. I had a really good time from start to finish. Like I said, that second lane, it worked really well. We were making moves.
That race felt like an instant to me. 30 minutes and we were done. It was awesome.
Q. First podium with Penske. Are you a little disappointed with the third or are you going to take this and keep the momentum rolling?
DAVID MALUKAS: No, I mean, I’m so happy. I haven’t touched a trophy I feel like in a long time. It’s been a very long time.
No, I’m very happy. Everything at Team Penske, St. Pete leading up to Phoenix here, we’ve had a fantastic start. It just seems that we’re still getting better and building that momentum. It’s still a new team, new guys and everything. We’re already starting off on very high standard, so very happy.
Q. David, with Team Penske as a whole, for Scott to podium last week, Josef winning today, what does it mean for this team as it’s trying to bounce back from last year?
DAVID MALUKAS: I think it means very much. I think it goes to show the resilience of Team Penske, right? They had some mad moments last year. Now they come back. We’re hitting it off on a very high note. Even from the NASCAR side, Joey got pole as well. Team Penske right now has been fantastic.
Me being a part of it, obviously for me it’s new, but just being in that environment, I can see why the 60 years of victories and podiums and all this stuff is the way they run things very well.
Q. With the history here at Phoenix Raceway, the crowd that showed up today, how important is it that you remain established in the Phoenix market?
DAVID MALUKAS: Yeah, I mean, I thought it was really important. It was a fantastic race. Everything you said. On top of it, we get to go back to back to back. Now we’re going to Arlington next week.
It’s good from a viewing standpoint, coming from St. Pete we got a lot of new viewers. Let me tune in again. Phoenix, that was a fantastic race to watch, incredible.
I think we need to keep this momentum going and we’ll see what comes for next year.
Q. For a lot of people in the grandstands that came here that are NASCAR fans, they’ve never seen an INDYCAR SERIES race before. What do you think their reactions are? Are you confident that you guys won a few fans today?
DAVID MALUKAS: I mean, yeah, I think that they would enjoy it. I mean, I had a fantastic time. I think everybody here thought it was a good race. I would assume from their perspective they’re going to say, Hell, yeah, INDYCAR is awesome (smiling).
Q. I know you got to stick around for tomorrow?
DAVID MALUKAS: Oh, got to go to Miami.
Q. You have some meet-and-greets to do in the morning.
DAVID MALUKAS: I’m going to be shadowing Austin tomorrow. This is awesome. I get to see it from the NASCAR world how things are run. I’m new. I’m actually super pumped. I’m going to be bugging Austin all the time. It’s going to be awesome.
Q. David, you and Newgarden raced pretty tight. Did you have a little bit of contact once?
DAVID MALUKAS: Really, really early on. We were just bobbing and weaving a little bit. It wasn’t intentional.
Q. When you’re racing side by side with him, are you wondering what can you do with a teammate, what can I not do? Are you still learning that?
DAVID MALUKAS: No. We try to help each other in every single way, work as a team to get the car better and each other better.
When it comes to racing, we’re racing side by side the same way we would with anybody else out there. It’s nothing different just because we’re teammates. We race to race.
I think we had good racing. We were pretty much together the whole time until the very end when they made the strategy to new tires. I raced him hard every chance I got, and he did the same.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. We’ll see you in a couple days on the streets of Arlington.
Josef Newgarden
Jonathan Diuguid
Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: Welcoming the winning driver today in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, as well as team president from Team Penske in Jonathan Diuguid. Josef Newgarden led eight of the 250 laps, including the last six. His first win of the season, 33rd of his career. 10th on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES all-time list. 19th win on an oval. The last 10 wins for Josef have come on ovals. Has now won a race in his 12th consecutive season in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. For Team Penske it’s win 247 all told for Jonathan and company.
Josef, for you, how proud are you to get a win early here in 2026?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, what a day. 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.
Just like St. Petersburg, we had a really tough start there. We executed on race day. We’ve been talking about this, this is what we need to do, we need to be better every time we show up, do our jobs to the best of our ability, I think the pieces will fall into place.
So far it’s definitely been a decent start. We got to keep it up.
Last thing I’ll say is it was a good race. 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.
THE MODERATOR: Jonathan, obviously the tire change helped out perhaps at the end for Josef. This is a big weekend for Team Penske.
JONATHAN DIUGUID: Yeah, absolutely. I think Josef mentioned it, getting a win this early on in the season is fantastic.
I think he mentioned St. Petersburg there. I would say we were conservative, kind of had a boring strategy today. Today before the race started, we decided we were going to be aggressive.
The opportunity came with 40 laps to go, that caution came out. Decided to give up the track position we had, take tires, put it in Josef’s hands. He did an amazing job.
10 laps from the end, I was like, Okay, I don’t know if we’re going to do this. Then we started moving forward pretty quickly.
It was amazing to watch. Really happy for the group.
THE MODERATOR: We’ll start with questions.
Q. This really stands out like last weekend at St. Pete where Josef charged through the field, great result. Team went through a huge evolution during the off-season. It feels like we’re seeing the effects of that. What do you say after two races?
JONATHAN DIUGUID: I think it’s just starting. What Josef said there is we pretty much talk about everything, whether it was finishing second in qualifying yesterday. We could have gone around and gave each other high fives. We were talking about why we weren’t on the pole.
We qualified poorly in St. Petersburg. We talked about how we could be better.
I think that’s the biggest thing that’s going to keep moving us forward is being open about the good parts and the bad parts. I would say that’s what got us the win today, was we had a plan. We stuck to it. We were pretty open.
I think if you listened to the radio, you could have probably figured out what we were going to do. We weren’t talking any codes or anything. We wanted to be exactly clear and make no mistakes. Like Josef said, it was execution that mattered.
Q. With David as a teammate, you had some fun on track, but also demonstrated what you are capable of. Thoughts about the two of you working together.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I got asked about this at the beginning of the year on Content Day.
I think David is doing excellent. I’m not going to be surprised to see him win sooner than later. I just won’t. I think he’s done a good job.
He’s a little different. I don’t mean that good or bad. He’s younger. He’s like from a different generation. He acts differently to me and Scott. He’s very complementary in some ways. It’s always nice to see something new. He’s got that youthfulness to him.
You can tell he’s eager to perform. I think he does a good job. He performed excellently in St. Pete. He had a little bit of a mishap with the braking, but he was fast all weekend. His feedback is good. It’s concise and consistent.
Same thing here. When he says something, you can kind of trust what he’s saying. That helps propel the team forward. That’s all we really need for him. I think he’s a great addition. I got nothing but good things to say about him. I think he’s going to win a race at some point here soon.
I’ll echo J.D. We’re on a good start. Pretty open and honest in trying to move the ship forward. So far so good. I think we just got to keep our feet on the ground.
It’s very early days. You can’t get too excited after two races. We’re working on things. We still got some things we got to work on. We got to be better leaving here. We’re going to talk about that. There’s a lot of other places we got to be better that we are working on. We just got to stay on it together as a group all year.
Q. Is it too early to anoint you a championship contender?
JONATHAN DIUGUID: At least a championship leader.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: That is a factual statement. We are leading the championship.
Palou had his mishap early. Two races, it’s a very small sample size. Not surprised to see that everything got shuffled up there.
Look, I don’t recall a time being at Team Penske where I didn’t believe we could achieve any goals we marked out. If you go, Hey, look, for us winning the Indy 500 is most important, then how do we excel at every other track and win the championship.
I’ve never come into a year with this team and thought I don’t know that we can excel this year, I just don’t know that we can get there. I never believed that. I’ve always seen the potential with this team.
It looks a little different now. But that potential was always there in the past and we could deliver on it. I think we can deliver on it this year.
It’s an everyday process. We’re going to take it one step at a time. Doesn’t mean there’s not going to be some turbulence. I think if we do our jobs and control what’s in our control, I don’t see why we can’t be in the fight.
Q. You come to a track that nobody has been to since 2018 and you win.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think we just had a great day. Typically when you see me in Victory Lane, it’s probably ’cause I had the best car on the day.
I got to say I was not a believer midway through the race. But when I needed that car to be good, it was really good. I mean, it’s not like I was doing something magical. It was right where I needed it to be.
That was just down to working on it, kind of going the wrong way, then coming back the right way and having the right calls, having the right support.
That’s what should happen. When you show up, you’re prepared, you do your job, put yourself in position and you execute. You should be able to win races. I think we did that today.
Q. Talk about the competition level out there. You were battling McLaughlin. Talk about midway through how competitive this was. Also talk about the last pit stop to take tires.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I mean, it was a tough day. There’s a lot of good cars I saw today. I think you got to have tremendous respect for the competition in this series. There’s not just one guy I look at. There were a few cars that looked really competitive at different times.
I think Christian looked phenomenal. He was just driving a great race. Then Kirkwood looked really good at certain points. Certainly at the end. There was many others. I could sit here and talk about it all day. I think there were a lot of people that had great potential in this race. It’s tough competition. You have to have respect for that.
I was happy to see that the race turned into a good battle is the way I would put it. The second lane did open. It got better towards the end of the race. I thought the track was in the best position at the end. That would make sense. Even the lane condition was the best at the end. I was able to go where I needed to. I could find grip when the car was starting to lose grip in certain areas. It was really cool.
INDYCARs have not always been that way. I don’t remember 10 years ago where I could start searching for lines to find a better compliance or better grip level for my car. I was doing that at the end there. It was really fun to race.
I hope the show was as good as it felt from inside the car.
Q. Pit stop…
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: The pit stop? I mean, Jonathan already touched on this. We just stuck to our plan. We knew what we were going to do as far as our process going into the race. I think we stayed true to that. We made the right calls, right stops, we executed at the end.
Q. Josef, to the pit stop point, were you surprised that more people didn’t gamble on tires?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Actually no. I think because of the prior situation. The restart prior, we were talking about this on the radio.
JONATHAN DIUGUID: 26 and 27 were able to stay out front.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I was really shocked when they did that. It kind of coincided us with de-tuning our car. We didn’t have a good stint on that restart. I was really surprised how competitive the people that stayed out on the prior yellow were. I think they maintained their position, from what I saw.
Q. Lost the lead to Rasmussen.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: So they were pretty good.
I think you sort of pick your poison at that point. Gamble to some degree.
If I’m gambling, I want to be on the offense. I would rather be on the offense and lose the race. We did that today. Ended up working out.
Q. Similar to the way you won the 2018 race. Describe the similarities or not the similarities.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, different day. I mean, very different race. We weren’t doing this. I mean, I thought guys were about to run the fence in one and two. It was wild looking on some of this. It was cool.
It was not like that in 2018. 2018 was a little bit more simplistic. Same sort of deal where I thought we were stronger on an attack position on a restart, so I won that then there. I felt that today, too. I could make more happen in an offensive position at the end. That rung true.
Yeah, it was a very different race. We were all over the place today in a good way.
Q. J.D., the boys early in the race were all together and banging wheels. What were your thoughts about that?
JONATHAN DIUGUID: ‘The boys’ meaning teammates?
Q. Yes.
JONATHAN DIUGUID: I thought it was close racing. Like Josef said, there’s a pretty high level of respect. When you’re racing your teammate for the top five, that means your teammate is doing a good job.
They understand that as well. They’re not going to put us in a situation where we have to talk about something different. Like Josef said, the group did a good job today, covered the strategies there with the 12 staying out. The 2 took tires and the 2 took the day.
I think they all respected each other and raced quite well.
Q. Before you came here, maybe you had proven this during the test at the short oval, how is the traffic situation? Is this a risky factor for the race?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Was it tough when you get in traffic?
Q. Yes.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think that was a big component of this race, which is pretty typical nowadays for a short oval. If you want to excel in this type of race, you’ve got to be excellent in traffic. I mean, there’s just no getting around it.
That’s what happens on a short oval situation, is the circulation is so high that you can’t just kind of sit there and control the lead. You’ve got to be able to go. People are going to press you. I think people pressed hard today, really hard. There were points where they were pressing us and they were winning. We had to kind of raise our level at the end there. It all worked out.
But yeah, traffic is critical at a race like this.
Q. It is shaping up to be a Penske weekend sweep. Malukas had the pole, you win the race, Joey Logano has the pole. How important is that to get a sweep? There aren’t many opportunities where that can happen with him winning both series at the same venue.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I think it’s incredibly important. It will be so disappointing if the Cup guys do not deliver tomorrow (smiling).
JONATHAN DIUGUID: Horribly disappointing.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Great point, Bruce (laughter).
It’s always fun. We got to go first. It worked out. Now you got to put the pressure on him. Look, it was very hard. I didn’t think we were going to win today, to be honest with you.
It’s fun. I wish we had more weekends like this to be honest with you. It’s fun going on an oval together. Has it ever happened?
THE MODERATOR: First time on an oval.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s so cool. I think we could get a couple more like this.
Q. There were fans in the grandstands that have probably never seen an INDYCAR race in person. What do you think they’re going to walk away with?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’m excited to watch it back personally. It was pretty thrilling to be in it. I hoped it would turn into what it did.
The first stint, from my vantage point, didn’t feel that exciting. I thought it was going to be a little processional. That does happen sometimes.
Look, we can’t make every race the most incredible racing show out there. 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.
Q. What do you think it is that made this race so good compared with your win in Phoenix in 2018? Is it the tires? The reconfigured track? The fact it was held in sunlight?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: There’s multiple factors. I’m telling you the number one factor is that we have sort of taught this field a lot of things. 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.
Q. Josef, can you help with a compare and contrast from 2018? I swear we had more fans here today, more energy than maybe for all three of the last races here. Speak about that. This feels like something really powerful might have been started.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I just think a great 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.
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.
Both 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.
Very fun to see the crowd. Everyone seemed open and welcoming in a good way. I saw motorsports fans here this weekend that seemed excited to watch racing. We put on a good show. I hope the Cup guys put on a good show tomorrow. Let’s see if we can do more of it in the future.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on the win.
Chevrolet history at Phoenix Raceway
General Motors Wins – 16
Chevrolet Wins – 11
2026 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2018 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske
2017 – Simon Pagenaud – Team Penske
2016 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing
2002 – Helio Castroneves – Team Penske
1992 – Bob Rahal – Rahal Hogan Racing
1991 – Arie Luyendyk – Doug Shierson Racing
1990 – Rick Mears – Team Penske
1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske
1988 – Mario Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
1969 – George Follmer – George Follmer
Oldsmobile Wins – 5
2001 – Sam Hornish – Panther Racing
2000 – Buddy Lazier – Hemelgarn Racing
1999 – Scott Goodyear – Panther Racing
1998 – Scott Sharp – Kelley Racing
1997 – Jim Guthrie – Blueprint Racing
General Motors Poles – 14
Chevrolet Poles – 9
2026 – David Malukas – Team Penske
2017 – Helio Castroneves – Team Penske
2016 – Helio Castroneves – Team Penske
2002 – Helio Castroneves – Team Penske
1991 – Rick Mears – Team Penske
1990 – Rick Mears – Team Penske
1989 – Rick Mears – Team Penske
1988 – Rick Mears – Team Penske
1987 – Mario Andretti – Newman Haas Racing
Oldsmobile Poles – 5
2001 – Greg Ray – Team Menard
2000 – Greg Ray – Team Menard
1999 – Greg Ray – Team Menard
1998 – Jeff Ward – ISM Racing
1997 – Tony Stewart – Team Menard
General Motors Podiums – 41
Chevrolet Podiums: 27
Driver Podiums: Bob Rahal (3), Emerson Fittipaldi (2), Rick Mears (2), Josef Newgarden (2), Simon Pagenaud (2), Will Power (2), Al Unser Jr. (2), Mario Andretti (1), Helio Castroneves (1), Gil de Ferran (1), George Follmer (1), Scott Dixon (1), Roberto Guerrero (1), JR Hildebrand (1), Sam Hornish (1), Arie Luyendyk (1), David Malukas (1), Danny Sullivan (1), Jimmy Vasser (1)
Team Podiums: Team Penske (14), Galles Racing (4), Chip Ganassi Racing (1), Doug Shierson Racing (1), ECR (1), George Follmer (1), Granatelli Racing (1), Hayhoe Racing (1), Newman Haas Racing (1), Panther Racing (1), Rahal Hogan Racing (1)
Oldsmobile Podiums: 14
Driver Podiums: Scott Goodyear (2), Buddy Lazier (2), Tony Stewart (2), Billy Boat (1), Jim Guthrie (1), Davey Hamilton (1), Donnie Beechler (1), Sam Hornish (1), Eliseo Salazar (1), Scott Sharp (1) Jeff Ward (1)
Team Podiums: A.J. Foyt Racing (3), Panther Racing (3), Hemelgarn Racing (2), Team Menard (2), Blueprint Racing (1), Cahill Racing (1), Kelley Racing (1), Pagan Racing (1)
General Motors Laps Led: 3145
Chevrolet Laps Led: 2158
Driver Laps Led: Rick Mears (247), Bob Rahal (242), Mario Andretti (198), Helio Castroneves (174), Scott Dixon (155), Paul Tracy (151), Will Power (139), Arie Luyendyk (129), Simon Pagenaud (119), Michael Andretti (88), David Malukas (74), Christian Rasmussen (69), Sam Hornish (67), Al Unser Jr. (65), Juan Montoya (56), Danny Sullivan (53), Josef Newgarden (40), George Follmer (29), Gil de Ferran (15), Kevin Cogan (13), Emerson Fittipaldi (10), Pato O’Ward (10), Christian Lundgaard (8), Eliseo Salazar (7), Tomas Scheckter (1)
Team Laps Led: Team Penske (1077), Newman Haas Racing (286), Rahal Hogan Racing (200), Chip Ganassi Racing (155), Doug Shierson Racing (129), ECR (69), Panther Racing(68), Galles Racing (68), Kelley Racing (39), George Follmer (29), Arrow McLaren (18), Patrick Racing (13), A.J. Foyt Racing (7)
Oldsmobile Laps Led: 987
Driver Laps Led: Tony Stewart (212), Sam Hornish (140), Scott Goodyear (134), Scott Sharp (94), Jim Guthrie (74), Greg Ray (61), Buddy Lazier (45), Billy Boat (41), Stephan Gregoire (36), Eddie Cheever (28), Jeff Ward (25), Kenny Brack (24), Al Unser Jr. (22), Mark Dismore (14), Affonso Giaffone (13), Robbie McGehee (11), Robbie Buhl (5), Helio Castroneves (4), Gil de Ferran (3), Donnie Beechler (1)
Team Laps Led: Panther Racing (274), Team Menard (273), Kelley Racing (104), Blueprint Racing (74), Galles Racing (46), A.J. Foyt Racing (45), Hemelgarn Racing (45), Dick Simon Racing (36), Team Cheever (28), ISM Racing (25), Chitwood Motorsports (13), Treadway Racing (11), Team Penske (7), Dreyer & Reinbold Racing (5), Cahil Racing (1)
Manufacturer History at Phoenix International Raceway
Wins
17 – Cosworth (1987, 1986 #2, 1986 #2, 1985, 1984 #2, 1984 #1, 1983, 1982 #2, 1982 #1, 1981 #2, 1981 #1, 1980, 1979 #2, 1979 #1, 1978 #2, 1977 #1, 1976 #2)
16 – General Motors (Chevrolet & Oldsmobile)
13 – Offenhauser – (1976 #1, 1975 #1, 1974 #2, 1974 #1, 1973, 1972 #2, 1972 #1, 1968 #2, 1968 #1, 1967#1, 1965 #1, 1964 #2, 1964 #1)
12 – Ford (1996, 1995, 1993, 1971 #2, 1971 #1, 1970 #2, 1970 #1, 1969 #2, 1967 #2, 1966 #2, 1966 #1, 1965 #2)
11- Chevrolet (2026, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2002, 1992, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1969 #1)
5 – Oldsmobile (2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997)
2- DGS (1978 #1, 1977 #2)
2 – Honda (2004, 2003)
1 – Toyota (2005)
1 – Ilmor (1994)
1- Foyt (1975 #2)
Poles
18 – Cosworth (1986 #2, 1986 #1, 1985, 1984 #2, 1984 #1, 1983, 1982 #2, 1982 #1, 1981 #2, 1981#1, 1980, 1979 #2, 1979 #1, 1978 #2, 1978 #1, 1977 #2, 1977 #1, 1976 #1)
14 – General Motors (Chevrolet and Oldsmobile)
14 – Offenhauser (1976 #2, 1975 #1, 1974 #2, 1974 #1, 1973, 1972 #2, 1972 #1, 1971 #2, 1971 #1, 1968 #2, 1968 #2, 1967 #1, 1965 #2, 1964 #1)
13 – Ford (1996, 1995, 1993, 1992, 1970 #2, 1970 #1, 1969 #2, 1969 #1, 1967 #2, 1966 #2, 1966 #1, 1965 #1, 1964 #2)
9 – Chevrolet (2025, 2017, 2016, 2002, 1991, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1987)
5 – Oldsmobile (2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997)
4 – Honda (2018, 2005, 2004, 2003)
1 – DGS (1975 #2)
1 – Ilmor (1994)
About General Motors
General Motors (NYSE:GM) is driving the future of transportation, leveraging advanced technology to build safer, smarter, and lower emission cars, trucks, and SUVs. GM’s Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands offer a broad portfolio of innovative gasoline-powered vehicles and the industry’s widest range of EVs, as we move to an all-electric future.
GM Motorsports, including the Cadillac Formula 1® Team develops and proves advanced technologies in the most demanding environments, accelerating innovation in performance, safety, efficiency, and electrification for its production vehicles. Cadillac Racing is one of the leading manufacturers in the IMSA and FIA World Endurance Championships (WEC). Chevrolet competes in single seaters in the US INDYCAR series, and in NASCAR with multiple team partners and drivers. Corvette customer teams compete in GT series across the globe including IMSA and WEC. Learn more at GM.com.
