Newgarden paces first Phoenix test session

It didn't take Josef Newgarden long to get acclimated to engineer Bryan Campe.

In his first "official" run for Team Penske, Newgarden (above) scorched Phoenix International Raceway with a lap of 190.129 mph in his Chevy as the Verizon IndyCar series began it's two-day open test session here in the desert.

"We rolled off really strong and it felt so solid from the beginning," said Newgarden, who replaced Juan Montoya in Penske's four-car line-up. "Brian and I are working well together and he's trying to learn what I like. But so far, so good. It was a good start."

Ed Carpenter (below) was right behind Newgarden with a lap of 189.90 mph in the Fuzzy's Chevrolet and Will Power clocked a 188.637 mph circuit in his Verizon Chevy.

JR Hildebrand, back driving full-time for Carpenter's team, shook off his oval-track rust with a lap of 188.543 mph and 2016 Indy 500 winner Alex Rossi turned the best lap for the Honda-powered teams of 187.611 mph. Defending IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud was 10th quickest at 186.345 mph.

There were no incidents during the three-hour session and practice continues in two hours with another three-hour run from 6-9 p.m.