Newgarden plays late tire-change gamble to perfection for Phoenix win

It started out as a Team Penske party with polesitter David Malukas leading with teammate Josef Newgarden in tow, turned into a coronation for ECR’s Christian Rasmussen who tore through the field, then Kyle Kirkwood took command in the closing laps for Andretti Global.

But with a new-tire advantage for the sprint to the checkered flag, Newgarden fired past Kirkwood to earn his 33rd career victory and back-to-back wins at Phoenix Raceway after winning the last visit in 2018. Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevy led Kirkwood and Malukas to the line after an earlier crash for Alex Palou served to hand the championship lead to the Team Penske veteran.

“I'm just very surprised," Newgarden said. "I mean, look, it's only been a race since we haven't won, so it's not like it's been a while, but in the middle of the race, I don't know that I was fully believing that we had the capability to win. We just we kept working through it and I'm like, look, if we get another opportunity, we're going to 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. Team Chevy! So, I'm pumped. I love to be here in Phoenix."

The Good Ranchers 250 will be remembered first for the show Rasmussen delivered for more than half of the afternoon as the Milwaukee race winner rocketed from 18th to first and back to first after multiple pit stops, but an incident while trying to overtake then-leader Will Power put the No. 21 Chevy into the wall.

The contact on lap 206 triggered a caution as Power crawled back to pit lane to replace a flat tire, and up front, Rasmussen and Kirkwood and a number of leaders stayed out – having made their final pit stop about 15 laps prior –while Newgarden and Malukas and others elected to pull in and take new tires.

That decision was the moment that turned the race on its head as their fresher Firestones would provide an advantage in the final 10 laps when Rasmussen – still leading – smacked the wall again and plummeted to 14th. Kirkwood briefly led but was powerless to halt Newgarden’s charge.

Penske’s short-oval king only led eight laps, but they were the ones that mattered, and when combined with his strong recovery last weekend in St. Petersburg, propelled Newgarden into his first championship lead in many years. Kirkwood moved to second in the standings ahead of Scott McLaughlin, who placed eighth at Phoenix, with Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in third after crossing the line in fourth, and Palou, sitting 24th, was demoted to fifth in the championship.

Elsewhere, Meyer Shank Racing’s Marcus Armstrong stood out on yet another short oval and finished fifth for the team. Mick Schumacher started fourth and fell just outside the top 10, but was running well until a failed wheel gun extended his first pit stop by a considerable margin; later, he pitted under green, lost two laps, and hoped to regain the laps when others pitted, but a caution appeared almost immediately which relegated the rookie to 18th.

Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger was the first rookie home in 15th while teammate Romain Grosjean didn’t take part in the race when his car was left on pit lane, unable to drive away from the grid.

On the ground, with plenty of NASCAR fans witnessing their first IndyCar race, the series put on a stellar show as new records for passing were set with 565 on-track overtakes, 323 passes for position, 145 passes inside the top 10, and 60 within the top five. For those who were in attendance, the combo NASCAR/IndyCar weekend was a clear success.

AS IT HAPPENED

David Malukas started from pole for the first time with teammate Josef Newgarden alongside and had 250 laps to cover. Romain Grosjean’s car refused to fire, and his machine was pushed to its pit box as the rest of the field completed their parade laps.

Lap 1 and Malukas hold onto P1 as Mick Schumacher falls back.

Lap 4 and Alex Palou is up to P4 as Schumacher drops to P10.

Lap 5 and Malukas leads Newgarden by 1.7s.

Lap 10 and Rinus VeeKay is up to P5 and Hauger is coming out of Turn 2 backwards and rolls to Turn 3 and inverts the car and keeps going. CAUTION.

Lap 11 and the running order is Malukas, Newgarden, Alexander Rossi, Palou, VeeKay, Graham Rahal, Scott McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, Kyle Kirkwood, and Schumacher.

Lap 13 and a lot of drivers in the bottom half of the field pitted under caution.

Lap 20 restart and Malukas streaks away.

Lap 21 and Palou is into the wall, turned right into the start/finish wall with a hit to the right-rear by VeeKay’s left-front. Palou’s done on the spot with suspension damage. CAUTION.

Lap 30 and Malukas leads the restart.

Lap 44 and Malukas leads Newgarden by 0.8s and Rossi by 1.4s.

Lap 50 and the top 10 is McLaughlin, Newgarden, Rossi, Rahal, McLaughlin, O’Ward, Kirkwood, Christian Rasmussen, Marcus Armstrong, and Marcus Ericsson.

Lap 55 and the lead is stable with Newgarden 0.9s back and Rossi 1.5s down to Malukas.

Lap 60 and it’s the same top three with an identical gap to lap 55.

Lap 62 and Rasmussen takes P5 from McLaughlin.

Lap 68 and O’Ward pits.

Lap 69 and McLaughlin pits. Rasmussen has cleared Rahal for P4 and is chasing teammate Rossi.

Lap 70 and Rasmussen grabs P3 from Rossi.

Lap 72 and Newgarden and Schumacher are in. SLOW right-front tire change for Schumacher.

Lap 73 and Malukas is in from the lead. Fast stop but slow departure as Malukas sits for just over a second before pulling away.

Lap 75 and Newgarden overtakes Malukas.

Lap 76 and Rasmussen pits.

Lap 81 and Rossi pits.

Lap 98 and Rasmussen rips P3 from Malukas. O’Ward leads Newgarden by 3.0s.

Lap 100 and Razz takes P2 from Newgarden.

Lap 102 and Razz is chasing down O’Ward, who’s 1.8s ahead.

Lap 107 and Razz to the lead.

Lap 113 and Rossi is back into the pits.

Lap 116 and Razz leads O’Ward by 1.4s and Newgarden by 5.5s. Malukas is 6.4s down in P5 ahead of Kirkwood who’s 7.0s back.

Lap 121 and O’Ward pits.

Lap 125 and we’re halfway and Razz pits from the lead.

Lap 126 and Newgarden is in.

Lap 128 and Malukas is in; another slow drive-off.

Lap 132 and Razz passes O’Ward for P6. The rest of the top five have yet to pit.

Lap 141 and Louis Foster smacks the wall with the right side of his car. CAUTION.

Lap 142 and the top 10 is Razz, Dixon, Armstrong, O’Ward, Newgarden, Ferrucci, Kirkwood, Rosenqvist, Rossi, and Hauger.

Lap 146 and pit stops see Dixon get in and out ahead of Razz. Kirkwood and Power lead, but haven’t stopped. Behind them, it’s Dixon, Razz, Armstrong, O’Ward, Newgarden, Ferrucci, Rosenqvist, and Hauger as the top 10 with third through 10th having pitted under caution.

Lap 150 and the top 18 are on the lead lap; Schumacher in 19th is first among those who are a lap down.

Lap 155 restart and Kirkwood leads as Razz tries to pass Dixon for P3.

Lap 170 and it’s Kirkwood over Power by 1.7s, by 2.1s over Dixon, and 2.6s clear of Razz.

Lap 173 and Razz passes Dixon for P3.

Lap 180 and Razz is up to P2. Kirkwood is 1.0s up the road.

Lap 189 and Malukas and Newgarden pit while Razz has the lead down to 0.2s.

Lap 190 and Razz takes the lead. O’Ward pits.

Lap 191 and Kirkwood pits from P2 along with Power.

Lap 192 and Razz makes his final pit stop.

Lap 193 and Armstrong is in and has a slow stop.

Lap 197 and Power leads O’Ward by 1.7s, Kirkwood by 2.4s, and Razz by 2.9s.

Lap 200 and Razz is up to P3.

Lap 201 and Razz is up to P2, 0.4s behind Power.

Lap 206 and Power moves up and Razz hits the wall on exit of Turn 2 and Power has a flat tire. CAUTION. Power pits for new tires. Razz stays out and says the car feels off. “I didn’t know he was outside,” Power says.

Lap 212 and O’Ward, Newgarden, McLaughlin, Rossi, Rahal, and others pit for fresh tires. Razz stays out along with Kirkwood, Malukas, Dixon, Armstrong, Ferrucci, Rosenqvist, and Hauger, who hold the top eight. Will O’Ward and the rest from P9 on back have new-tire grip to overtake the top eight?

Lap 218 restart and Razz charges away.

Lap 222 and Razz leads Kirkwood by 0.4s and Malukas by 1.4s.

Lap 225 and O’Ward passed Armstrong for P4. New-tire group is on the move.

Lap 239 and Newgarden takes P4 from O’Ward.

Lap 241 and Kirkwood takes the lead as Rasmussen hits the wall for the second time coming out of Turn 2. Newgarden’s chasing Kirkwood down.

Lap 244 and Newgarden takes the lead. Game over.

Lap 250 and Newgarden wins. Rock star performance.

RESULTS