Newgarden quickest in busy IndyCar practice at Milwaukee

Friday’s 90-minute practice session for the IndyCar Series at the Milwaukee Mile was extraordinarily busy due to the doubleheader format. With a single practice session to use for qualifying setups, race setups, and to perform pit stop practice, drivers were in constant motion as many turned 70 or more laps.

Late in the 5-6:30 p.m. ET window, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden wrested the fastest lap from Alex Palou with a best of 159.430mph in the No. 2 Chevy, and Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger joined him with a 159.378mph lap in the No. 19 Honda to take second. Palou was quick right away on the 2025 Milwaukee tires all teams were required to use to open the session and put up a tour of 158.890mph that stood for most of the 90 minutes.

Palou also led all drivers with 95 laps turned during the evening outing in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Penske’s David Malukas was fourth in the No. 12 Chevy (158.665mph), Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay was fifth in the No. 76 Chevy (158.648mph), and Alexander Rossi rounded out the top six with a 158.539mph lap generated by the No. 20 ECR Chevy.

“It was an OK start,” Newgarden said. “We'll see what tomorrow brings. It's going to be a tough race. I think there was a lot of learning with the tires just 'cause we had two different compounds to start. They were different compounds, different ages, as well, which is a big difference. Feels like everybody was trying to figure out how to make the most of that. You have to adjust. You're kind of tuned into one, then you have to tune into the other.

“I think it was a pretty good start. We'll see how the weekend goes. The Snap-On car looks amazing. I really like the livery. We always have something different. I like the one we brought this weekend. Hopefully we can be fast with it.”

Three drivers crashed during the session, first with Nolan Siegel and then a late tangle between Christian Rasmussen and Kyle Kirkwood added to the damage.

Palou, the 2025 Milwaukee pole-sitter, was fastest right away when the session opened and set a 158.890mph best with Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon holding second for most of the first 30 minutes with a 156.239mph lap.

There was a stoppage during that window for Siegel, who spun and crashed the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevy in Turn 2. Siegel backed the car in and did some damage to the rear, but it wasn’t an overly hard hit. He spent the rest of the session under the Arrow McLaren tent as repairs were made for Saturday morning’s activities.

As the session moved into the final hour, more drivers found pace as Rossi went to second with a 158.539mph lap ahead of Kirkwood in third with a 158.042mph run. Kyffin Simpson was fifth at 157.431mph, and Rasmussen completed the top six at 157.247mph as the halfway point of the session drew near.

Stupidity entered the conversation with 23 minutes left as Rasmussen and Kirkwood drag raced from Turn 2 to Turn 3. Rasmussen appeared to turn down from the outside lane and make contact with Kirkwood, who spun and collected Rasmussen, whose car climbed onto Kirkwood’s car and tiled sideways against the wall.

Both drivers climbed from their cars under their own power.

Once the session resumed, Newgarden moved to the top with a lap of 159.430mph which held for the rest of the run. Hauger also leapt forward with a 159.378mph lap to go to second ahead of Palou.

UP NEXT: Qualifying, Saturday, 11:05am ET

RESULTS