Josef Newgarden – Snap-On Makers and Fixers 250 at the Milwaukee Mile – Photo by Amber Pietz

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

NTT IndyCar Series ovalmeister Josef Newgarden paced Practice 1 for the Snap-on INDYCAR Weekend Friday at The Milwaukee Mile, where anticipation over Alex Palou’s latest championship was momentarily muted by a grid penalty.

The historic 1.015-mile oval in West Allis, Wis., is playing host to the only double-header on the 2026 series schedule.

SEE: Practice Results

Newgarden, winner of two-of-three short-oval events this season, was fastest at 159.430 mph in the No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevrolet. The two-time series champion, who completed 83 laps Friday, has earned 14 of his 34 career victories on short ovals like Milwaukee.

While Newgarden played to form, he was joined at the top of the speed chart by native Norwegian Dennis Hauger of Dale Coyne Racing. The leader in the Rookie of the Year standings, Hauger placed second at 159.378 mph in the No. 19 Ault Block Chain Honda. Hauger, the 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone champion, has a best finish in four prior oval starts this season of 15th in March at Phoenix Raceway _ coincidentally site of his best oval qualifying spot of 22nd.

Palou, the four-time/reigning series champion, was third at 158.890 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda in his bid to clinch a fourth consecutive and fifth overall series title.

Palou leads Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global by 91 points and must lead by 108 after either the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250/253.75-miles on Saturday (2:30 p.m. EDT) or 54 after the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 on Sunday (1 p.m.) to hoist the Astor Challenge Cup. FOX, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls will broadcast both races live.

However, there is context surrounding Palou’s practice pace as he and the other 24 drivers in the field prepare for NTT P1 Award qualifying at 11 a.m. (EDT) Saturday on FS1, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls. The 29-year-old Spaniard was among a handful of drivers slapped with a nine-spot penalty on the starting grid of Saturday’s race for an unapproved engine change after last Sunday’s Freedom 250 Grand Prix in Washington, D.C.

The historic first motorsports street race conducted on a 1.7-mile/seven-turn temporary circuit winding through the nation’s capital was won by Kirkwood in dominating fashion. Kirkwood trailed Palou by 133 points entering the race but slashed that gap to 91 with three events remaining.

FOX’s broadcast from D.C. reportedly averaged 3.282-million viewers, largest audience for a non-Indianapolis 500 INDYCAR race since before the sport unified in 2008. Viewership peaked at 3.482- million from 2:30 to 2:45 p.m. (EDT) and was a massive 279 percent above FOX’s average audience for Sunday non-Indy 500 races in 2025.

Palou, who logged a session-high 95 laps Friday, is bidding to tie Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais’ record of four consecutive titles (2004-07). If Palou clinches Saturday, he would be the first driver to secure INDYCAR championships with two races remaining in consecutive seasons.

More to the point, Palou is looking to rebound from a miserable Sunday in D.C., where he finished 20^th _ three laps down to Kirkwood _ in the 25-car field. Palou soldiered through an uncommon string of mistakes including hitting a rival’s tire during a pit stop and incurring a drive-through penalty; a slow pit stop due to a loose left front wheel and finally a crash in Turn 4 on Lap 123 due to a broken toe link from earlier wall-contact.

Five drivers remain mathematically eligible for the 2026 title _ Palou, Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard of Denmark and Arrow McLaren, David Malukas of Team Penske and native Mexican Pato O’Ward, also of Arrow McLaren. Any driver who trails Palou by 108 points or more following the race will be eliminated from contention.

O’Ward was ninth on the chart Friday after 46 laps with a top speed of 157.985 mph in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “We tested here in Milwaukee a few weeks ago,” said O’Ward, a 27-year-old native of Monterrey, Mexico, with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “It doesn’t seem too different today after Practice 1. I don’t think we’re in a position to change much. We just really need to get as much out of it as we can and make sure we’re in a good position to fight our way forward.”

Malukas, who has scored more oval points than any driver this season, was fourth at 158.665 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. The native Chicagoan is chasing his first career victory on one of his beloved short ovals. But like Palou, Malukas will serve a nine-spot grid penalty Saturday for an unapproved engine change after the race in D.C.

Rinus VeeKay of the Netherlands completed the top-five at 158.648 mph in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. He, too, will move back nine spots after qualifying Saturday after an unapproved engine change following the Freedom 250.

Also hit with grid penalties for the same engine-change violation was the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet driven by native New Zealander Scott McLaughlin and the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet driven by Sting Ray Robb.

The biggest flashpoint with the most significant impact Friday occurred with 24 minutes remaining in the 90-minute session, when title-contender Kirkwood and last year’s Milwaukee race-winner, Rasmussen, crashed heavily.

Kirkwood and Rasmussen of Ed Carpenter Racing ran side-by-side through Turn 2 and down the back straightaway _ uncharacteristically aggressive for an opening practice _ and into the entrance of Turn 3, with Kirkwood on the inside and Rasmussen outside. The No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Kirkwood and the No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet of Rasmussen then made side-by-side contact, hurtling both into the SAFER Barrier.

Both cars incurred heavy damage. Neither driver was injured, but both were bewildered by the incident and offered differing opinions about the culprit.

“It wasn’t actually meant to be aggressive,” said Kirkwood, a 27-year-old resident of Jupiter, Fla. “I was just giving him some space there. He started to turn-in really early, and I don’t know if his spotter didn’t tell him I was still there on the inside or he expected me to turn down early or what, but he just started his turn-in too early. That’s not the way you want to end practice like.”

Rasmussen’s view was predictably different. “It felt like he kind of never turned-in,” said Rasmussen, a 25-year-old native of Copenhagen, Denmark. “I was on the outside and it didn’t feel like I turned-in early. But I think his rear tire probably touched mine. I didn’t feel like I could have been much higher than I was. It was a little bit of a weird one because to me, it just seemed like he was never really turned-in. It’s really unfortunate because we have a really fast race car.”

That was the second and final incident of the practice. Earlier, Nolan Siegel did a quarter-spin and backed the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 about 16 minutes into the session. The car incurred moderate damage, and Siegel was uninjured.

Dallas resident Santino Ferrucci led the two-car contingent from Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in 16^th at 155.726 mph after 51 laps in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet. Rookie teammate Caio Collet of Brazil was 24^th after 61 laps in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet at 151.355 mph.

The Andretti, ECR and Arrow McLaren teams all faced extra work either repairing those machines or preparing backup cars, as qualifying will be the next time those three drivers will get to test their cars. No practice was scheduled for Saturday morning since this event features races Saturday and Sunday.

With the start of the 2026 NFL regular-season schedule looming on Wednesday, Sept. 9, the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season will conclude with the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Monterey on Sunday, Sept. 6, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 553; 2, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 462; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 443; 4, David Malukas, Team Penske, 411; 5, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 399; 6, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 376; 7, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 361; 8, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 355; 9, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 354; 10, Will Power, Andretti Global, 328;

11, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 302; 12, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 290; 13, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 282; 14, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 276; 15, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 257; 16, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 236; 17, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 234; 18, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 229; 19, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 223; 20, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 212;

21, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 204; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 180; 23, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 180; 24, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 170; 25, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 155; 26, Derek Daly, Dryer & Reinbold Racing, 24; 27, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 20; 28, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 8; 29, Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports, 6; 30, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, 5;

31, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 5; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Arrow McLaren, 5; 33, Katherine Legge, HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing, 5.

FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)

Note _ All times Eastern

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, May 24 _ 110^th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, (Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian)

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m., (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)

Monday, July 20 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, (Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global)

Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.

Note _ Dates and times subject to change.

2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)

Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2, (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Myles Rowe, Abel Motorsports)

Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1, (Lochie Hughes, Andretti Global)

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2, (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports powered by ECR)   

Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.

Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2