Newgarden Paces Milwaukee Mile INDYCAR Practice
Photo by Chris Jones/Penske Entertainment
In the only practice session of the weekend, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden paced the field Friday afternoon in preparation for this weekend’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250s NTT INDYCAR SERIES doubleheader.
Driving the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, the two-time Indianapolis 500 champion toured the one-mile oval at a speed of 158.762 mph, outpacing Scott Dixon in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda at 158.080 mph.
Pato O’Ward in the No.5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, 157.750 mph, Felix Rosenqvist, No. 66 AutoNation/SiriusXM Honda and Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet, 157.581 mph rounded out the top five.
With Team Penske undefeated on the ovals this season in INDYCAR, Newgarden was encouraged with his fastest lap of the day.
“It's always tough these days. It's a full grid, right? What do we have, 27 cars? A lot of people on track.
“I'm sure there's individuals that didn't get a super clear lap, and there's probably more to be seen from everybody. You just account for that. I think we've accounted for that at other ovals. You'll see the same thing here.
It's encouraging. Think our car was really good. I was happy. Took some tuning. The tire was very different on the low line tire that we ran, then we went to the current tire and it took a lot of work to get it where it needed to be.
“When we got through the first 30 minutes, I was super happy with the car. The team did a great job feeling comfy and comfortable. Yeah, I think Team Chevy did a good job, too, at least from what I've seen preliminarily.
Two opportunities for us to have a nice result to end the year.”
Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
While it’s been nine years since INDYCAR last raced at The Mile, Newgarden said it’s the same Milwaukee.
“It feels similar. It's different compared to 2015 when we left. We had a huge aero kit, big downforce. You were pretty much just flat. Very different from 2015.
“We're way heavier. From that standpoint, it's completely different.
“But I think it's still Milwaukee. Like, sort of the general traits of this track are very much there underneath the surface. It's just a different car. A lot less downforce. It's heavier, requires a different setup, different finesse. You got to look after things differently than you did 10 years ago.
“It's the same Milwaukee. There's a preferred line. There's kind of an alternate line that's not great but usable. Yeah, it's a very interesting track. I think if we get some dropoff, there's going to be good racing, which I think everybody wants to see.”
Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
As far as what kind of racing to expect in Saturday’s first race of the weekend, neither Dixon nor Newgarden had a good handle on that.
“I don't know,” Dixon said. “It's hard to tell from these sessions. I think even from St. Louis, you didn't really get a great idea. Then as soon as the start, when people used that second lane, it was strong for the whole night.
“I don't know. I'd say in the low line run, it never really got any better, the low run. At least it didn't for me.”
Newgarden agreed it was difficult to predict how the first race would go.
“You don't know with these sessions. Sometimes you sort of get an inkling on what you think is going to happen, then things just kind of shift as you get through the race.
“I think Gateway (St. Louis) was a very surprising result. I was super surprised the way it raced. So I don't know. I mean, until we get through the first one, it's really tough to predict.
“I know you want an answer, you think we have more of an idea. We get through the first round, we'll know exactly how is going to race, you know what you're getting for race two.
“Right now, it's going to be interesting to see who is strong. I think you'll have big separation is one thing that I will say. I think you'll have cars that are really not good, like really not good, and you'll have some cars that are really good, so…
“That's one thing I'd predict.”
“I don't know,” Dixon added. “In that practice you definitely saw cars that were struggling. Again, it's a practice session. You don't know what sequence they're on, what tires they're on, so doesn't give you a great idea.
“There is a clear difference and that will create separation. It definitely will be tough. I don't think there's any moment you're doing a lap here and it feels easy. You're constantly correcting, trying to manage how much grip you've got, how much you think you've got. It will be tough.”
Photo by Chris Owens/Penske Entertainment
While neither Newgarden or Dixon are directly involved in the championship battle, they each have a teammate who is. Newgarden, who is willing to help his Team Penske teammate, Will Power, in any way that he can, said this weekend was too early at this point of the season to swap positions for points.
“If it comes down to the finale, I've had great support from him in the past. Thinking about my first championship, 2017, he shadowed me the whole race. When it comes down to the very end and we're still in position...
“You got to be really careful, though. This is not me being cagey, it's just the truth. If you start trying to orchestrate too much, you put yourself into a mess. I'm not going to do that. I don't think as a team we're going to try to do that.
“Logically, you come down to the finale, we're in Nashville, we have a car that can seal the championship, I'm not in it, I'm going to have his back all the way, 100%. But we're not in Nashville yet. There's a long way to go. If we try and get too clever about the way we run our team, I think you put yourself in a bad situation.
“We need to go out and do the job we always do. We're going to race each other hard, but we need to take care of each other, right? I don't want to be crashing my teammates.
“When it comes down to the very end, hopefully we're in a position to seal the championship, we all want to see that happen, especially me. I'll make sure that we get the job done then.”
Dixon, however, is still mathematically alive at 101-points behind teammate Alex Palou. At this point, he prefers to focus on what he’s doing, not his teammate.
“I think when it makes sense, it makes sense, otherwise you got to focus on your own thing. You always give your own teammates more room. You race them differently than you maybe do some other competitors in some situations. Does it emphasize when it's for a championship? Yeah, a little bit.
“You just always hope that a team car isn't going to play a part in how that goes. If it's with the inner team stuff, then so be it.”
Photo by Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment
In INDY NXT by Firestone, championship leader Louis Foster was the class of the field with a fast lap of 148.410 mph in the No. 26 Copart/Novara Technologies Dallara for Andretti Global.
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin’s Yuven Sundaramoorthy in the No. 22 Optima Batteries/Clarios/ABEL Motorsports Dallara posted the sixth fast speed of the session at 146.416 mph. Racing at his home track, Sundaramoorthy marked the occasion by wearing Wisconsin Badgers tribute helmet. A recent graduate of UW-Madison, Sundaramoorthy left the track after practice to attend the Badger’s home opener Friday evening.