Photo: 2 Josef Newgarden on his final lap to win the race
Race fans at the Phoenix Raceway for the Indy Car Race saw something extremely rare Saturday afternoon. Not since 1991 has three Americans finished in the top three spots. Thirty-five years ago Michael Andretti, John Andretti, and Mario Andretti finished first, second and third at Miller Genuine Draft in Milwaukee. Josef Newgarden, Kyle Kirkwood, and David Malukis have now equaled that feat.
Photo: Indy cars go past the grandstands on a beautiful day at Phoenix Raceway
Newgarden came back through the top ten in the final 31 laps to win the Good Ranchers 250 Indy Car Race in Phoenix. It was the first Indy Car Race in Phoenix since 2018 with only five of the current drivers still on the circuit that ran here before.
Photo: 27 Kyle Kirkwood finished second
There were only four caution flags for the entire 250 lap race. Newgarden made his move on Kyle Kirkwood with six laps remaining to gain the top spot. From there he held off the four other drivers vying for the win. Kirkwood had to settle for second place. David Malukas was also pushing to get the win but ended up in third.
Newgarden was coming off his worst season in a decade although he did manage to pick up a win at the end of the 2025 season in Nashville. He did that after several DNF (Did not finish).
“Today felt like a gift in a lot of ways,” said Newgarden. “I was not a believer in getting the victory midway though this race, but I came into it with a very open mind. I felt like we could fight for the win, but then I thought there are some really good cars out here today. My team did a good job and I wanted to be aggressive and that was the only way I was going to win this race.”
Kirkwood said, “I am really happy with our JM Bullion Honda and our result today. We had a really good shot to win up there up until the final handful of laps. That is just what a 20 lap fresher tires can do and today we scored a huge second place for our #27 team.”
Photo: 12 David Malukis was just ahead of 2 Josef Newgarden for a while midway through the race
Third place finisher David Malukis made his first pole position start in just his second race and was very happy to end up with a podium finish. “I was really happy, like Kyle said, it was awesome. There are so many different strategies, so much going on. In the middle of the race I thought All right, here we go, hopefully stay in the top 10. Things really played out. Another yellow came out. We still had an opportunity at the end. Big congrats to Josef for getting the win there.”
Fourth place went to Patou O’Ward, fifth was Marcus Armstrong. Other American finishers in the top ten were Alexander Rossi in sixth place and Graham Rahal finished ninth.
From remaining laps 31 to 11 laps, Rasmussen led with Kirkwood and Malukis following close behind. Newgarden continued to be aggressive and moved up to the third spot as Kirkwood overcame Rasmussen. At lap 8, Newgarden overcame Malukis and Rasmussen and was right behind Kirkwood. Then with just six laps left, Newgarden blew by Kirkwood and went on to cruise for victory.
Photo: 28 Christian Rasmussen was the leader with 11 laps remaining
What happened to Rasmussen? He led 69 laps but finished 14th. His 28 car suffered damage when Will Power drifted into him coming off turn two forcing him into the wall. Ramussen said, “It’s so frustrating, so frustrating because we should have won the race and obviously we didn’t.”
It was an early end of the day for Alex Palou, who was making his 100th start. Palau got knocked out when his car was bumped on the drivers side front wheel by Rinus Veekay just past turn one in just lap 19. A disappointed Palou said, “I didn’t think there was anybody there. It is unfortunate that we ended up in the wall.” Palou won 8 of his 17 races last season, including the Indy 500.
The NTT Indy Car Series continues in Arlington, Texas, with the Java House Grand Prix on Sunday at 9:30am local time.
