Phoenix Raceway (Avondale, Ariz.) — INDYCAR has a new points leader.
That shouldn’t really be news. But Alex Palou had not left a race in any other spot than the points leader after every race since Laguna Seca in June 2024 — a span of 28 straight races.
That streak ended after he crashed early Saturday in the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway and finished 24th, Josef Newgarden vaulted into the points lead thanks to his victory in the opener of an INDYCAR-NASCAR Desert Double weekend on FOX.
Winner Josef Newgarden (center), Kyle Kirkwood (L, second place) and David Malukas (R, third place) hold their trophies after the Good Ranchers 250.
[RACE HIGHLIGHTS: Josef Newgarden Wins; Alex Palou Wrecks at Phoenix]
“Typically when you see me in Victory Lane, it’s probably because I had the best car on the day,” Newgarden said in his postrace news conference. indicating he wasn’t the best car throughout Saturday’s race.
“I’ve got to say I was not a believer midway through the race. But when I needed that car to be good, it was really good. It’s not like I was doing something magical. It was right where I needed it to be.”
Here are my takeaways:
Power, Rasmussen Wonder What Happened
Battling for the lead with 47 laps left in the race, Christian Rasmussen tried to get to the outside of Will Power, who pinched him toward the wall. They made contact and Rasmussen also hit the wall. Rasmussen retained the lead but the damage proved too much and he finished 14th.
“We were the class of the field today,” Rasmussen said on the FOX telecast. “The best car out there. I was so happy with the car. You can’t just run people into the wall, which is what happened today.
“He ran me straight into the wall.”
Christian Rasmussen was left wondering what could have been after battling for the lead late before faltering.
Power, who was 16th, told me he could have executed better. He actually ended the interview when he saw Rasmussen team owner Ed Carpenter walk by and went over to say he was sorry. Rasmussen and Power also had a brief conversation in the garage after the race.
“It’s a cruel sport at times,” Power told me, later adding: “It was for the win. I thought if I could hold him for another couple of laps, he would degrade [his tires and go slower]. He’s very good on a short oval and he won’t relent, so maybe I should have stopped [moving up].”
Newgarden Now Champ Favorite?
After a frustrating 2025, the two-time series champion won’t annoit himself as the championship favorite.
That’s fair. But it’s amazing what a couple of solidly executed weekends (with the exception of qualifying at St. Pete) will do for the perception of one of the sport’s most accomplished drivers.
“It’s an everyday process,” Newgarden said in his postrace news conference. “We’re going to take it one step at a time. It doesn’t mean there’s not going to be some turbulence.
“I think if we do our jobs and control what’s in our control, I don’t see why we can’t be in the fight.”
Palou Now The Chaser
Alex Palou had contact with Rinus VeeKay and hit the wall, ending his race after just 21 laps. He dropped to fifth in the standings, an unusual position.
In typical Palou fashion for the three-time reigning champion, he wouldn’t relinquish the idea of being the points leader right away.
“We don’t know that yet — the race still needs to finish,” he said with a little bit of a smirk to me and other reporters outside the INDYCAR medical unit. “It’s likely that we’re not gong to be leading.”
Alex Palou found himself in the unusual position of exiting early from a race following his crash Saturday.
But he’s not. And there’s no one who thinks he still isn’t the favorite.
“It’s unfortunate,” Palou said. “It’s not important. The important stuff is we ended up in the wall. That’s what hurts. Losing the points lead on the second race, it’s fine. At least we started the season good, started the race good and off to Arlington.”
Schumacher Finds Oval Hectic
With drivers doing laps of 20-21 seconds on the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway, Mick Schumacher has never experienced how hectic the racing was on the short oval.
Mick Schumacher got his first taste of oval racing at Phoenix.
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His team also had an issue with its pit gun, causing him to lose a lap, and he finished two laps down in 18th.
“I was surprised,” Schumacher told me and other reporters. “Cars coming quick, and when one car comes and they have another one behind them, those guys will go through also. Lots to understand, lots to learn from my side, for sure, but we managed to get through it.”
4 ½: What’s Next
INDYCAR heads to a new event March 15 in Arlington on a course that will take them around the stadiums of the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers.
The street courses typically favor the Andretti Global cars, but one that is new for everyone gives the potential for more drivers to land on the right setup.
Teams have simulation testing, but that only helps them so much as the course is just being built in the last few weeks for the first time.
“The problem is you never know if the walls are in the right place,” driver Christian Ludngaard said. “I think we have done some sim, and it was nice just to know the radius of the corners, taking it with a grain of salt. We don’t know what the pace is going to be.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
