Josef Newgarden

IndyCar News: Newgarden tops Milwaukee Mile practice

Josef Newgarden turned a lap of 23.0156s or 158.762mph to top IndyCar practice Friday for this weekend’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee 250s doubleheader in his #2 Penske Chevy.

Ganassi veteran Scott Dixon was 2nd quickest in his #9 PNC Honda, just 0.0993s behind Newgarden.

Pato O’Ward put his Arrow McLaren Chevy third on the timesheets, 0.1477s behind Newgarden.

Felix Rosenqvist was 4th fastest in his #60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda, 0.1656s behind.

Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top-5 in his #3 Penske Chevy, 0.1725s behind his teammate Newgarden.

Scott McLaughlin

The session had two yellow flags, one for Christian Rasmussen, who lost control of his #20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy late in the session and the other for track inspection.

The media meet with Newgarden and Dixon, the two fastest drivers in today’s practice. The two veteran drivers were asked what they thought about the current state of the track compared to the last time they raced here.

Newgarden, who won the pole in 2015, said, “It’s different compared to 2015 when we left.  We had a huge aero kit, big downforce. You were pretty much just flat. Today was very different from 2015.”

“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 ten 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 drop-off, there’s going to be good racing, which I think everybody wants to see.”

Dixon, who won here in 2009, had little to add to Newgarden’s comments but agreed that the car is much heavier than it was nine years ago.

The two fastest drivers today also have teammates running closely for the championship.  Both were asked if there would be any team orders to give their teammate a better chance of winning this season’s title.

 

Palou, Power and Newgarden on Portland Podium   Photo courtesy of Penske Entertainment: Chris Owens

Newgarden’s teammate is Will Power.  The Aussie has had two championships and is currently second in the points.

Newgarden answered, “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.”

“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.”

“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 in Nashville.”

Dixon added his take on his teammate, Alex Palou, leading the points for what would be his third championship.  “I think when it makes sense, it makes sense. Otherwise, you have 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.”

Friday Practice Hy-Vee Milwaukee 250 Results

Pos No Name Time Behind Gap FL Laps Speed Engine Team
1 2 Josef Newgarden 23.0156 0.000s 0.000s 33 81 158.762 Chevy Team Penske
2 9 Scott Dixon 23.1149 0.0993 0.0993 29 56 158.080 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
3 5 Pato O’Ward 23.1633 0.1477 0.0484 57 71 157.750 Chevy Arrow McLaren
4 60 Felix Rosenqvist 23.1812 0.1656 0.0179 68 86 157.628 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
5 3 Scott McLaughlin 23.1881 0.1725 0.0069 4 55 157.581 Chevy Team Penske
6 11 Marcus Armstrong 23.2523 0.2367 0.0642 34 63 157.146 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
7 8 Linus Lundqvist 23.2634 0.2478 0.0111 50 85 157.071 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
8 66 David Malukas 23.2838 0.2682 0.0204 49 69 156.933 Honda Meyer Shank Racing
9 10 Alex Palou 23.3046 0.2890 0.0208 29 66 156.793 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
10 26 Colton Herta 23.3263 0.3107 0.0217 2 67 156.647 Honda Andretti Global w/Curb Agajanian
11 12 Will Power 23.3425 0.3269 0.0162 47 71 156.539 Chevy Team Penske
12 18 Jack Harvey 23.3550 0.3394 0.0125 54 99 156.455 Honda Dale Coyne Racing
13 14 Santino Ferrucci 23.3910 0.3754 0.0360 29 90 156.214 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
14 7 Alexander Rossi 23.3959 0.3803 0.0049 24 57 156.181 Chevy Arrow McLaren
15 6 Nolan Siegel 23.5129 0.4973 0.1170 62 66 155.404 Chevy Arrow McLaren
16 27 Kyle Kirkwood 23.5194 0.5038 0.0065 39 57 155.361 Honda Andretti Global
17 21 Rinus VeeKay 23.5452 0.5296 0.0258 34 64 155.191 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
18 20 Christian Rasmussen 23.6151 0.5995 0.0699 77 77 154.732 Chevy Ed Carpenter Racing
19 77 Romain Grosjean 23.6475 0.6319 0.0324 41 68 154.520 Chevy Juncos Hollinger Racing
20 41 Sting Ray Robb 23.7444 0.7288 0.0969 47 76 153.889 Chevy AJ Foyt Enterprises
21 28 Marcus Ericsson 23.8506 0.8350 0.1062 40 58 153.204 Honda Andretti Global
22 15 Graham Rahal 23.9003 0.8847 0.0497 47 69 152.885 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
23 30 Pietro Fittipaldi 23.9347 0.9191 0.0344 46 82 152.665 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
24 45 Christian Lundgaard 23.9368 0.9212 0.0021 37 62 152.652 Honda Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
25 78 Conor Daly 24.0210 1.0054 0.0842 50 60 152.117 Chevy Juncos Hollinger Racing
26 4 Kyffin Simpson 24.1162 1.1006 0.0952 65 91 151.516 Honda Chip Ganassi Racing
27 51 Katherine Legge 24.2505 1.2349 0.1343 52 59 150.677 Honda Dale Coyne Racing

 

Lucille Dust reporting live from the Milwaukee Mile