For the first time in eight years, the NTT IndyCar Series returned to Phoenix Raceway on Saturday afternoon in the Good Ranchers 250. Team Penske was on the front row with David Malukas starting from the pole position, and Josef Newgarden started second.
Before the race started, Romain Grosjean’s car had a mechanical issue and had to be pushed to the garage, and his day was done. David Malukas dominated the early portion of the race by leading 72 laps. While Malukas was leading the race, there were a couple of cautions that happened.
The first caution happened on lap 19 when Dennis Hauger got loose on the backstretch. He managed to keep the car from hitting the wall and drove backward before he was able to spin the car in the right direction.
The second caution happened on lap 22 when Rinus VeeKay had a run on the outside and hit Alex Palou’s right rear tire, which sent him into the wall at Turn 4. On lap 73, David Malukas went to pit road. The lead would change hands several times with Christian Rasmussen, Marcus Armstrong, Scott Dixon, Dennis Hauger, and Pato O’Ward all leading laps. Later in the race, Christian Rasmussen was leading the race when Louis Foster hit the Turn 4 wall, which brought out the third caution of the race on lap 142.
During the caution, many drivers went to pit road with Kyle Kirkwood taking the lead. Kirkwood led until lap 192 when he went to pit road. Christian Rasmussen, Dennis Hauger, Marcus Ericsson, and Will Power all took turns leading the race.
On lap 207, Christian Rasmussen attempted to pass Will Power for the lead from the outside of the backstretch when his front left tire made contact with Power’s right rear tire, and Rasmussen hit the wall to bring out the fourth and final caution of the race. Will Power’s right rear tire went flat, and he had to go to pit road, and Rasmussen was the new leader. Power went a lap down and finished in 16th place.
With less than ten laps to go, Kyle Kirkwood passed Rasmussen for the lead. Kirkwood only led two laps before Josef Newgarden took the lead on lap 244. Newgarden led the final seven laps to win his first race of the season by 1.7937 seconds over Kyle Kirkwood. The last driver to win at Phoenix Raceway was Josef Newgarden in 2018.
David Malukas, Pato O’Ward, and Marcus Armstrong rounded out the top five. Alexander Rossi, Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin, Graham Rahal, and Kiffin Simpson completed the top ten. Click here for the rest of the standings.
The NTT IndyCar Series heads to the streets of Arlington, Texas, for the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington next Sunday, March 15, 2026, at 12:30 pm on Fox.
