The NTT IndyCar Series’ first official practice session at the Milwaukee Mile since 2015 took place under warm and humid conditions as dark clouds and blue skies alternated throughout the 90-minute outing led by Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.
Fastest at the July hybrid test on the historic Wisconsin oval, Penske was well placed again with Newgarden up front with a best lap of 158.762mph in the No. 2 Chevy and had teammates Scott McLaughlin not far behind in fifth (157.581mph) and Will Power in 11th (156.539mph).
Second was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon at 158.080mph in the No. 9 Honda and rebounding from a dismal weekend in Portland, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was third in the No. 5 Chevy with a 157.750mph lap. Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist was fourth in the No. 60 Honda with a 157.628mph, followed by McLaughlin in fifth and Ganassi’s Marcus Armstrong in sixth with the No. 11 Honda at 157.146mph. Ganassi’s championship leader Alex Palou was ninth in the No. 10 Honda at 156.793mph.
“A lot of people on track,” Newgarden said of the constantly busy session. “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.
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“It’s encouraging. [I] think our car was really good. I was happy. [It] took some tuning. The tire was very different on the low line … 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 comfortable. Yeah, I think Team Chevy did a good job, too, at least from what I’ve seen preliminarily.”
The field of 27 drivers opened the afternoon in a pair of special sessions to apply rubber to the second lane, and once they were done, the 3:30-5 p.m. CT run was most mostly anticlimactic. By 3:45pm, at least half the teams had their drivers sitting on pit lane, cars in the air, as damper and spring changes — some at the front or rear, and others on all four corners — were tried. After chassis setup work was completed, teams shifted to long stints to simulate race running; with Friday’s practice serving as the only practice session of the event, the 90 minutes were more structured than usual.
The only crash of the day belonged to Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen who got high and slid across tire marbles and met the Turn 2 wall with the right side of his car. The Danish rookie was uninjured, and the car, which had crumpled right-side suspension, will be ready to go on Saturday.
UP NEXT: Qualifying, 2:15 p.m. ET Saturday.