"The team is ready to rock": Josef Newgarden tops IndyCar Practice One in Milwaukee
Josef Newgarden topped IndyCar Practice One in Milwaukee ahead of qualifying.
Josef Newgarden set the fastest lap in Practice One in Milwaukee with a lap time of 22.6864 and an average speed of 161.066mph.
So far struggling this season, Newgarden has found confidence on short ovals as he found in Iowa, one of his favourite tracks on the calendar.
Newgarden was unlucky to win neither race in Iowa after bad pitstops and Cautions dropped him out of the lead in race one and two.
“It feels good. It’s very compact,” Newgarden said, “That’s IndyCar. The team seems ready to rock.”
Team Penske looks ready to fight this weekend with all three in the top 12.
Scott McLaughlin finished seventh with a lap time of 22.8286s and an average speed of 159.867 mph while the man of the moment Will Power finished 11th with a lap time 22.9068s with an average speed of 159.255 mph.
Power's future in IndyCar remains in the balance after Team Penske is yet to agree to sign a contract with the Australian driver.
In his 17th consecutive season with the team, David Malukas has been lined up to replace him with Larry Foyt also weighing in that the AJ Foyt is preparing for the eventuality for losing Malukas in the team.
2025 IndyCar champion Alex Palou set the second fastest lap time with a 22.7601s and an average speed of 160.544mph.
Conor Daly surprisingly wrapped up the top three while Rinus VeeKay sat fourth in the session.
Dale Coyne has praised VeeKay ahead of this weekend and seemingly confirmed the Dutchman will race for the team in 2026.
Drivers seemed to be hesitant to give it their all to avoid a crash that would hinder their weekend due to only two hours between qualifying and Practice One.
With no crashes, the only interruption was when the track was needed to be inspected as series officials wanted to guarantee that no moisture was coming through the track.
Milwaukee had been victim to a large rainfall which had caused floods two weeks ago but it seems so far this shouldn't have any effect on the weekend ahead.
Scott Dixon and Kyffin Simpson will take new Honda engines and therefore have been given grid penalties for the race. They will be joined by Louis Foster who failed to set any competitive times.
Foster's #45 team got to work to replace his engine during the session to avoid any need to rush ahead of the qualifying.
| Position | No. | Driver | Team | Best Time | Best Speed | Difference |
| 1 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 00:22.6864 | 161.066 | --.---- |
| 2 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | 00:22.7601 | 160.544 | 0.0737 |
| 3 | 76 | Conor Daly | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 00:22.7754 | 160.436 | 0.0890 |
| 4 | 18 | Rinus VeeKay | Dale Coyne Racing | 00:22.8004 | 160.260 | 0.1140 |
| 5 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global | 00:22.8252 | 160.086 | 0.1388 |
| 6 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 00:22.8286 | 160.062 | 0.1422 |
| 7 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | 00:22.8565 | 159.867 | 0.1701 |
| 8 | 20 | Alexander Rossi | Ed Carpenter Racing | 00:22.8604 | 159.840 | 0.1740 |
| 9 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian | 00:22.8748 | 159.739 | 0.1884 |
| 10 | 5 | Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren | 00:22.8758 | 159.732 | 0.1894 |
| 11 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 00:22.9068 | 159.516 | 0.2204 |
| 12 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 00:22.9444 | 159.255 | 0.2580 |
| 13 | 4 | David Malukas | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 00:22.9479 | 159.230 | 0.2615 |
| 14 | 66 | Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian | 00:22.9917 | 158.927 | 0.3053 |
| 15 | 30 | Devlin DeFrancesco | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 00:23.1657 | 157.733 | 0.4793 |
| 16 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren | 00:23.1870 | 157.588 | 0.5006 |
| 17 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian | 00:23.2409 | 157.223 | 0.5545 |
| 18 | 7 | Christian Lundgaard | Arrow McLaren | 00:23.2533 | 157.139 | 0.5669 |
| 19 | 21 | Christian Rasmussen | Ed Carpenter Racing | 00:23.3428 | 156.536 | 0.6564 |
| 20 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global | 00:23.3518 | 156.476 | 0.6654 |
| 21 | 50 | Jacob Abel | Dale Coyne Racing | 00:23.4508 | 155.816 | 0.7644 |
| 22 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 00:23.4767 | 155.644 | 0.7903 |
| 23 | 83 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA Racing | 00:23.4840 | 155.595 | 0.7976 |
| 24 | 90 | Callum Ilott | PREMA Racing | 00:23.5365 | 155.248 | 0.8501 |
| 25 | 8 | Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 00:23.5598 | 155.095 | 0.8734 |
| 26 | 77 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 00:23.6117 | 154.754 | 0.9253 |
| 27 | 45 | Louis Foster | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 00:32.6810 | 111.808 | 9.9946 |
