Pato O’Ward (No. 5) of Arrow McLaren takes to Phoenix Raceway for the Unser INDYCAR Open Test. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)
AVONDALE, Ariz. — For the last six consecutive years, Phoenix Raceway hosted NASCAR’s Championship weekend. While NASCAR’s championship battles will take place at Homestead-Miami Speedway this November, there will be no shortage of racing at Phoenix as the NTT INDYCAR Series will return in a combined weekend with NASCAR, March 5-8, 2026.
Ahead of the anticipated doubleheader weekend, the full grid of Indy drivers underwent a two-day open test around the 1.022-mile oval, February 17-18. The last time the IndyCar Series raced at Phoenix Raceway was in 2018. Many of the current IndyCar drivers have never raced at Phoenix, including, Alex Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and four-time reigning NTT INDYCAR Series champion.
“I’m very excited to be here for the first time for me, and just to get the season started,” Palou said ahead of the Unser INDYCAR open test.
After a dominant performance last year, Palou knows he still has his work cut out for him.
“I think the team has done a lot of work over the off-season to try and have a year close to 2025, if we can, but we’ll just see how we roll off,” he observed.
Palou wasn’t the only driver excited to be at Phoenix for the first time. Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, looks forward to the challenge of racing in at the D-shaped oval and realizes how the Good Ranchers 250 is a wide open race for the field.
“This is a new race for me, just like it is for Alex”, O’Ward said. “Honestly, I haven’t really watched the 2018 Phoenix race, so it’s been a while since I’ve seen IndyCars go around this place.”
O’Ward, who observed how fans prefer oval racing, acknowledges how a track like Phoenix will present a challenge as it is different from the street and road courses he’s used to.
“I really don’t know what to expect in terms of what the racing is going to look like, but I’m assuming we’re probably going to do a two-lane session out here,” O’Ward shared.
Over the two days, the weather presented some challenges. It was unseasonably windy and rainy for the track situated in “The Valley of the Sun.”
Alex Palou and Marcus Ericsson take a moment from the Unser INDYCAR Open Test at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Matt Fraver | Penske Entertainment)
“I think we learned that the weather affects a lot. Even from the morning to the afternoon, the track really flipped around, and it seemed like everyone was struggling in turns three and four, and not one and two, which was previously the case,” Felix Rosenqvist said at the conclusion of the test session.
Rosenqvist, driver of the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing, drove to the checkered flag at Phoenix in his inaugural race on an oval track with Indy lights in 2016. Since then, Phoenix Raceway has undergone a name change and has seen significant renovations including the relocation of its start/finish line now in the dogleg past Turn 4.
Despite the weather, the consensus at the end of the UNSER IndyCar Open Test, was that Phoenix is a fun track.
“I thought the track was really fun. It had a good flow to it,” Rosenqvist said. “It was difficult to get the balance right especially with the wind and weather changing, but overall, it was just fun.”
Other drivers shared similar views.
“I thought it’s a very fun track to drive and very unique,” said Nolan Siegel, driver of the No. 6 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren.
Siegel explained that the test was a success because he is much more confident with his abilities than he would have been coming to a new track without having run a test. The excitement of the IndyCar season officially gets underway March 1st at St. Petersburg.
