Malukas Steals Pole at Phoenix; Team Penske Sweeps Front Row

David Malukas captured his first career NTT P1 Award for the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)

AVONDALE, Ariz. — It may be safe to say that David Malukas is making himself at home at Team Penske after capturing his first career NTT P1 Award in qualifying on Friday for the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway.

Malukas posted a blistering two-lap average of 175.383 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, knocking Graham Rahal off the top spot. The Chicago native enters his fifth season of NTT IndyCar Series competition still searching for his first career victory.

“Finally!” said Malukas. “I’m so happy. So many P2s. The story of ovals last season was we had it, waited until the last few guys and then boom, you get P2. But finally, we got it.”

Malukas showed early speed by leading the opening practice session on the one-mile oval and carried that momentum into qualifying.

“I think the track got in our favor a little bit; it seemed like it was getting a bit worse. It feels so good. What a way to start our Phoenix race day tomorrow.”

Malukas’ teammate Josef Newgarden has historically dominated oval racing over the past decade, winning an astounding 36 percent of oval races since 2017 (18 victories). Newgarden came up just short of his 24-year-old teammate, posting the second-fastest average at 174.548 mph in the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.

“Good day for the team,” said Newgarden. “I think we’re all top five where we landed. So, a lot of speed on our cars. We felt good at the test. A little different than the test, to be honest.”

One of the day’s biggest storylines was the surprising resurgence of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, which placed two drivers inside the top 10 in qualifying after several seasons of struggles.

Mick Schumacher qualified for his first oval race at the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway. (Photo: Joe Skibinski | Penske Entertainment)

Rahal qualified third in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda with a lap of 173.993 mph. Rahal’s rookie teammate and former Formula 1 and World Endurance Championship contender Mick Schumacher drew attention with a fourth-place qualifying effort at 173.667 mph in the No. 47 ENVE Honda.

It marked Schumacher’s first attempt at qualifying on an oval circuit — a style of racetrack he had never driven before arriving in the United States.

“We knew what we had to do, and we managed to put a good couple of laps together,” said Schumacher. “I’m excited to run the race. It’s going to be a whole different situation in the race with traffic and everything, so it’s going to be tough.”

Newgarden also praised Schumacher’s performance.

“I thought he (Schumacher) was shockingly good,” said Newgarden. “I mean, what do you expect, you know? This guy is like a complete – literally, a foreigner to oval racing. I thought he did a great job. I would also just say it looked like Rahal in general looked significantly better than they have in the past.”

Rounding out the Team Penske contingent in the top five was Scott McLaughlin, last week’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg runner-up, who qualified fifth with a lap of 173.448 mph in the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet.

Alexander Rossi, the fastest driver during the February open test at Phoenix, posted the sixth-fastest lap at 173.389 mph in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet.

Last week’s race winner and defending four-time series champion Alex Palou qualified 10th with a lap of 172.980 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

The start of the 2026 season continued to be difficult for Will Power. After suffering two crashes last week in St. Petersburg, the two-time series champion encountered more trouble during his qualifying attempt when he lost control of his No. 26 TWG AI Andretti Global Honda and made contact with the Turn 1 wall.

The 250-lap Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. ET on FOX and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation Radio, channel 218.

Qualifying Results: