By Austin Lawton, Staff Writer
Josef Newgarden set the mark on yet another short oval, pacing the only practice session for the double-header weekend at the Milwaukee Mile.
“It was an okay start,” Newgarden said. “We’ll see what tomorrow brings. It’s going to be a tough race. I think there was a lot of learning with the tires just because we had two different compounds to start.They were different compounds, different ages, as well, which is a big difference. I feel like everybody was trying to figure out how to make the most of that. You have to adjust. You’re kind of tuned into one, then you have to tune into the other. I think it was a pretty good start. We’ll see how the weekend goes. The Snap-On car looks amazing. I really like the livery. We always have something different. I like the one we brought this weekend. Hopefully we can be fast with it.”
Newgarden’s lap of 159.430mph was good enough to best rookie Dennis Hauger (159.378mph) by just 0.052 of a mile-per-hour. The Dane is competing in his first IndyCar double-header weekend. Just like every team, Hauger is having to rely on the full-field test on July 8 as a prime track-learning opportunity.
“We’ve had good tests in the past and turn up to the race and be nowhere,” Hauger said. “Hopefully that won’t be the case here. I think we had the 12th quickest time at the test, but the race is a different story here as well. Hopefully we can have a decent qualifying and have a clean weekend. There’s going to be a lot of points on the table this weekend, so it’s just going to be really important to complete every lap and get some good points.”
Championship leader Alex Palou was third fastest at 158.890mph. Palou can clinch his fifth IndyCar title with a gap of 108 points to second place, Kyle Kirkwood. The feat got a little bit easier for Palou after Kirkwood crashed with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen late in the session, going into Turn 3.
For Palou, the prospect of winning another title for Palou is still surreal, especially with the added caveat of having his parents and sister at Milwaukee this weekend.
“I woke up today and I’m like ‘Man how did we get here?’,” Palou said. “My parents are here. It’s been since May that they were not at a race and we talked about that last night [Thursday]. Crazy that we have another chance at winning a title. It would be super cool to win it this weekend because my mom and sister are there, that normally cannot come.”
David Malukas put the No.12 Verizon Chevrolet in fourth (158.665mph) and is still seeking his first career IndyCar win. The young Team Penske driver did not have a lot of testing time in July, nursing an injured wrist, with teammate Scott McLaughlin running laps in his stead.
“ I had to do a double-take when I saw it was only one practice session,” Malukas said. “Thankfully, you know I have good teammates in Scott and Josef and we have fantastic data from them.
“Chevy is making our jobs easier. It’s so fast on the straightaways and fast everywhere. Our Verizon car was really good in race running, qually sims. I’m super happy. It’s still going to be a close fight, but I think Team Penske did a great job getting ready. Everything is looking good, but I don’t want to jinx it.”
Rinus Veekay put his No.76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet in fifth at 158.648mph. Veekay finished fourth at World Wide Technology Raceway in June and will look to have another strong short oval finish on Saturday.
SEE: Milwaukee Practice Results
Saturday will be a busy day for the IndyCar series at Milwaukee. Teams will qualify at 11 a.m. eastern and then will have a quick turnaround for the first of two 250 lap races at 2:30 p.m. eastern.