Before we are able to fully digest the season-opener at St. Petersburg, the NTT IndyCar Series heads to Phoenix for a double-header weekend with NASCAR at the 1.0-mile reconfigured oval at Phoenix Raceway for the Good Ranchers 250. Somewhere along the way, they changed the name from Phoenix International Raceway. By reconfigured, I mean that everything at the facility has changed since IndyCar last raced there in 2018. Stands along what used to be the main straightaway have been torn down, while massive stands have been added to what used to be the Turns 1-2 complex. The starting line has been moved over to the dogleg side of the track, so even the turn names are different.
Hopefully, the ability for an Indy car to race there has also changed. In the three-year stint from 2016-18 that the series last raced there, the races were not very scintillating – and that’s being kind. The final race there in 2018, won by Josef Newgarden, was decent – but that’s in comparison to the previous two snoozers. The races were mostly processional and held little interest for the viewers at home.
The biggest question going into St. Petersburg is the same question heading to Phoenix – can anyone beat Alex Palou. They sure couldn’t at St. Petersburg. When he took the lead less than halfway through, we all knew it was over – and it was.
Palou was the defending race champion at St. Petersburg. Things could be far different as we head into Phoenix. First of all, Palou has never raced there. I’m not saying that Palou’s weakness is oval racing, but it is not his strong suit. He finally broke through with his first oval win of his career last season, at the Indianapolis 500; then followed that up with a victory in Race Two at Iowa last season. So, we know he can win on ovals. In the past his record was very good, but he had not gotten that first oval win until last season.
But even Alex Palou will have trouble winning on an oval he’s never been to before, when so much of his competition has. If he can pull that off, he may actually be Superman – but I don’t see it happening.
This is not the first time that IndyCar has shared a track with the NASCAR Cup Series. In 2020, it became necessary for the respective schedules to create races due to COVID. That continued for the Brickyard weekend from 2021 to 2023, where both series shared the IMS road course.
We attended each of those Brickyard weekends, and I’ll be honest – I didn’t like it. For decades, every time I visited IMS, IndyCar was the star attraction and usually the only attraction.
During the shared Brickyard weekends, IndyCar wasn’t just the second banana – they were the third banana. The Cup cars inhabited the usual garages in Gasoline Alley, while the Xfinity cars stayed in the old Formula One garages. Where was IndyCar located? Under tents in the parking area over near the museum. It was an eerie feeling that I did not care for at all.
Something tells me the pecking order this weekend will resemble those shared Brickyard weekends. The IndyCar race will run on Saturday, with NASCAR running on the preferred Sunday time slot. I’m curious if things will flip next season at Phoenix, where IndyCar will run on Sunday and get the preferred garages. That would be fair, but given the fact that Phoenix Raceway is essentially owned by NASCAR – that probably won’t happen.
I will also be curious about what kind of TV ratings this race gets. Last week at St. Petersburg, the ratings were pretty much flat compared to the same race last year – about 1.4 Million viewers. A year ago, that number represented a huge increase for the FOX debut over what NBC got in 2024. But the ratings dropped dramatically for the second race three weeks later at Thermal Club. Was that due to the amount of time between the first and second race, the undesirable location at Thermal or the fact the series was going against the NCAA Tournament; or all of the above?
Running this race the weekend after the season-opener should give the ratings a bump. Plus the NCAA tournament is still a couple of weeks away. But I am also pretty sure that some loyal IndyCar viewers will be lost in the ratings, because they will tune in on Sunday instead of Saturday.
If this track races better than it the last time IndyCar was there, this could be a real game-changer this close to the opener. There will probably be more NASCAR fans watching on television, and certainly more in the stands. I’m guessing there will be a noticeable difference in speed between the sleek and nimble Indy cars and the lumbering stock cars. Remember, this track was originally built for Indy cars and not stock cars. Of course, there is more banking to accommodate the heavier stock cars, but Phoenix area race fans are certainly familiar with Indy cars.
Practice One will begin at 10:00 am EST on FS2. Qualifying will take place Friday afternoon on FS2 at 2:00 pm EST. The High Line and Final Practice will be run late Friday afternoon at 4:30 pm EST on FS2. Saturday’s Race Coverage will start at 3:00 pm EST on Big FOX.
I think drivers that have experience at Phoenix will be the ones to watch. Will Power will be ready to resume his revenge tour that got off on the wrong foot last weekend. Scott Dixon won at Phoenix in 2016, and actually drove there in the old IRL days. Simon Pagenaud won at Phoenix in 2017 for Team Penske, but has not driven in IndyCar since 2023. Josef Newgarden won at Phoenix in 2018, also for Team Penske.
Newgarden had a horrible qualifying session last weekend at St. Petersburg and started near the back of the field. But he had an outstanding day on Sunday and drove to a very respectable seventh. Newgarden and Team Penske are almost unbeatable on short ovals. I could stick my neck out like I did last weekend, but with Newgarden’s track record on short ovals, that would be foolish. Plus, like his former teammate Will Power – Newgarden has something to prove. That’s why I predict that he will be hoisting the biggest trophy on Saturday. We’ll see.
George Phillips
Oilpressure 