The NTT INDYCAR SERIES concluded its two-day Unser INDYCAR Open Test at Phoenix Raceway on Wednesday.

After logging 4,853 laps over two days of action, the prevailing sentiment in the paddock was clear that the 1-mile Arizona oval shares many characteristics with World Wide Technology Raceway.

Both tracks feature distinctly different corners at each end. At WWTR, the 1.25-mile oval just outside St. Louis, Turns 1 and 2 are banked at 11 degrees and carry a different arc and feel than the flatter, 9-degree Turns 3 and 4. Cars typically run slower through Turns 1 and 2, while drivers are nearly flat out at the opposite end.

Phoenix Raceway presents similar contrasting geometry – only reversed. Its Turns 1 and 2 are banked at 9 degrees and resemble Turns 3 and 4 at WWTR in both entry and approach. The differing corner profiles at each end force teams to think carefully about setup balance.

The most noticeable difference between the two tracks is Phoenix’s dogleg, where the start/finish line sits, compared to WWTR’s traditional layout featuring a 1,922-foot frontstretch and a 1,976-foot backstretch.

“Definitely (Phoenix) more like Gateway more than any other short oval that we go to,” Josef Newgarden said. “Just because the configuration is very different between the two ends.”

That contrast is what makes both tracks particularly challenging. With two unique ends of the racetrack, drivers often struggle to make their cars handle equally well in both directions. Teams usually must accept a compromise, favoring one end over the other.

“Here there’s definitely a compromise, too,” Newgarden said. “Not as aggressive as Gateway, but there’s a slight compromise between the two ends of the track and you’re just trying to get the balance the best you can.”

That similarity could prove significant when the series returns to Phoenix for the Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday, March 7. Newgarden has excelled on comparable layouts, winning at Phoenix in 2018 and capturing four of the last six race victories at WWTR.

In 10 starts at WWTR, he owns five victories and has led 624 laps. He also won the final oval race of the 2025 season at Nashville Superspeedway, as his last nine victories have come on circle tracks. Of his 32 career wins, 18 have come on ovals.

He was second fastest in the test at 174.362 mph in the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet.

Penske Not Concerned About Wednesday Afternoon Speed

Team Penske set the two fastest speeds on the opening day of the Phoenix test with drivers David Malukas and Josef Newgarden. On Wednesday, its drivers ranked second, fourth and 10th in the first session before placing 17th, 23rd and 25th in the final session.

The drop in speed happened because the team’s drivers worked through varying programs.

David Malukas, who joined Team Penske for 2026, said he wasn’t concerned about the drop in the final session, noting the team was focused on specific test items rather than outright speed. He described his overall day as “very good” in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Malukas ended up fifth overall in the test, while teammate Newgarden was second.

Does that make Team Penske the short-oval favorite entering the season?

Malukas said the team didn’t arrive at Phoenix chasing lap times but was encouraged by what it accomplished. Smiles were visible across the three Penske pits at the conclusion of the test.

Team Penske won three of the last four INDYCAR SERIES races at Phoenix, including victories by Simon Pagenaud in 2017 and Newgarden in 2018. The organization also finished 1-2 in two of those events, with Sam Hornish Jr. ahead of Helio Castroneves in 2005 and Pagenaud leading Will Power in 2017.

Team Penske owns nine victories at Phoenix and has recorded four 1-2 finishes at the 1-mile oval.

Although the series hasn’t raced at Phoenix since 2018, Team Penske has won 14 of the last 24 short-oval races dating to the start of the 2019 season. Newgarden accounts for 10 of those victories.

Caio Collet

Collet Builds Confidence After Tuesday Crash

Caio Collet hadn’t crashed a race car since a 2024 accident in INDY NXT by Firestone at World Wide Technology Raceway. That’s why he was surprised to find the Turn 4 SAFER Barrier on Tuesday afternoon at Phoenix.

“The wall is not a nice place to be,” Collet said. “The last time hitting a wall was 2024, so that was a long time coming. But it happens. You go to sleep, wake up and be ready to attack the next day.”

He responded Wednesday by ranking 12th in the third session of the test in the No. 4 COMBITRANS AMAZONA Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Enterprises.

“Yesterday we were running some different items that the team wanted to go over and see what direction I wanted to go with my driving,” Collet said. “That really didn’t work out very well, and I ended up in the wall. Today, we reset and took it step by step again, especially on new tires. It’s such a difference in lap time and grip that you need to understand and trust that the car will stick.

“The more you charge the corner in these cars, the better the grip is. You have to trust yourself and trust that the car will stick. I got to that level on the last run. It would be nice to start like I ended, but at least we reached a decent level, and hopefully from now on we can progress.”

Collet said he also leaned on the technical alliance between A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Team Penske, reviewing data to accelerate his learning curve.

“We analyzed more data and tried to understand what the Penske guys were doing,” Collet said. “They’re pretty good here and have good knowledge. I tried to adapt my driving style to what they were doing, and I think that was beneficial in the afternoon.”

Collet ended up 21st overall in the two-day test, the second fastest of the three rookies in the field.

Odds and Ends

  • There were 758 more laps completed Wednesday than Tuesday. While the overall track time was similar both days, the increase in activity was largely due to tire strategy. Each team received five sets of Firestone Firehawk tires for the two-day test. Many teams opted to use only a couple of sets Tuesday to focus on learning the track and dialing in the car, saving three sets for Wednesday to fine-tune their setups after a full day of data collection.
  • Don’t sleep on Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian) this season. He was quickest in both sessions he was on track in last weeks test at Sebring International Raceway and in the three sessions at Phoenix he was sixth, 15th and fifth, respectively.

Graham Rahal

  • Graham Rahal, a veteran of three Phoenix starts, was 11th Tuesday and ninth Wednesday in the No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Rahal has one top-10 finish in his last 18 oval starts.
  • The track distributed 300 wristbands on Wednesday morning for fans to attend a full-field autograph session between test sessions. “We had a ton of fans at the autograph session; I was surprised,” Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel said. “We were all like: ‘Why are we doing an autograph session here? And then everyone showed up, and we were like, ‘Oh, that’s why.’ I think that’s a good look into what the race weekend is going to be like.”
  • Wednesday’s test conditions were cool, overcast and, in the early afternoon, wet, with temperatures in the low 60s. Locals in attendance said it was the worst weather of the winter, with temperatures expected to be approximately 20 degrees warmer on race weekend for the Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday, March 7.
  • The series begins its 2026 season next weekend at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 1, with coverage beginning at noon ET on FOX, FOX One, FOX Deportes, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network. Practice begins Friday, Feb. 27 at 1:30 p.m. ET on FS2.