Six of the seven fastest drivers in the first practice for the Good Ranchers 250 on Friday have won oval races in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

And the one exception – Team Penske newcomer David Malukas – sure looks like he’s poised to earn his first overall and circle-track victory in the series after leading the session at Phoenix Raceway by more than 1 mph under sunny skies and air temperatures in the mid-50s.

SEE: Practice Results

Malukas was fastest in the 60-minute opening session at 175.605 mph on the 1-mile desert oval in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Malukas joined the powerhouse team in the offseason after recording five top-four finishes in 21 career oval starts, including second in 2022 at World Wide Technology Raceway and second last year in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

The speed shown by Malukas should be no surprise, as he also was fifth fastest last month during the Unser INDYCAR Open Test at Phoenix Raceway.

“It feels really good,” Malukas said. “The track right now, with it being so cold this morning, it’s very different. We made a few adjustments to the car to get it where it needed to be. Thankfully, having tested a few weeks ago, the car has been strong. We knew that.

“It’s going to be timing, getting it all right with wind, track temperature, all that. I trust these guys. I think we’ll have it in there. Hopefully we’ll have a good qualifying.”

Up next is NTT P1 Award qualifying at 2 p.m. ET today (FS2, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio, powered by OnlyBulls). The 250-lap race starts at 3 p.m. ET Saturday (FOX, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio, powered by OnlyBulls) as part of the “Desert Double” weekend with NASCAR, which is holding a Cup Series race Sunday on the oval.

The next six drivers following Malukas on the speed chart are INDYCAR SERIES oval winners. Pato O’Ward was second at 174.461 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, followed by Malukas’ teammate Josef Newgarden at 174.057 in the No. 2 XPEL Team Penske Chevrolet. Newgarden won the last time the series competed at this track, in 2018.

Christian Rasmussen, who earned his first career victory last August at the Milwaukee Mile, was fourth at 173.967 in the No. 21 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet. Will Power rebounded from a tough opening race last weekend at St. Petersburg to end up fifth at 173.829 in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda of Andretti Global.

Alexander Rossi, fastest last month at the Open Test at 174.542, was sixth this morning at 173.551 in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet. Scott McLaughlin was the third Team Penske driver in the top seven, ending up at 173.544 in the No. 3 Gallagher Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet.

Formula One veteran Mick Schumacher was the fastest rookie, 11th at 173.264 in the No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda. He also was the fastest of RLL’s three drivers in the session.

Four-time series champion Alex Palou, who opened the season Sunday with a victory in St. Petersburg, was 18th out of 25 drivers at 172.563 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian will face a big thrash to prepare a car for Felix Rosenqvist in qualifying. Rosenqvist’s No. 60 SiriusXM Honda suffered heavy rear-end damage after doing a half-spin in Turn 2 and hitting the SAFER Barrier heavily in Turn 3 approximately 20 minutes into the session. Rosenqvist was unhurt.

“I just lost it in Turn 2 on exit,” Rosenqvist said. “Got a little loose in the middle, kind of recovered, and then it snapped again. I just couldn’t catch it. Super bummed.”