Newgarden Leads Eventful Opening Practice in Milwaukee
Josef Newgarden
(Photo Courtesy INDYCAR)
By SC MOTORSPORTS MEDIA Staff
WEST ALLIS, Wis. (Friday, Aug. 28, 2026) – There was some normalcy in the first practice for the Snap-on INDYCAR Weekend on Friday at the Milwaukee Mile, as Josef Newgarden led the session to open the only doubleheader on the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule.
But a surprise, context and chaos reigned among some of the sport’s other top drivers around the historic 1.015-mile oval.
Newgarden, who has won two of the three short-oval events so far this season, was fastest at 159.430 mph in the No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevrolet. Two-time series champion Newgarden has earned 14 of his 34 career victories on short ovals like Milwaukee.
The first surprise came when Dennis Hauger, the leader in the Rookie of the Year standings, ended up second at 159.378 in the No. 19 Ault Block Chain Honda of Dale Coyne Racing. 2025 INDY NXT by Firestone champion Hauger’s best finish in four prior oval starts this season is 15th in March at Phoenix, and his best oval qualifying spot is 22nd, also at Phoenix.
Reigning series champion Alex Palou was third at 158.890 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda as he tries to clinch his fourth consecutive and fifth overall NTT INDYCAR SERIES title.
Palou leads Kyle Kirkwood by 91 points and must lead by either 108 after the Snap-on Makers and Fixers 250 on Saturday (2:30 p.m. ET) or 54 after the Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 on Sunday (1 p.m. ET) to seal the Astor Challenge Cup. FOX, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls will broadcast both races live.
But there is context when looking at Palou’s strong result in practice as he and the other 24 drivers in the field look ahead to NTT P1 Award qualifying at 11 a.m. ET Saturday (FS1, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls). The Spaniard will incur a nine-spot penalty on the starting grid of Saturday’s race for an unapproved engine change after the race last Sunday in Washington, D.C.
David Malukas, who has scored more oval points than any driver this season, was fourth at 158.665 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet as he seeks his first career victory this weekend on one of his beloved short ovals. But like Palou, Malukas will serve a nine-spot grid penalty Saturday for an unapproved engine change after the race last Sunday in the nation’s capital.
Rinus VeeKay rounded out the top five at 158.648 in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. But he, too, will move back nine spots after qualifying for the race Saturday after an unapproved engine change after the D.C. race.
The biggest flashpoint with the most significant impact – literally and perhaps figuratively – took place with 24 minutes remaining in the 90-minute session when title contender Kirkwood and last year’s Milwaukee race winner, Christian Rasmussen, crashed heavily.
Andretti Global’s Kirkwood and ECR’s Rasmussen ran side-by-side through Turn 2 and down the back straightaway – uncharacteristically aggressive for an opening practice – and into the entrance of Turn 3, with Kirkwood on the inside and Rasmussen outside. The No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Kirkwood and the No. 21 Splenda Stevia Chevrolet then made side-by-side contact, hurtling both into the SAFER Barrier.
Both cars suffered heavy damage. Neither driver was hurt, but both were bewildered by the incident, with the expected differing opinions about the cause.
“It wasn’t actually meant to be aggressive,” Kirkwood said. “I was just giving him some space there. He started to turn in really early, and I don’t know if his spotter didn’t tell him I was still there on the inside or he expected me to turn down early or what, but he just started his turn-in too early. That’s not the way you want to end practice like.”
Said Rasmussen: “It felt like he kind of never turned in. I was on the outside, and it didn’t feel like I turned in early. But I think his rear tire probably touched mine. I didn’t feel like I could have been much higher than I was. It was a little bit of a weird one because to me, it just seemed like he was never really turned in. It’s really unfortunate because we have a really fast race car.”
That was the second and final incident of the practice. Nolan Siegel did a quarter-spin and backed the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 about 16 minutes into the session. The car suffered moderate damage, and Siegel was unhurt.
The Andretti, ECR and Arrow McLaren teams face extra work either repairing those machines or preparing backup cars, and qualifying will be the next time those three drivers will get to test their new machines. There is no practice Saturday morning since this event features races Saturday and Sunday.
