David Malukas ended a long wait at Phoenix Raceway on Friday. The Chicago-area native claimed his first career NTT P1 Award with a two-lap qualifying average of 175.383 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, leading a front-row sweep for Penske. Josef Newgarden lines up alongside him in second. But the story the paddock will be talking about belongs to Mick Schumacher, who qualified fourth on his first-ever oval start to leave the experienced names scrambling for answers.
Key Points – Phoenix IndyCar Qualifying 2026
- Malukas takes his first career NTT P1 Award at 175.383 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.
- Newgarden qualifies second at 174.548 mph, front-row sweep for Team Penske.
- Schumacher stuns with P4 at 173.667 mph on his first-ever oval qualifying attempt for Rahal Letterman Lanigan.
- Graham Rahal third at 173.993 mph, a breakthrough qualifying session for RLL on a short oval.
- McLaughlin fifth, all three Penske cars in the top five.
- Will Power crashes during qualifying, starts 25th in his second race with Andretti Global.
Malukas and the Long Wait for Pole
Malukas led practice on Friday morning at 175.605 mph. He was the 13th of 24 drivers to make his qualifying attempt, watching the track evolve around him as conditions changed through the session. When it mattered, the lap held.
Three P2 finishes in qualifying on ovals last season with AJ Foyt Racing made this one feel overdue. Milwaukee. Nashville. Always close, never the top step. Phoenix delivered it.
“Finally! I’m so happy. So many P2s. The story of ovals last season was we had it, waited until the last few guys and then boom, you get P2. But finally we got it.”
David Malukas – Team Penske
Newgarden slots in alongside him for a clean Penske front row. The two-time champion won here in 2018, the last time the series raced at Phoenix. McLaughlin qualifies fifth to put all three Penske cars in the top five, a statement session for a team still rebuilding its reputation after a difficult 2025.
Schumacher Silences the Doubters
The last time a rookie qualified better than third in an NTT IndyCar Series race was June 2025, when Louis Foster took pole at Road America for Rahal Letterman Lanigan. Schumacher matched that benchmark on his first oval qualifying attempt, posting a 173.667 mph average in the No. 47 RLL Honda to take fourth on the grid.
The Formula 1 veteran is under no illusions about what comes next. Qualifying on an oval is one thing. Racing in traffic for 250 laps is another conversation entirely.
“We knew what we had to do, and we managed to put a good couple of laps together. I’m excited to run the race. It’s going to be a whole different situation in the race with traffic and everything, so it’s going to be tough.”
Mick Schumacher – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Graham Rahal completes a breakthrough session for the team in third. Short ovals have been a weakness for RLL in recent seasons. Friday suggested that may be changing.
The Rest of the Grid
Alexander Rossi, who led the Phoenix Open Test last month, qualifies sixth in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet. Palou, who won the season opener at St. Petersburg last Sunday, qualifies tenth as the fastest of the three Ganassi cars. A quiet session for the four-time champion.
Will Power’s difficult start to life at Andretti Global continued. He crashed during his qualifying run in the No. 26 TWG AI Honda and will start 25th. Felix Rosenqvist didn’t participate at all after heavy practice damage to his No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda. He starts 24th. Both drivers were unhurt.
Full Qualifying Results – Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway
Coffee Corner Take
Malukas has been knocking on the door of a pole position for two seasons. The near-misses on ovals last year with Foyt were painful to watch. Friday at Phoenix was the moment that finally came together, and it arrived at the right team, on the right surface, at the right time. Penske leading practice and qualifying on a short oval is exactly the statement of intent that organisation needs after everything that unfolded in 2025.
Schumacher’s P4 is the headline the rest of the paddock didn’t see coming. Formula 1 experience doesn’t automatically translate to oval pace. The setup demands are different. The risk management is different. The traffic in race trim is a different world entirely. He handled qualifying with a composure that suggests he has done the preparation work properly. Whether that holds over 250 laps on Saturday is the real test.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan putting both cars inside the top four is a genuine surprise on a short oval. If that pace carries into the race it changes the conversation around that team completely.
Power’s crash is the thread to watch. Two races into his Andretti chapter and he’s starting from the back again. That’s a tough narrative to shake early in a season.
The race is 250 laps. It starts Saturday at 3pm ET on FOX.
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