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Phoenix Raceway (Avondale, Ariz.) — The venue is kind of new but it’s the same old INDYCAR question heading into the second race of the season.
How are teams going to beat Alex Palou?
“We need to improve and be better — but I think the whole field needs to try and do that for sure,” said Marcus Ericsson, who finished sixth in the season opener last Sunday at St. Petersburg.
The INDYCAR teams made a quick turnaround and race Saturday at Phoenix Raceway, a 1-mile oval that last played host to an INDYCAR race in 2018. Why the rush? To join NASCAR in what is a mega weekend of U.S. motorsports in the desert at a track where both NASCAR and INDYCAR have rich histories.
Here’s what to know going into the event, including comments from drivers from their chats today with me and other reporters, the day before practice and qualifying Friday for the 250-lap Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday (3 p.m. ET, FOX) followed by NASCAR’s Straight Talk Wireless 500 on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, FS1) in the Desert Double.
Are fans and drivers rooting against four-time INDYCAR champion Alex Palou?
Palou has won the title the last three years, including in 2025 when he won eight races, and now is 1-for-1 in 2026 after his St. Pete win.
“I can feel it when there’s driver intros, and there’s some people that just come at me and be like, ‘Can you stop winning?’ But I feel like we’re past that,” Palou told me and other reporters. “There’s people that used to say that, they now are cheering for us. So it’s good.”
Three-time reigning INDYCAR champion Alex Palou continues to have a target on his back.
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Palou isn’t involved about individuals outwardly rooting him to lose
“Final 12 months was magical and this 12 months, that was nice [at St. Pete],” Palou stated. “Nevertheless it’s not that we’ve an edge on everyone. Now we have a tremendous workforce, and we execute very effectively.
“Nevertheless it’s not like we exit and it is like, ‘Oh yeah, look, it is simple.’”
He’s not contemplating himself a favourite this weekend at Phoenix.
“It is going to be a battle for the ten automotive [of me],” Palou stated. “We did not have a tremendous take a look at. We had an OK take a look at. So we all know we’ve to work rather a lot.”
Is that this a NASCAR occasion or an INDYCAR occasion?
This has been the common NASCAR spring weekend at Phoenix as a part of a West Coast swing for a number of years. So as to add slightly enhance to this weekend, INDYCAR was added for a doubleheader Saturday with NASCAR’s O’Reilly Collection after which the Cup race Sunday.
INDYCAR does have a wealthy historical past at Phoenix as that is the sixty fifth INDYCAR race on the observe. It has introduced up the subject on whether or not INDYCAR is the “help” sequence.
INDYCAR veteran Graham Rahal famous that the INDYCAR driver motorhomes should not parked in the identical space because the NASCAR driver motorhomes although there may be area in that lot.
“We should not be seen as a help sequence,” Rahal stated. “These are two of the best degree skilled sequence that there are within the nation. Let’s simply deal with one another with that respect. ,.. Let’s simply strive to determine a approach to make it slightly bit extra cohesive for everyone.”
INDYCAR and NASCAR will share the observe this weekend at Phoenix.
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How is Mick Schumacher doing?
The rookie and former System 1 driver appears OK after a gap race the place he didn’t even end the primary lap earlier than getting collected in an accident.
Schumacher spent the remainder of the race on the pit stand attempting to know what the engineers are in search of throughout a race.
“It was essential for me to return to pit stand and see what the engineers had been speaking about, what we might have achieved perhaps in another way in sure situations, simply to sort of fake like we did the race, to have the ability to analyze, take away key parts of it,” Schumacher stated.
Will the INDYCAR drivers lower the apron just like the NASCAR drivers do?
No. They can’t. The rule for all INDYCAR ovals besides Indianapolis reads: “At Oval Occasions, Drivers should not place any of the 4 wheels of the Automotive beneath the stable boundary line at any time.”
Previous to their take a look at right here final month, the drivers had been requested by INDYCAR officers in the event that they thought the rule ought to be amended.
“I believe there was one or two guys elevating their palms, however there did not appear to be like loads of curiosity,” stated INDYCAR’s Meyer Shank driver Felix Rosenqvist. “I really feel like one way or the other you simply wish to be contained in the strains. However NASCAR makes it work. I do not assume it actually modified something.”
Group Penske INDYCAR driver Josef Newgarden is in search of a breakthrough at Phoenix.
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Who has raced right here earlier than?
There are 5 INDYCAR drivers who’ve raced at Phoenix beforehand. Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden each have wins, whereas Will Energy has a second, Alexander Rossi has a 3rd and Graham Rahal has a fifth.
The automobiles are just a few hundred kilos heavier now with the aeroscreen and the hybrid.
“I preferred it much more,” Rahal stated concerning the take a look at and the way the automobiles dealt with in comparison with 2018. “The final couple instances we had been right here. there have been some large crashes [with the high] cornering speeds. … I really feel just like the drivers in slightly extra management.
“Then it was like, simply how loopy are you? And are you going to remain flat and you are going to dangle on?”
So who’s the favourite for the INDYCAR race?
The consensus is that Group Penske, which generally is powerful on the brief ovals, will likely be sturdy this weekend.
David Malukas, who changed Will Energy at Group Penske, was quickest on the primary day of testing at Phoenix final month. Rossi was quickest on the second day.
“We all know the Penske recordsdata will likely be good round right here,” stated McLaren driver Christian Lundgaard. “They had been aggressive on the take a look at, very aggressive, simply as we at all times see them on one brief ovals.”
Can Tyler Reddick go 4-for-4?
After three races, it’s arduous to wager towards Tyler Reddick, no? Then once more, he set a brand new customary for wins to open the NASCAR Cup Collection season with three in a row, so the odds of him attending to 4 in a row are slim.
Reddick hasn’t received in any sequence at Phoenix. He has led solely twice in 12 Cup begins and has simply two finishes higher than twentieth in his final 5 begins on the observe.
Can Tyler Reddick win 4 straight races to open the season?
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Cup groups are moving into the meat of their season so far as totally different kind of tracks as they’ve the 1-mile Phoenix after which the 1.5-mile Vegas over the subsequent couple of weeks.
“I am actually excited to see what we’ve for velocity and tempo over the subsequent two weekends as a result of we have labored actually arduous to enhance issues right here,” Reddick stated in his information convention after profitable at Circuit of the Americas. “We have labored arduous to sort of rethink how we get round Phoenix, and we have simply sort of doubled down on the issues that we have been enhancing at Vegas.”
So who’s the favourite within the NASCAR race?
Return to the reply on the INDYCAR aspect and you will find the reply right here. Group Penske, as soon as once more, is the favourite.
Ryan Blaney received the final race right here in November. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell received it a 12 months in the past.
However the Penske drivers appear to shine right here. And similar to for his or her INDYCAR brethren, a win could be coming on the proper time.
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports activities. He has spent many years overlaying motorsports, together with over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting Information, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Seashore) Information-Journal. Observe him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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