Newgarden leads Milwaukee Mile practice in chaotic Snap-on INDYCAR opener

Josef Newgarden leads Milwaukee Mile practice and the opening session of the Snap-on INDYCAR Weekend was already wild before the chequered flag dropped. Crashes, surprise pace from a rookie and a stack of grid penalties hitting title contenders. Milwaukee delivered everything you’d expect from a short oval with nothing to lose.

Newgarden leads Milwaukee Mile practice with fastest lap

Josef Newgarden topped the timesheets at 159.430 mph in the No. 2 Snap-on Team Penske Chevrolet. The two-time champion has now won 14 of his 34 career victories on short ovals, and Milwaukee is exactly his kind of track. He looked composed, quick and in complete control. Nobody was surprised to see him at the top.

What nobody expected was who sat right behind him. Rookie Dennis Hauger went second fastest at 159.378 mph in the No. 19 Ault Block Chain Honda for Dale Coyne Racing. Hauger is the INDY NXT champion and leads the Rookie of the Year standings, but ovals had been a weak spot. His best oval result coming into this weekend was P15 in Phoenix. Milwaukee changed that conversation completely.

Palou still fast but takes a grid penalty hit

Reigning champion Alex Palou clocked third at 158.890 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. He’s chasing a fourth consecutive title and fifth overall, currently sitting 91 points clear of Kyle Kirkwood in the standings. On pure pace, he looks dangerous this weekend.

The catch? Palou carries a nine-place grid penalty for Saturday’s race after an unauthorised engine change following the Washington D.C. round. That penalty could sting badly in a championship fight this tight. Starting deep in the field on a short oval is never a fun afternoon, no matter how quick your car is.

David Malukas, the driver with the most oval points this season, went fourth at 158.665 mph in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. Same story though. Nine-place grid penalty, same reason as Palou. Rinus VeeKay rounded out the top five at 158.648 mph in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. VeeKay also picks up the same nine-place drop for Saturday.

Kirkwood and Rasmussen crash hard with 24 minutes left

The biggest moment of the session came with 24 minutes remaining. Title contender Kyle Kirkwood and reigning Milwaukee race winner Christian Rasmussen made side-by-side contact heading into Turn 3. It was a heavy shunt. Both cars took serious damage. Both drivers walked away unhurt, which is the only thing that really matters.

The blame game started immediately. Kirkwood said Rasmussen turned in too early and simply didn’t see him. Rasmussen had a completely different version, claiming Kirkwood never actually committed to the corner and that their rear tyres made contact. Two drivers, one crash, two completely different stories. Classic racing incident stuff, but the timing could not be worse for either of them.

Earlier in the session, Nolan Siegel had already spun in Turn 2 and backed his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet into the SAFER barrier. Moderate damage, driver fine. Three separate incidents across the one practice session set the tone perfectly.

Milwaukee Mile practice damage leaves teams with serious repair work

Here’s the brutal part. There is no Saturday morning practice on this doubleheader weekend. The next time Kirkwood, Rasmussen and Siegel get to run their cars is qualifying itself. Andretti, ECR and Arrow McLaren are all working flat out tonight to either repair the damaged cars or build up their backup machines in time.

Running a repaired or fresh car straight into qualifying at a track like the Milwaukee Mile is a genuine challenge. Setup data, tyre behaviour, confidence in the car. You lose all of that when you never get a shakedown lap. For Kirkwood especially, who needs maximum points in this championship battle, it adds real pressure to an already stressful situation.

What to expect when Newgarden leads Milwaukee Mile into qualifying

Newgarden leads Milwaukee Mile practice and looks like the man to beat. Hauger has announced himself as a genuine short oval threat, which nobody fully saw coming. Palou, Malukas and VeeKay have the pace but start from the back. And three drivers head into qualifying without a single practice lap in their rebuilt cars.

This weekend is already unpredictable and we haven’t even hit qualifying yet. Milwaukee does this every single time. The track rewards experience but it punishes overconfidence, and Friday showed exactly that. Buckle up for Saturday.