David Malukas ended the first day of the Unser IndyCar Open Test at Phoenix International Raceway on top of the timesheets. The Team Penske newcomer demonstrated his pace on short ovals by edging Josef Newgarden, who finished the day in second. Will Power, who moved from Team Penske to Andretti Global over the winter, closed the day in third.

After the teams tested at Sebring last week, the Unser IndyCar Open Test at Phoenix International Raceway represents the final opportunity to prepare for the new season. Unlike last week, this was an IndyCar-organized test.

Newgarden led the test for much of the session, but Malukas was slightly quicker in the closing stages of the four-hour run. As a result, the American looked considerably stronger than at Sebring, where Malukas had lacked pace.

“It feels good to be P1, but at the end of the day, we just ran through our test items,” Malukas said. “From that perspective, that's what truly matters, and everything went very well. We've learned so many different things. Everything felt very clear. We got a lot of answers.”

Ed Carpenter Racing drivers Alexander Rossi and Christian Rasmussen, who did not participate at Sebring, were the most productive drivers, completing 118 and 128 laps respectively. In seventeenth place, Dennis Hauger was the highest-placed rookie, while fellow rookie Caio Collet was the only driver to lightly brush the wall in Turn 4.

The open test will conclude on Wednesday with a morning and afternoon session.

Full Results from Tuesday’s Phoenix Test