Josef Newgarden claimed victory in the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway. The Penske driver took advantage of a late caution to pit for fresh tires, after which he fought his way forward from outside the top ten. With seven laps to go, he passed Kyle Kirkwood for the win. Kirkwood finished the race in second, ahead of David Malukas in third.

Malukas holds the lead at the start

After the green flag waved, pole-sitter David Malukas got away well and held the lead ahead of Josef Newgarden. Third- and fourth-place starters Graham Rahal and Mick Schumacher dropped back to fifth and ninth, while Rinus VeeKay and Alex Palou fought their way from eighth and tenth up to sixth and fourth.

Malukas quickly opened up a gap of 1.5 seconds over Newgarden, but after eleven laps the race had to be neutralized. Dennis Hauger spun while exiting the ‘dogleg’, though he managed to keep his Dale Coyne Racing car out of the wall.

Alex Palou crashes after contact with Rinus VeeKay

At the restart, Rahal immediately attacked Palou for fourth place and managed to pass him one lap later. The move cost Palou momentum, allowing VeeKay to pull alongside the reigning champion on the high line. Palou did not see the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver and drifted his car toward the wall, where he made contact with the Dutchman and crashed into the wall. Palou was able to step out of his car unharmed, while VeeKay continued the race after repairs to his car.

Malukas would hold the lead until the first round of pit stops, when he visited his pit crew one lap after Newgarden. On the exit of the pits, Newgarden quickly pulled alongside him and the two teammates even made contact. Newgarden ultimately came out on top in the battle.

After drivers such as Scott Dixon, Marcus Armstrong and Felix Rosenqvist—running on an alternate pit strategy—also made their pit stops, it was not Newgarden but Pato O’Ward who led the race. The Mexican had made his first pit stop four laps earlier than Newgarden and was able to post quick lap times on fresh tires.

Christian Rasmussen fights his way to the front

In lap 102, Newgarden was then also passed by Christian Rasmussen, who had fought his way forward using an alternate pit strategy and, with a shorter second stint, had ended up on the same strategy as the leaders. Just like last year at the Milwaukee Mile, the Dane was flying and quickly closed the gap to O’Ward. No more than seven laps after passing Newgarden, Rasmussen also passed O’Ward for the lead in the race!

O’Ward, however, would dive into the pits slightly earlier than the competition again, prompting Rasmussen to respond quickly. It was O’Ward who came back out ahead of Rasmussen, but on lap 131 Rasmussen passed O’Ward once more.

The third caution of the race came on lap 131 after Louis Foster ran too high while exiting Turn 4 and found the wall via the marbles. This caution was particularly bad news for the original race leaders, who had just made their pit stops at that moment. Dixon, running on the alternate strategy, benefited from the yellow and only dropped back to third place after his pit stop, ahead of Rasmussen. The leaders, however, were Kyle Kirkwood and Will Power, who had pitted twenty laps earlier and stayed out.

At the restart, Rasmussen immediately attacked Dixon, but it would take until lap 174 before the ECR driver managed to pass the Ganassi driver. Rasmussen then immediately began chasing Power and Kirkwood, and in lap 191 he would retake the lead.

The final round of pit stops would make the race even more interesting. Power and O’Ward were the first to dive into the pits, gaining enough time to rejoin the track ahead of Rasmussen. Kirkwood would also get past the Dane thanks to a pit stop one lap earlier, meaning Rasmussen returned to the track in fourth after his stop.

Collision between Rasmussen and Power

However, it would not take long for Rasmussen to pass both Kirkwood and O’Ward. He then launched an attack on Power, who defended his position fiercely. On lap 207, Rasmussen placed his car on the high line alongside Power, who let his car drift up the track. The two cars made contact, after which Rasmussen hit the wall. The contact cut Power’s right-rear tire, while Rasmussen was able to continue.

During the caution that followed, Rasmussen chose not to pit, something drivers such as O’Ward, Newgarden, and McLaughlin did do in order to get fresher tires. However, this dropped them back to the tail end of the top ten.

Newgarden fights his way forward in thrilling finale

At the restart, O’Ward quickly gained several positions, but then got stuck behind Malukas in fourth place. Newgarden then passed O’Ward, while Rasmussen, in the lead, struggled to keep his car on track.

With nine laps to go, Kirkwood saw an opportunity to get past the struggling Rasmussen, who was also immediately passed by Newgarden. Running on fresher tires, Newgarden then immediately began attacking Kirkwood and, with seven laps remaining, made the pass for the win. The American then drove unchallenged to his first victory of the season.

Full results of the race on Phoenix Raceway