Phoenix Raceway (Avondale, Ariz.) — Josef Newgarden now has his first win of the 2026 INDYCAR season. He’s also got jokes.
After taking the checkered flag Saturday, Newgarden jokingly put some pressure on his Team Penske counterparts in the NASCAR Cup Series to deliver in their race Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1) as part of the Desert Double.
“It will be so disappointing if the Cup guys do not deliver tomorrow,” Newgarden said with a laugh during his post-race press conference following his Good Ranchers 250 victory.
“Horribly disappointing,” Team Penske president Jonathan Diuguid added.
So far through the doubleheader weekend, it’s been all about Team Penske.
For Saturday’s INDYCAR race, David Malukas in the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet won the pole, followed by Newgarden’s 33rd career win and second straight at the one-mile desert track, dating back to the series’ last race here in 2018. Malukas finished third.
On the NASCAR Cup Series side, Joey Logano, behind the wheel of the No. 22 Team Penske Ford, won the pole for Sunday’s Straight Talk Wireless 500.
While not all INDYCAR drivers agree, Newgarden praised the INDYCAR-NASCAR crossover weekend, especially because it’s the first time both series raced on the same oval on the same weekend.
“It’s always fun,” he continued. “We got to go first. It worked out. Now you got to put the pressure on them. Look, it was very hard. I didn’t think we were going to win today, to be honest with you. It’s fun. I wish we had more weekends like this, to be honest with you. It’s fun going on an oval together.”
Race winner Josef Newgarden on the podium with Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas after the INDYCAR Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway on March 07, 2026. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
[DESERT DOUBLE: What to Know as INDYCAR, NASCAR Share the Track]
And he doesn’t want it to end in Phoenix this weekend.
“I think we could get a couple more like this,” Newgarden said.
“I hope there [were] a lot of people that have maybe not seen an INDYCAR race in a while that are going to leave here and go, ‘Hey, I should give that another look.’
“Both should complement each other. If you’re a motorsports fan, you’re just getting way more value for your weekend to have the top-2 motorsports championships together on the same weekend. I don’t see why we can’t do a little more of this. I think it’s good for everybody.”
