chip ganassi’s Indianapolis 500 weekend got a sharp marker Friday: Josef Newgarden was fastest in final practice before starting Sunday’s race from the 23rd spot. The Team Penske driver showed enough speed to put his name at the top of the last session, even after qualifying left him deep in the field.
Newgarden’s finish to the day came with the reminder that practice speed is only part of the picture. He said, "I put up a fast lap," then added, "It's always there is positivity to that in that when the car can do that lap, that is a good thing, but that's not the whole story when it comes to our race car."
Newgarden And The 23rd Spot
The 23rd starting position makes Friday’s pace more notable because Newgarden enters Sunday with real ground to make up. He has already won the Indianapolis 500 in 2023 and 2024, and his résumé also includes INDYCAR titles in 2017 and 2019.
His recent numbers point to a driver trending the right way. Six races into 2026, he sat fifth in the standings with one win, two top-fives and four top-10s, and the lone oval victory in that stretch came at Phoenix.
Team Penske’s Reset Under Diuguid
The form is also coming after a difficult stretch for Team Penske’s INDYCAR operation. Jonathan Diuguid took over last June after the leadership overhaul, and he had been Newgarden’s strategist for the 2024 Indianapolis 500 win.
Newgarden said last week, "I sense a good rebalancing in a lot of ways," and followed with, "I see the light at the end of the tunnel." He also said, "I feel the progress," which fit the way he has been talking about the Penske program in recent weeks.
Sunday From Deep In The Field
That backdrop makes the weekend setup straightforward. Newgarden has the speed to work with, but he still has to turn Friday’s lap into a race that can move him from 23rd toward the front over Sunday’s distance.
Diuguid said Newgarden showed up at the St. Petersburg opener ready to race, and he pointed to "very difficult, very frank conversations through October, November, after the season ended last year" as part of the reset. Friday’s practice time suggests that process has carried over into Indianapolis, where Newgarden now has to convert raw pace into position on the day that counts.
