Information By: ASHLEY KELLER / CHEVROLET – MILWAUKEE, WI
- Josef Newgarden, driver of the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet, led both the field and Team Chevy with his fastest lap of 158.762 mph after a 90-minute opening practice session for the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250 doubleheader weekend.
- Team Chevy finished with three in the top 10, including Newgarden, Pato O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet (third), and Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet (fifth).
- Saturday sees qualifying for the doubleheader events at Milwaukee, followed by the Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250 Race 1 at 5:40 p.m. ET live on Peacock. Sunday’s Hy-Vee Milwaukee Mile 250 Race 2 airs on USA Network with the green flag dropping at 2:30 p.m. ET. Additional coverage of the twin 250-lap, 253.75-mile races broadcast via Peacock, INDYCAR Radio, and SiriusXM Channel 218.
TEAM CHEVY TOP-10 PRACTICE RESULT:
Pos. Driver
1st Josef Newgarden (158.762 mph)
3rd Pato O’Ward (157.750 mph)
5th Scott McLaughlin (157.581 mph)
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING (QUOTES):
Pato O’Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“It is a pretty quick turnaround going into qualifying and the first race of the weekend tomorrow. But, I’m feeling quite content with what we’re heading into qualifying with. I would say there is a bit more of a question mark for the race, but this will be new for a lot of people so we’ll just have to see what it has in store for us.”
Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“It was a solid Practice 1. We started out with an issue at the beginning, which we worked through. I’m proud of the way the team handled it, and we ended up closer toward where we want to be. I think we will have a strong qualifying car. I think we’re where we need to be, it just took a little while to get there as we worked through things and I learned the track. We’ll look forward to qualifying and look to put the No. 6 Big Machine Music City GP Arrow McLaren Chevrolet up at the front.”
Alexander Rossi, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet:
“There was a lot to do in 90 minutes, but I think we have a pretty decent direction. It will be important to qualify well tomorrow, and then we’ll have to group up again and determine our best path forward for the race.”
Gavin Ward, Team Principal, Arrow McLaren:
“We’re battling near the front against a couple of teams that have had some extra testing miles around here. With a limited practice window, we tried to make every run count today. I’m pleased to see Pato (O’Ward) up there in the mix, and I think Alexander (Rossi) and Nolan (Siegel) are not far off either, and can learn from him, too. We’re going to try to put our best foot forward in a very important qualifying session and go from there.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet – Practice Press Conference:
THE MODERATOR: Wrapping up practice, we are joined by Josef Newgarden.
Josef, P1 in the practice session. What does that mean for the rest of the weekend?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It’s always tough these days. It’s a full grid, right? What do we have, 27 cars? A lot of people on track.
I’m sure there’s individuals that didn’t get a super clear lap, and there’s probably more to be seen from everybody. You just account for that. I think we’ve accounted for that at other ovals. You’ll see the same thing here.
It’s encouraging. Think our car was really good. I was happy. Took some tuning. The tire was very different on the low line tire that we ran, then we went to the current tire and it took a lot of work to get it where it needed to be.
When we got through the first 30 minutes, I was super happy with the car. The team did a great job feeling comfy and comfortable. Yeah, I think Team Chevy did a good job, too, at least from what I’ve seen preliminarily.
Two opportunities for us to have a nice result to end the year.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. Does it feel different, similar? Any of the old feel come become or does it feel like a completely new track?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: From previous years?
Q. Yes.
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: It feels similar. It’s different compared to 2015 when we left. We had a huge aero kit, big downforce. You were pretty much just flat. Very different from 2015.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Exactly. We’re way heavier. From that standpoint, it’s completely different.
But I think it’s still Milwaukee. Like, sort of the general traits of this track are very much there underneath the surface. It’s just a different car. A lot less downforce. It’s heavier, requires a different setup, different finesse. You got to look after things differently than you did 10 years ago.
It’s the same Milwaukee. There’s a preferred line. There’s kind of an alternate line that’s not great but usable. Yeah, it’s a very interesting track. I think if we get some dropoff, there’s going to be good racing, which I think everybody wants to see.
Q. What should we expect in race one tomorrow?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, he’s right. You don’t know with these sessions. Sometimes you sort of get an inkling on what you think is going to happen, then things just kind of shift as you get through the race.
I think Gateway was a very surprising result. I was super surprised the way it raced. So I don’t know. I mean, until we get through the first one, it’s really tough to predict.
I know you want an answer, you think we have more of an idea. We get through the first round, we’ll know exactly how is going to race, you know what you’re getting for race two.
Right now, it’s going to be interesting to see who is strong. I think you’ll have big separation is one thing that I will say. I think you’ll have cars that are really not good, like really not good, and you’ll have some cars that are really good, so…
That’s one thing I’d predict.
Q. Josef, Will was telling us earlier today you told him at Portland that you’d be willing to swap positions with him for points if it came down to the end?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Look, what I told him, I said it’s too early now. If it comes down to the finale, I’ve had great support from him in the past. Thinking about my first championship, 2017, he shadowed me the whole race. When it comes down to the very end and we’re still in position…
You got to be really careful, though. This is not me being cagey, it’s just the truth. If you start trying to orchestrate too much, you put yourself into a mess. I’m not going to do that. I don’t think as a team we’re going to try to do that.
Logically, you come down to the finale, we’re in Nashville, we have a car that can seal the championship, I’m not in it, I’m going to have his back all the way, 100%. But we’re not in Nashville yet. There’s a long way to go. If we try and get too clever about the way we run our team, I think you put yourself in a bad situation.
We need to go out and do the job we always do. We’re going to race each other hard, but we need to take care of each other, right? I don’t want to be crashing my teammates.
When it comes down to the very end, hopefully we’re in a position to seal the championship, we all want to see that happen, especially me. I’ll make sure that we get the job done then.
Q. As strong as Penske has been on the short ovals, is there more emphasis for all three of you to help Will knowing you can put gap on Palou? If he wins, that helps him a little bit more?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, kind of the same answer. It applies to that question, too. Me running in a normal condition is helping Will. If he’s off a little bit, I’m good today, he’s going to know exactly why I was good today. There’s nothing hidden there.
We’ll go back and have a conversation like we always do. If there’s something that he’s benefitting from this, then he will. We got to run our normal program, try to win these races. Obviously our team wants to be in a position to win the championship.
It’s not easy, though. Yeah, Palou could have an issue on one race, it closes right up, or he could just have two great races, like he normally does.
I don’t think anything’s a slam-dunk or simple. Just got to run our races and try to do a great job. Hopefully we’re in position by the time we get to Nashville to close the deal.
Q. Josef, how do you like the Josef Newgarden restart zone?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Didn’t change. They’re just painting it. There’s no difference. If you read the fine print, there’s no rule change.
I love it when it was brought up. That’s a great point. Just to make it non-subjective. We get a gray-out zone, it’s a little subjective of where it starts and where it finishes, right? It’s a pretty big zone. You put a line, there’s no subjectiveness. That’s great.
I don’t think the restart procedure needs to change. They’ve made some good changes this year, which were provoked by last year, the jumpiness that we’ve had this. We’ve had this for 24 months, this jumpiness on restarts.
This probably should have been done in the beginning. I just think it’s a clarification more than anything, which is good for everybody.
Q. One of the things that was discussed (in the media bullpen) is NASCAR got a race in Mexico City ahead of INDYCAR. Pato is extremely disappointed in that. That spawned a conversation about where some places that INDYCAR could race. This guy would probably say Down Under. Where would you want to go race if you had a wide-open map?
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Yeah, I mean, you don’t want to ask me. My dream tracks would be in, like, Japan. I’d be going to Japan. I love the country. I was sad I missed that era when they were running there. That would be on my list.
Going to Spa, old school tracks like that. Brands Hatch GP. The list would go on and on. There’s a lot of legendary tracks.
I think there’s some great stuff in the pipeline. I honestly do. We have a lot of momentum. I’m excited about FOX coming onboard next year. NBC has done a great job for us, but we’re going to be turning the page and having a new chapter next year. I think we should all be excited about that. There’s more stuff to piggyback on with that deal.
I’m excited about 2025. We need to finish this year off right, but I think we got great momentum that can happen next year.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: I’ve always wanted to race there. That’s where I watched some of my very first INDYCAR races, Nashville Superspeedway.
Q. (No microphone.)
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: Nashville Superspeedway? Yeah, I do. I’ll respect their name. Not scared to do it.