After topping practice earlier in the day, David Malukas looked to be one of the favourites to take pole position for Good Ranchers 250. The Team Penske driver took his maiden pole ahead of his teammate Josef Newgarden.
Rosenqvist and Power Out of Qualifying
The early story at the start of qualifying was that Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist would not partake in qualifying. Despite being cleared by the medical team, Meyer Shank was unable to repair the No. 66 in time, leaving Rosenqvist to miss the session. However, due to being a chartered entry, the Swede will start the race tomorrow, but from the back of the grid.
“We’re kind of targeting practice now. It’s the first time ever I’m not actually driving qualifying, so it’s a weird feeling. I just thought I’d come out here and try to reset for race focus.”
~ Rosenqvist to FOX reporter Georgia Henneberry ahead of qualifying.
Will Power also failed to qualify for the race. With the qualifying order determined by reverse championship order, Power was the fourth driver on track. His first lap saw him on the high line in Turn 2. As he started his second lap, the Andretti Global driver was making a front bar adjustment. Then, he spun out between turns 1 and 2, ending his qualifying attempt. If medical clears him, he’ll also start at the back of the grid.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Took The Lead
First to attempt qualifying was rookie Mick Schumacher. He finished practice P11, raising questions over whether Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing have started to fix their oval issues. The German set a strong benchmark, with an average speed of 173.667 mph. As drivers attempted their own laps, no one could touch Schumacher’s pace, even six-time champion Scott Dixon.
Graham Rahal, however, was able to usurp his teammate, with an average speed of 173.993 mph. With RLL Racing sitting in P1 and P2, drivers continued to try to better their speeds. Their teammate, Louis Foster, attempted; however, he had a wobble on his final lap, causing him to lose speed.
“It’s not over yet, but certainly really good pace improvements over practice. Mick did a top-tier job. We knew that short ovals, that’s the Achilles’ heel, so it’s got to get better.”
~Rahal to Henneberry on RLL Racing’s short oval performance.
Malukas Takes Maiden Pole Position
It was David Malukas who removed RLL Racing from the top spot. With an almighty first lap, Malukas’ average speed was 175.383 mph. Whilst not quite as quick as his speed in practice, it saw him jump into provisional pole position. Then, qualifying became a battle. Last year, Malukas found himself in this position before—provisional pole until the final moment. Would anyone be able to take it away from him?
The first to potentially deny Malukas was his own teammate, Josef Newgarden. But despite Newgarden’s strength on short ovals, he lost out on the back straight and had to settle for P2. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward also looked to take the top spot. O’Ward was planted to the track and was matching Malukas until he ran high in his second lap. Due to that, his average speed dropped to 173.344 mph.
Neither Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard, nor fellow Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin could take provisional pole, so it came down to championship leader Álex Palou. Throughout qualifying, no Chip Ganassi Racing driver could get into the Top 10. In response, Palou preemptively turned down his front wing, giving him less downforce. Despite this, it still wasn’t enough, and Palou had an average speed of 172.980 mph. Although this was better than his practice attempt, it wasn’t enough, and David Malukas remained in the top spot, achieving his maiden pole position.
A Mixed-Up Grid
After their impressive speed at St. Petersburg last week, Dale Coyne Racing looked to struggle around the Phoenix Raceway. Romain Grosjean just had a little more speed than Dennis Hauger, but with too much downforce on the car, the pair lacked top speed. After both starting in the Top 10 last week, tomorrow they’ll line up P20 and P22.
Considering his speed on short ovals in 2025, Christian Rasmussen, down in P18, also looks to be out of place to start the race. With heavy lifting throughout his laps, the Ed Carpenter Racing driver only averaged a speed of 171.540 mph, nearly 2 mph down compared to his teammate, Alexander Rossi, who starts sixth.
Team Penske seems to have found their rhythm again, with all three drivers in the top five. Newgarden and McLaughlin are separated, however, by the RLL Racing duo of Schumacher and Rahal. Considering this is his first-ever oval race, Schumacher certainly impressed and will be hoping to make it past the first lap.
After missing out on a pole position multiple times last year, it finally went Malukas’ way. He mirrors Will Power, who also achieved his maiden pole position in his second race in the No. 12 Team Penske back at Long Beach in 2009. Can Malukas continue the momentum and bring home his maiden win, too?
“Oh man, finally, oh I’m so happy. The story of last season was, you know, we have it, we wait till the last few guys and then boom, we get P2. But we finally got it.”
~ Malukas to Henneberry on his maiden pole.