Just days after the opening round in St. Petersburg, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES continues apace with this weekend’s Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway – the first oval event on the 2026 schedule.
For Felix Rosenqvist, the one-mile desert tri-oval marks both a step into the unknown and a place of historic significance at the same time.
That is because while the Arizona venue returns to the INDYCAR calendar for the first time since 2018 – before Rosenqvist’s debut campaign in 2019 – it was also the site of the Swede’s first-ever oval race, contested in Indy Lights back in 2016.
Well aware that his decade-old experience in INDYCAR’s feeder series will essentially count for nothing this weekend, Rosenqvist still feels the Phoenix vibe send him down memory lane.
“Phoenix is where I had my first ever oval race, and to be honest, it was one of the worst weekends of my career!” says the Swedish Meyer Shank Racing driver. “I was struggling a lot for a variety of reasons, but it was a valuable experience that introduced me to a crucial type of racing in this part of the world.
“I’m actually really glad to be back in INDYCAR and prove that I’ve made some progress since then!”
Finishing 12th in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg last Sunday, Rosenqvist is hoping to join the frontrunners in Arizona this weekend – but admits the nature of the event makes it hard to predict.
“It’s effectively a new race, a new track, and that in itself makes it exciting,” says Rosenqvist. “Especially being a short oval; those races always throw up so many curveballs.
“I think most of the focus will be on qualifying, and then we’ll see in final practice when people start working on the high line whether it will be possible to pass or not. We had a pre-season test in Phoenix but really there’s a lot of unknowns still. I’m curious to see how it plays out and it’s nice to have an oval race this early in the season.”
The Good Ranchers 250 – named for the number of race laps – takes place on Saturday. Before then, the 25-car field will hit the track on Friday for practice and qualifying.
TIME TABLE
All times local (U.S. Mountain)
NTT INDYCAR SERIES | Rd. 2
Good Ranchers 250
Phoenix Raceway (USA)
Friday March 6
Practice 1: 8:00-9:00 am
Qualifying: 12:00-1:00 pm
High Line & Final Practice: 2:30-4:00 pm
Saturday March 7
Race (250 laps): 1:20 pm
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: view here
TIMING: INDYCAR App / indycar.com
EVENT DATA: view here
HOW TO FOLLOW: view here