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ARLINGTON, Texas — Scott McLaughlin has a new favorite track after hitting the 14-turn, 2.7-mile street course at AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field for Friday’s practice for the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington.
The Team Penske star was the fastest of the day at 1:34.8926 for a speed of 103.570 mph in the No. 3 DEX Chevrolet. That was faster than Alex Palou’s top speed in the final group session that closed practice at 1:34.9513 (103.506 mph) in the No. 10 DHL Honda.
“That is instantly my most favorite street circuit ever,” McLaughlin said. “It’s such a blast. The DEX Chevy feels great. It’s just an absolute ball to drive. I’m like a little kid again. It’s great, I’m having a blast and so lucky that we’re able to do it. I’m feeling pretty good about everything, and we’ll see how we go.
“It’s like the first time I made Indy and made it to the green.”
Andretti Global’s Will Power was third at 1:35.3051 (103.121 mph) in the No. 26 Honda followed by Pato O’Ward’s No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren at 1:35.3641 (103.058 mph). Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing rounded out the top five of 25 cars with a lap at 1:35.3775 (103.043 mph) in the No. 60 Honda.
At the start of the “All Skate” session when all cars could take to the track at 3 p.m. Central Time, the ambient temperature was 80 degrees with sunny skies. The track temperature was 100 degrees, according to Firestone Racing.
The session began at 3:08 p.m. local time for 40 minutes of action for all cars.
Sting Ray Robb brought out the first Red Flag of the session when the No. 77 Chevrolet contacted the wall on the entry to Turn 1. The car came to a stop in the runoff with damage to the front wing and right front corner. Robb climbed from the car without assistance from the AMR IndyCar Safety Team.
Robb’s Juncos Hollinger teammate brought out the second red flag when he stopped on course in Turn 10 late in the session.
Felix Rosenqvist slapped the wall in the final turn in the first group in the split group session but was able to get into pit lane without any issue.
“Luckily it was the last corner, so I got into the pit pretty good,” Rosenqvist said. “I really like what they have done with this track. It really reminds me of Nashville.”
The all-cars session ended with Pato O’Ward the fastest at 1:35.6861 in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren.
Next was the two-group session with each group on track for 12 minutes. The fastest in the first session was Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin at 1:34.8926 in the No. 3 Chevrolet.
Next up was Group B and four-time NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou was the fastest at 1:34.9513 in the No. 10 DHL Honda.
More practice is set for Saturday morning followed by Knockout Qualifying with a change in the Firestone Fast Six. The six drivers that advance to the final round will be given one qualification lap around the course instead of all six running on track in the six-minute session.
There is a popular line involving the Commonwealth of Texas that says, “Everything is bigger in Texas.”
That is certainly the case with the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington including the ownership group that includes Roger Penske, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball.
The general consensus from the IndyCar drivers Friday morning at AT&T Stadium, home of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys where the street course is just outside the main entrance, is “this should be the new standard for all IndyCar races.”
The course is long and fast, the grandstands are impressive, the walls and catchfences are incredible and areas of the track are painted in the turns and aprons to give it a professional appearance.
“This is a big one for us,” Graham Rahal told SPEED SPORT. “It’s critical that we have a good weekend and we get a good crowd there. But I’m pumped up to be there. I’m excited to see the racetrack. I’m very excited. I think it’s going to be a tremendous event. And Dallas is a massive metro, so definitely a place we want to be.”
From 1997 until 2023, IndyCar competed in the Dallas/Fort Worth area at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, putting on some of the fiercest races and closest finishes in IndyCar Series history. But after 27 years, a race that once drew huge crowds had dwindled to sparse spectators in the seats so IndyCar concluded its run at the 1.5-mile oval in 2024.
Two years later, IndyCar is back with a buzz for this new street race in one of the liveliest areas of the Dallas area.
Why does Rahal believe this race will succeed?
“You bring the party to the people, and people are in that area,” Rahal said. “There’s a lot of vibrancy, a lot of new stuff, a lot of development, AT&T Stadium, of course, Globe Life Field.
“There’s a lot happening there and when you bring the party to the people, they come. Naturally, that’s always been easier than expecting people to drive 30 minutes to an hour or two hours or whatever out in the countryside (at Texas Motor Speedway).
It’s the third-straight major race for IndyCar to start the 2026 season including the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 1 and the Good Ranchers 250 at Phoenix Raceway on March 7. That race was part of an IndyCar/NASCAR doubleheader weekend at Phoenix that also included the Straight Talk Wireless 500 on Sunday, March 8.
Both races had impressive gains in viewership ratings and the grandstand at Phoenix Raceway were jammed on Saturday and Sunday.
Team Penske swept the weekend winning poles for both the NTT IndyCar Series and NASCAR Cup Series races and claimed the victories in both events.
When SPEED SPORT attended a kickoff event at the Arlington Race Course on Thursday night, IndyCar owner Roger Penske was exuberant.
Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones was incredibly optimistic about continuing IndyCar’s momentum with this weekend’s race that includes AT&T Stadium, Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers and Arlington Live! – an entertainment district that surrounds both sporting venues.
It has the makings of a great partnership for IndyCar as it has returned to Texas after a two-year absence, but at a new venue that has brought the party to the people.
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