Friday debrief: “Insane” Arlington receives rave IndyCar driver reviews
- Archie O’Reilly
- 7 minutes ago
- 5 min read
IndyCar’s long-awaited first foray onto the streets of Arlington, around the stadiums of the Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers, has drawn plenty of praise from its drivers.
The field has already been struck by the magnitude of the event, while the first experience of driving the track in the opening practice session - paced by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin - has only furthered the positivity surrounding the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington.
These are some of the key stories and takeaways from Friday in Texas.
McLaughlin thrives in opening practice
With his 1:34.8926s fastest lap, McLaughlin led Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR)’s Álex Palou - leader of practice Group 2 - as the only two drivers to dip below the 1:35.0000s threshold in practice.
“I feet like a strength of mine has been learning new tracks, even since I was a kid. I really enjoy this side of it,” McLaughlin said. “Obviously I’m a bit happier because my car is handling really good right now but a really good start to our weekend.”
Andretti Global’s Will Power, who needs a rebound after an incident-marred first two rounds of 2026, was third overall but almost half-a-second behind McLaughlin. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and Meyer Shank Racing (MSR)’s Felix Rosenqvist, who hit the wall late in Group 1 and limped back to the pits, followed within the same tenth.
The top eight all fell within one second of McLaughlin, completed by Andretti’s Marcus Ericsson, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard. CGR’s Scott Dixon and Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger completed the top 10, with thus-far-quiet AJ Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collet also impressing in 13th.
McLaughlin’s teammates David Malukas and Phoenix-winning Josef Newgarden were 12th and 16th in the combined time sheets, while Andretti’s Kyle Kirkwood and MSR’s Marcus Armstrong were also a little lower than may be expected in 15th and 18th.
There was only one significant incident, with Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Sting Ray Robb locking his rear brakes into Turn 1 and finding his car stepping out into the outside wall inside the first 15 minutes of practice. His teammate Rinus VeeKay later came to a halt in the Turn 10 run-off, causing the second of two red flags, but continued after a minor brake fire.
Discounting Robb in 25th, the field was spread by over three-and-a-half seconds from leader McLaughlin to VeeKay in 24th as they got up to speed on the lengthy 2.73-mile street track.
“The best street circuit I’ve driven”
For McLaughlin, not short of experience on street tracks across both his IndyCar and V8 Supercars career, his first Arlington outing brought about feelings he has not experienced on a new track since debuting on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in 2021.
“You probably think I’m getting paid to say it but it’s hands down the best street circuit personally that I’ve driven on,” said the St. Petersburg season-opening pole-sitter. “It’s got a huge straight - bumpy straight, very hard to test your brake point into Turn 10.
“Then there are so many corners that are technical but then also daring. You’ve got to maximise high-speed corners, high-speed entries. It’s an absolute blast. It was honestly a pleasure to learn it and get better and better.
“It’s just got so much character. It’s a lot of fun. I feel like it’s a big Nashville - just a bit more open. It’s sick. It really is. There’s no other word - Gen Zs will get that.”
Palou shared McLaughlin’s enjoyment for the 14-turn track and is relishing the challenge of the first of three new street tracks for this season, with the additions of Markham and Washington D.C. to follow later in the year.
“I love it,” said the four-time champion, who won Round 1 in St. Pete. “It’s insane. It’s super fun to drive. It’s just a lot more fun than I thought, just how the car feels. There’s so many different corners. There’s corners that you can attack so much and you feel like a superhero.
“There’s other corners where you need to back off because the grip is very different. Very bumpy - a lot more bumpy than I thought, which makes it super challenging but super fun.”
There is hope that Sunday’s race will bring an entertaining spectacle, given amid the narrower complexes of corners, there are expected to be plenty of passing opportunities into a number of more expansive sections of the track.
“[It is] super wide, which for the race is going to be great,” Palou said. “It’s going to be awesome. There’s so many different passing zones. It’s not that there’s only a frontstretch; you have Turn 10, Turn 11. Otherwise, you go into Turn 13.”
Bumpiness a surprise to drivers
There appeared to be an expectation coming into the weekend that, compared to some of IndyCar’s other street tracks, Arlington may have provided a smoother surface. But it became quickly apparent that this would not be the case.
“How bumpy it was down the back straight surprised me and the team a little bit,” McLaughlin said. “We definitely had to raise the right height a little bit. I think everyone had the same issue.
“You’ve got to communicate to the team how bad it is and then explain how much do I think I need to go up or down. I thought Raul [Prados], my engineer, did a really good job at toning that in. You’ve just got to try and maximize better than most.”
There was also a challenge provided by a range of different surfaces making up the track. McLaughlin, for instance, found Turn 10 “super slippery”, turning right at the end of the 0.9-mile straight - the longest on the IndyCar calendar.
“Just challenging on the different pavements we have throughout the corners and throughout the track,” Palou said. “But it’s fun. It’s just tough on how we set up the car because you don’t want to set it up too aggressive or the other because it just keeps on changing so much. You need different stuff in different sectors.”
Concerns raised over pit entry
As debuted in Detroit in 2023, Arlington features a two-sided pit lane. But concern has been raised not over that setup but instead a narrow pit entry to the left side off Turn 14.
“Pit in, a little bit more space would be welcome,” Palou said. “You’re charging in and you feel like that attenuator is waiting for you there. So hopefully we don’t have any issues there. The exit, [it] would be ideal if we had more space but it’s not as bad as it looks on paper.
“On paper, it looks quite bad but I think having that pit-out commit line, it makes us go on the outside. There’s enough room for somebody to be on the inside during the race so I think pit-out commit, it’s okay. Hopefully we can change a little bit the pit in. But knowing IndyCar, that’s not going to change until next year, in two or three years.”
IndyCar returns for Practice 2 at 8:30 CT (13:30 GMT) on Saturday, followed by qualifying - featuring a new single-car Fast Six format - at 13:30 CT (18:30 GMT). Race coverage begins at 11:30 CT (16:30 GMT) on Sunday, ahead of a 12:17 CT (17:17 GMT) green flag.
