Simpson tops tight Arlington race warmup; top 10 within 0.54s

Kyffin Simpson paced the race-day warmup for the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, posting the fastest lap of the 10-lap session at 1:34.7588 in the No. 8 Sunoco Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and registering a top speed of 103.716 mph. Simpson beat Rinus VeeKay by 0.0116 seconds, while Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon was third — 0.0439 seconds off Simpson’s pace — and the top 10 were covered by less than 0.54 seconds, underscoring close race-condition pace in the session.

Drivers contended with blustery conditions in the warmup, with steady 20 mph winds and gusts near 40 mph, on the 2.73-mile, 14-turn street circuit that runs around AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field through Arlington’s Entertainment District. The session saw late trouble for Christian Rasmussen, who spun, hit the tire barrier and dislodged the rear wing of his No. 21 car, ending his warmup early and briefly interrupting the run; Mick Schumacher was 25th, 3.4742 seconds off Simpson’s time. Josef Newgarden and rookie Dennis Hauger rounded out the top five; Simpson and Newgarden were among eight drivers who elected to start the race on the harder Firestone Firehawk compound under the series’ street-course tire rule.

The warmup results do not affect championship standings. Pole-sitter Marcus Ericsson had claimed the NTT P1 Award for pole — the first pole of his IndyCar career — and was 14th in the warmup; Will Power was 17th and Pato O’Ward 21st, with the overall race field totaling 25 cars. Reports varied on the race start time — sources listed both noon ET and 12:17 p.m. ET — for the scheduled 70-lap Race, which was set to be televised on FOX, FOX Deportes and FOX One and streamed on the FOX Sports app.