Tag: NTT IndyCar Series

  • Alex Palou: 2024 NTT IndyCar Series Champion

    Alex Palou: 2024 NTT IndyCar Series Champion

    A year after joining an exclusive club of 28 competitors to record multiple championships in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES division, Alex Palou elevated his status to another exclusive club, this time comprised of 13 names who have recorded three or more championships in IndyCar at the conclusion of an eventful and strong 2024 season.

    Palou, a native of Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, Spain, muscled through a season that was highlighted with two race victories, six podiums, three poles, 263 laps led and an average-finishing result of 6.5 throughout the 17-race schedule. Despite finishing outside the top-10 mark during the final two-scheduled events of the season, including an 11th-place run during the season-finale event at Nashville Superspeedway, Palou was not overthrown by a pair of Team Penske competitors (Scott McLaughlin and Will Power) serving as his title rivals as he wrapped up the big crown by 31 points.

    The start of the 2024 season featured an overhaul to Palou’s No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) Dallara-Honda livery as DHL ended its dozen-year partnership with Andretti Global by joining forces with CGR to serve as a primary sponsor for Palou. By then, the Spaniard was coming off his dominant season to date, where he won his second IndyCar championship and notched career-high season stats in race victories (five), podiums (10) and laps led (379) along with a personal-best average-finishing result of 3.7.

    When the 2024 season commenced at the Streets of St. Petersburg for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg during the second weekend of March, Palou kicked off his quest to win his third IndyCar title by initially finishing in sixth place. He would later be promoted to fourth place amid a massive penalty and disqualification layout levied on Team Penske and its race-winning competitor Josef Newgarden along with third-place finisher Scott McLaughlin due to both violating the IndyCar’s “Push to Pass” parameters.

    Then during IndyCar’s inaugural $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club in Thermal, California, in late March, Palou capped off a dominant weekend where he was the fastest competitor during the event’s practice sessions and led all the laps during both his heat event and the main event to win. He would proceed to notch his first podium result of the season at the Streets of Long Beach and finish fifth at Barber Motorsports Park, the site where he achieved his maiden IndyCar victory in 2021.

    Palou then commenced the series’ month of May competition at Indianapolis Motor Speedway by notching his first points-paying victory of the 2024 season in the Sonsio Grand Prix at Indianapolis’ Road Course venue. The victory was enough for him to assume the points lead for the first time of the season. After qualifying in 14th place for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, Palou would proceed to finish in fifth place during the main event.

    Despite stumbling to a 16th-place result during the following Grand Prix weekend at the Streets of Detroit which caused him to lose the championship lead, Palou responded with three consecutive top-four runs that allowed him to reassume the lead. Mired within the three-race span was his second victory of the season in the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, which marked his second victory at the venue overall.

    The series’ doubleheader feature at Iowa Speedway that occurred during the second weekend of July featured mixed results for Palou, who wrecked out of the first event and was strapped with his first DNF of the season in 23rd place. Initially having his points lead decrease from 48 to 37, the Spaniard would lose another two points during the second Iowa feature of the weekend despite rallying to finish second behind Will Power.

    Over his next four starts, Palou finished no lower than fifth while he picked up another podium result by finishing second at Portland International Raceway in late August. Despite Power winning at Portland during the four-race stretch, Palou both increased and maintained his points lead to 43 points.

    Then after finishing 19th during the second of a Milwaukee Mile doubleheader feature in late August, Palou had his points lead cut to 10 points over Power as Scott McLaughlin, Power’s teammate, kept himself within the championship game after he won the second Milwaukee feature. Despite qualifying in 24th place for the season-finale event at Nashville Superspeedway, where he started 20 spots behind Power and 15 spots behind McLaughlin, Palou quickly took care of early business by mathematically eliminating McLaughlin from title contention by starting the race.

    Then on Lap 13 of 206 of the finale, Power’s hopes for a third IndyCar championship and second in three seasons evaporated due to the Australian making an unscheduled pit stop under green to have a lap belt adjusted as he lost multiple laps in the process. Despite continuing, Power could only work his way up to 24th place in the final running order as he was trapped eight laps down. For Palou, he cruised his No. 10 DHL Honda entry to an 11th-place run, which was enough to wrap up the title by 31 points over Colton Herta, who leap-frogged McLaughlin and Power to end up a career-best second place in the final standings.

    Despite being aware of Power’s early issues, Palou did not hesitate nor let off the throttle for the remainder of the event on the track as he maximized all opportunities to cap off his championship season on a strong note.

    “We just had to keep on going,” Palou said on NBC. “I have to thank everybody working on the 10 car. Everybody at [Chip Ganassi Racing] back at the shop. Super proud. It’s been an amazing year and I’m happy we got the championship back home.”

    With his accomplishment, Palou, who became the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar title in 2021, became the first competitor to achieve three IndyCar championships and the first to defend a title since Dario Franchitti last made both accomplishments in 2011. Palou also delivered the fourth IndyCar drivers’ championship for Honda over the last six seasons and the 16th IndyCar title overall for Chip Ganassi Racing, which places the organization one title away from tying Team Penske for the most all-time at 17.

    Palou joins Louis Meyer, Ted Horn, Jimmy Bryan, Rick Mears, Al Unser, Bobby Rahal and Sam Hornish Jr. as competitors to currently have three IndyCar championships. The Spaniard is one away from tying Mario Andretti, Sebastien Bourdais and Franchitti for the third-most IndyCar titles all-time at four.

    Despite being pleased with adding another IndyCar championship to his resume, Palou sets his sights on being more competitive which would enable him to win more races compared to this season while also defending his crown.

    “What a year,” Palou said on the championship stage. “I think we’ve been really close. Just didn’t maximize in some places. We’ll learn from what we can improve from this year and hopefully next year, we can do it.”

    Palou’s 2024 IndyCar championship received high praise from team owner Chip Ganassi, whom Palou steered with to his 11 current victories and three championships in IndyCar since they first joined forces at the start of the 2021 season.

    “[Palou] never broke a sweat,” Ganassi said. “Just unbelievable [with] the way he drives. The way he came into our team a few years ago down in Alabama. Won his first race out. It’s been smooth sailing since. [The team] like winning. It helps.”

    With the NTT IndyCar Series’ teams and competitors entering an off-season period, Alex Palou’s quest to both win his fourth INDYCAR championship and defend his title is scheduled to commence at the Streets of St. Petersburg for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 2, 2025. While the event will be aired on FOX, the event’s start time remains to be determined.

  • Larson set for second Indy 500-Coke 600 bid with Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow McLaren in 2025

    Larson set for second Indy 500-Coke 600 bid with Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow McLaren in 2025

    Nearly four months after having his plans of competing in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day spoiled due to Mother Nature, Kyle Larson returns to Memorial Day weekend in May 2025 with “unfinished business” as he will make a second attempt at “The Double” between two motorsports’ regions in two iconic racing venues.

    In a press conference at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Tuesday, September 10, Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow McLaren will join forces to support Larson’s double-duty effort for a second consecutive season in 2025. The conference featured Larson, Hendrick Motorsports’ owner Rick Hendrick, Hendrick Motorsports’ vice chairman Jeff Gordon, McLaren Racing’s CEO Zak Brown and Arrow McLaren’s sporting director Tony Kanaan.

    The news comes as Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, who first announced his double-duty plans in January 2023 for the 2024 season, attempted to become the fifth competitor to pull off motorsports’ iconic double this past May. With on-track precipitation delaying the start of Larson’s first double-duty leg at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, Larson opted to remain at Indianapolis, which resulted in him missing the start of the Coca-Cola 600. Once the Indy 500 commenced amid the delay, he proceeded to finish in 18th place despite getting penalized for speeding on pit road in the closing stages.

    At the conclusion of the Indy 500, Larson hopped on a plane and was flown to Charlotte Motor Speedway, where the Coke 600 had commenced as Xfinity Series veteran Justin Allgaier was piloting Larson’s No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 entry as a fill-in competitor. By the time Larson arrived at Charlotte, however, the event was placed in a red flag period on Lap 249 of 400 due to on-track precipitation. Following an extensive rain delay period, the event was made official. As a result, Allgaier, who was credited with starting the Coke 600 and methodically carved his way up the leaderboard from the rear of the field, was awarded a 13th-place result while Larson was unable to turn in a single lap for his second leg of “The Double.”

    Despite being named the 2024 Indy 500 Rookie-of-the-Year recipient and being praised by many for his attempted double-duty efforts, Larson has since evoked a goal to plot a second attempt at “The Double” and compete in both events spanning a total of 1,100 miles in a single day.

    “I really enjoyed the Month of May in Indy and racing with Arrow McLaren, but I was really disappointed with missing the Coca-Cola 600 with the No. 5 HendrickCars.com team,” Larson said in a released statement. “I appreciate the second opportunity because we have unfinished business. I really want to complete all 1,100 miles, and I think we have the opportunity to battle for the win in both events.”

    Since the Indy-Charlotte double attempt, Larson did achieve a little redemption of his own at Indianapolis this past July when he won the Brickyard 400 for the first time in his career while sporting the exact blue, orange and white scheme to his No. 5 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet entry that he was initially set to sport during the Coke 600. After celebrating in the frontstretch, Larson hinted at a potential return to the 2025 Indy 500 to the delight of the Indianapolis fans, which is now official and set for next season.

    Like this season, Larson’s NTT IndyCar Series and Cup Series entries will carry sponsorship support from HendrickCars.com. The Californian will also sport the No. 17 on his Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet IndyCar entry at Indianapolis for a second consecutive season before he travels back to Charlotte and climbs aboard his No. 5 Chevrolet entry in the Cup circuit.

    “Kyle had a great month of May and showed what a gifted race car driver he is,” Rick Hendrick, a 14-time Cup Series championship owner, said. “From a sponsorship perspective, we saw an incredible lift for HendrickCars.com and measured a three-to-one return on our investment. It was a monumental effort by all involved, but we didn’t have the opportunity to see it through [because of inclement weather]. Everyone learned a great deal that we’ll take into next year. Now that we’ve experienced it once, we know what to expect, which can only make us better and more prepared. Zak [Brown] and the team at Arrow McLaren are tremendous partners, and we’re looking forward to finishing the job together in 2025.”

    Currently, Larson is one of 16 competitors vying for the 2024 Cup Series championship in the Playoffs. Having earned four victories throughout the 2024 regular-season stretch, he is ranked in 10th place in the Playoff standings and is 15 points above the top-12 cutline to advance from the Round of 16 to 12, with the first Playoff’s round set to conclude less than two weeks from now at Bristol Motor Speedway on September 21.

    The 2025 season is set to mark the 12th time overall where a competitor will attempt to compete in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, a motorsports’ challenge that started when the late John Andretti achieved the first feat in 1994. In addition, Larson is set to become the first competitor to attempt “The Double” for a second time since Robby Gordon made his fourth attempt in 2004 and had Jaques Lazier fill in for him for the remainder of the Indy 500 due to a rain delay period as he competed in the Coke 600 with Richard Childress Racing.

    To date, Kurt Busch, the 2004 Cup Series champion, is the latest competitor to achieve “The Double” in 2014 despite having his hopes of completing the double’s 1,100 miles spoiled due to a late engine failure during the Coke 600. Tony Stewart, a three-time Cup Series champion, is the only competitor to complete all 1,100 miles of both races on the same day, finishing sixth at Indy before notching a third-place effort at Charlotte.

    For the 2025 Indianapolis 500, Larson will be a teammate to Arrow McLaren’s NTT IndyCar Series driver lineup that consists of Pato O’Ward, Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard, the latter of whom will be joining the organization next season. It will also mark the third consecutive season that Arrow McLaren will attempt to field four entries in the Indy 500 as the organization attempts to return the iconic McLaren name to Victory Lane at Indianapolis since Johnny Rutherford made the last accomplishment in 1976.

    Photo by Chris Jones | IMS Photo.

    “Kyle showed us all what he was capable of this past May, and given a second chance with better weather conditions, I think we’ll all be excited to see him fight for a win at the Indy 500 and then another one in Charlotte,” Zak Brown added. “He’s one of the most talented racing drivers out there, and it’s a privilege to do this again with Mr. Hendrick and Jeff Gordon, who are both world-class. We can’t wait for May.”

    *Note: Compared to this season, Rick Hendrick mentioned that the 2025 Coca-Cola 600 race will be Larson’s priority in the event that Mother Nature hinders the Californian’s double-duty effort for a second time. In an event of this nature, Tony Kanaan, the 2013 Indianapolis 500 champion and the 2004 NTT IndyCar Series champion with 17 victories who coached Larson during his attempted double, will pilot Larson’s No. 17 Chevrolet entry.

    With his Memorial Day weekend plans for next season set, Kyle Larson’s 2025 “The Double” campaign is scheduled to occur on May 25. The 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is slated to air at 11 a.m. ET on FOX before the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway will follow suit later in the day. While the Coke 600 will be aired on Amazon Prime Video, a start time remains to be determined.

  • McLaughlin and Power fulfill dreams with first oval victories during IndyCar’s Doubleheader Features at Iowa

    McLaughlin and Power fulfill dreams with first oval victories during IndyCar’s Doubleheader Features at Iowa

    For a second consecutive season, Team Penske swept the annual NTT IndyCar Series’ doubleheader weekend races at Iowa Speedway between July 13-14.

    On this occasion, however, it was not this year’s two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden who swept both races compared to the 2023 season. It was his teammates Scott McLaughlin and Will Power who each fulfilled equated dreams of their own by winning at Iowa for the first time in their IndyCar careers.

    The action commenced on Saturday evening, where McLaughlin, who started alongside pole-sitter Colton Herta for the first of two Iowa weekend events, received quick service from his No. 3 team to beat Herta off of pit road first amid a caution period on Lap 84. From there, McLaughlin, who fended off Herta during the following restart period on Lap 92, never relinquished the lead as he proceeded to survive through four caution periods and fend off Pato O’Ward in a 12-lap shootout to win for the first time on an oval circuit.

    Overall, McLaughlin, who led the final 164 of 250-scheduled laps in his No. 3 XPEL/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet, notched his sixth career victory in the IndyCar circuit, his second of the 2024 season and first since winning at Barber Motorsports Park in April. The Iowa victory reignited McLaughlin’s quest to contend for this year’s IndyCar championship as he also continues to rally from the disqualification during the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg due to him and teammate Newgarden manipulating the ECU software that enabled them to use the push to pass on restarts.

    Photo by Ron Olds for SpeedwayMedia.com.

    “What got [the win] done tonight was the pit stops [by] the team,” McLaughlin, who also won the pole position for the 2024 Indianapolis 500, said on the frontstretch following Saturday’s race. “[The pit crew] got me out in front of [Colton] Herta there and then we showed our pace. That’s a big deal today. Man, I’ve been working for that for a couple of years. It takes a lot of hard work. I never was going to call myself an IndyCar driver until I won on an oval [circuit]. So, I’m going to call myself an IndyCar driver now. Hopefully, the floodgates open. We bloody need them to because we’re fairly behind in the championship, but we’ll see how we go.”

    The following day, McLaughlin, who won the pole position for the second Iowa event, stormed out of the gate when the green flag waved and proceeded to lead the first 94 laps. Then after McLaughlin pitted from the lead on Lap 95, where a cycle of green flag pit stops had commenced, the race changed as the caution flew on Lap 101 due to Agustin Canapino coming to a stop in the backstretch. By then, Alex Palou, the reigning IndyCar champion, had just entered pit road and serviced his No. 10 DHL Dallara-Honda, where he was then able to blend back onto the track as the race leader. McLaughlin, meanwhile, was shuffled back to third place as teammate Will Power, who had also not yet pitted, moved his No. 12 Verizon/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet into second place.

    Once the race restarted under green on Lap 113, Power, who spent a majority of the event’s remainder trailing Palou while managing to lead eight laps in the process and conserving fuel in the process, capitalized on his final green flag pit stop that lasted only 5.8 seconds with 45 laps remaining to blend back onto the track in front of Palou, who pitted a lap earlier but emerged with a pit time of 6.3 seconds.

    From there, Power, who officially returned to the lead on Lap 209 after rookie Linus Lundqvist pitted, fended off a late charge from Palou towards the event’s conclusion on Lap 250 as he beat Palou to the checkered flag by three-tenths of a second for his first elusive victory at Iowa in the IndyCar circuit.

    Power took the checkered flag just before a harrowing four-car wreck erupted on the backstretch that resulted with Sting Ray Robb going airborne, flipping twice and sliding on his roof after he hit Alexander Rossi, who had run out of fuel, as Ed Carpenter and Kyle Kirkwood were also involved.

    With the victory, Power, a two-time IndyCar champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion, notched his 43rd career win in the IndyCar circuit, which moved him solely into fourth place on the all-time IndyCar wins list and left him nine victories shy of tying Mario Andretti for the third-most victories. It was also Power’s first victory since winning at Road America four races ago in June and his first on an oval circuit since he won at Pocono Raceway in August 2019.

    Photo by Travis Hinkle | IMS Photo.

    “Massive fuel [saving was the key],” Power said on the frontstretch following Sunday’s race. “Honestly, just sitting in the pack. I had a really good car, a really fast car, so I sat back and used that pace to save fuel and get a massive [fuel] number. I knew once all those [leaders] pulled in [to pit], I could go hard and then, we caught a yellow. That was sort of the thing we were hoping for, to get one of those yellows to put us to the front. Then we were able to get better fuel mileage behind Palou and go a lap longer than him and then jump in. I’ve been trying to win this race for years [and] years. So, [I’m] over the moon. The guys did a great job. I felt really bad from yesterday when I accidentally buttoned off from the pit speed limit and ruined our day. We were right in the game…We’re still pushing and getting it done.”

    In a span of two races at Iowa, Power went from trailing the points lead by 48 points to decreasing his deficit to 43 and 35 as he retains second place in the championship standings behind points leader Alex Palou. Teammate McLaughlin, who finished in third place during the second Iowa event on Sunday, gained 40 points in two days as he now trails the points lead by 65 points while he is situated in fifth place in the standings.

    Meanwhile, Palou, who is still pursuing his first oval victory in the IndyCar circuit, rallied from wrecking out in the first Iowa event to rack up his fifth podium result of the 2024 season and retain the points lead with six events remaining on this year’s schedule.

    “It was a good weekend,” Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda, said. “Yesterday was a terrible day for us. Just made too many mistakes, but [I] rebounded today. Almost got the win. Solid P2. Looking forward to Toronto next week. It was, overall, a really good weekend.”

    Pato O’Ward, who finished second and sixth, respectively, during the Iowa doubleheader features, is ranked in third place in the driver’s standings with a 52-point deficit despite achieving a resurgent victory a week ago at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Meanwhile, Scott Dixon, who finished in fourth place during both Iowa events, is scored in fourth place in the standings as he trails teammate Palou by 57 points.

    Next on the 2024 NTT INDYCAR Series schedule is the series’ annual trip north of the border to the Streets of Toronto, Canada, for the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, July 21, and air at 1 p.m. ET on Peacock.

  • Newgarden inks new multi-year contract extension with Team Penske

    Newgarden inks new multi-year contract extension with Team Penske

    Josef Newgarden has inked a new multi-year contract extension to continue to pilot the No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, beginning in 2025.

    The news comes as the two-time IndyCar Series champion from Hendersonville, Tennessee, is coming off his second consecutive triumph in the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he led 13 of 200 laps and overtook Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward on the final lap en route to the victory. As a result, Newgarden is the first competitor in 22 years to win back-to-back Indianapolis 500s, a feat last made by Helio Castroneves between the 2001 and 2002 seasons, and he delivered the record-setting 20th Indy 500 victory for team owner Roger Penske.

    “Driving for Roger Penske and this iconic team is a dream that I never thought I would realize,” Newgarden said in a statement. “I’m thankful for the opportunities that I’ve been given during my time at Team Penske. I have a great amount of respect for the individuals that comprise our group, incluidng the partners who support us. Our time together has been filled with hard work, teamwork and dedication; and I’m so excited that we will continue on for many more years to come. I’m sure we can achieve much more in the future. I still believe we haven’t reached our full potential together just yet.”

    Newgarden, who first competed in IndyCar in 2012, was announced as a Team Penske competitor for the 2017 season in early October 2016. Three races into the 2017 season, he secured his first victory as a Penske competitor at Barber Motorsports Park. He would proceed to claim three additional victories and a total of nine podiums while contending for the driver’s championship throughout the 17-race schedule. With a runner-up finish in the season-finale event at Sonoma Raceway, Newgarden claimed the title by 13 points over teammate Simon Pagenaud and became the first American competitor to win an IndyCar championship since Ryan Hunter-Reay made the last accomplishment in 2012.

    In the six-plus years that follow since winning his first championship during his first season with Team Penske, Newgarden recorded a second IndyCar title in 2019 after beating Pagenaud for a second time, this time by 25 points. He also achieved his first Indianapolis 500 victory in 2023 after overtaking and fending off the 2022 Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson during a one-lap dash to the finish. As a result, he became the 75th competitor overall and the first American competitor since Alexander Rossi made the last accomplishment in 2016 to win the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” event at Indianapolis.

    To date, Newgarden has recorded 27 victories, 17 poles, 43 podiums, 3,432 laps led and an average-finishing result of 7.7, all while competing for Team Penske. With his three other victories occurring between CFH Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing between the 2015 and 2016 seasons, Newgarden sits in 13th place on the all-time IndyCar wins list at 30.

    “Josef Newgarden is a true winner, and we are excited that he will continue as a part of Team Penske for years to come,” Roger Penske added. “What he did Sunday in the Indianapolis 500 shows how Josef consistently delivers for our team and our partners on the track, and he is just as impressive off the track as well. We are proud to have Josef continue with our organization as his skill and passion embody what it means to be a Team Penske driver.”

    Newgarden is currently ranked in seventh place in the 2024 driver’s standings, where he trails the points lead by 61 points. His second Indy 500 victory rallies him and the No. 2 team from their disqualification from winning the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg for violating the sport’s push-to-pass regulations in February, an issue that also affected Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin.

    With his future set, Josef Newgarden’s quest to win a third NTT INDYCAR Series championship in 2024 continues with this weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at the Streets of Detroit, Michigan, where he is set to start in third place after posting the third-fastest qualifying lap at 97.145 mph in one minute, 0.9607 seconds. The event is scheduled to commence on Sunday, June 2, and air at noon ET on USA Network.

  • Newgarden executes final lap pass on O’Ward for second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory

    Newgarden executes final lap pass on O’Ward for second consecutive Indianapolis 500 victory

    A year after becoming the 75th competitor overall to win the Indianapolis 500, Josef Newgarden doubled down as a two-time champion of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing after winning the rain-delayed 108th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 26, following a final lap overtake on Pato O’Ward.

    The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion from Hendersonville, Tennessee, led six times for 26 of 200-scheduled laps in an event where he started alongside his two Team Penske teammates, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, on the front row. Leading for the first time at the halfway mark on Lap 100, Newgarden withstood a series of pit strategies amongst his rivaled competitors and on-track chaos to remain in race-winning contention in the closing stages.

    Then after swapping track positions with Scott Dixon and Arrow McLaren’s duo of Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi in the closing laps, Newgarden, who reassumed the lead from Rossi with seven laps remaining, was left to duel against a hard-charging O’Ward for the victory. Despite regaining the lead from O’Ward with five laps remaining, Newgarden then lost the lead to O’Ward at the start of the final lap, but managed to gain a draft to overtake him and reclaim the lead exiting the backstretch. The pass was enough for Newgarden to muscle away and claim the checkered flag to become the first competitor in 22 years to repeat as an Indianapolis 500 champion.

    Following a two-day qualifying session that occurred between May 18-19 and that determined the starting lineup for the main event, Scott McLaughlin achieved his first Indianapolis 500 pole position after posting the fastest four-lap average-qualifying speed at 234.220 mph in two minutes, 33.7017 seconds. McLaughlin shared the front row with his two Team Penske teammates and former Indy 500 champions Will Power (233.917 mph in two minutes, 33.9007 seconds) and Josef Newgarden (233.808 mph in two minutes, 33.9726 seconds), which marked the first time three Team Penske entries swept the front row for the 500 since 1988.

    The only competitor who did not qualify for the event was rookie Nolan Siegel, who wrecked his No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Dallara-Honda entry while attempting to race his way into the field during last Sunday’s qualifying session.

    During the pace laps and warmup session, early trouble struck for Callum Ilott, who pitted due to a mechanical issue to his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet, though he was able to return to the track and remain on the lead lap for the event’s start.

    When the green flag waved and the event commenced amid a four-hour delay due to heavy precipitation, pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin launched ahead from teammates Will Power and Josef Newgarden along with the rest of the field to lead through the first two turns.

    Shortly after, however, the event’s first caution period flew after Tom Blomqvist hit the rumble strips in Turn 1, spun and came across the path of Marcus Ericsson as Ericsson, who started on the final row in this year’s Indy 500, nearly got airborne as he wrecked his No. 28 Delaware Life/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda both into Blomqvist’s No. 66 Arctic Wolf/Meyer Shank Racing Dallara-Honda and across the outside wall. Amid the wreckage, Pietro Fittipaldi, who was trying to avoid the wreckage involving Ericsson and Blomqvist, made contact with Ilott as he spun his No. 30 5-Hour Energy/Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda in between the first two turns before he backed his car against the outside wall. The carnage was enough to take Ericsson, Fittipaldi and Blomqvist out of contention while Ilott continued.

    During the caution period, Marcus Armstrong’s second career start in the Indianapolis 500 came to an early end due to the New Zealander losing power and having smoke spewing out of his No. 11 Ridgeline Performance Lubricants/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda during the caution laps, which forced him to pit and retire.

    As the event restarted under green on the ninth lap, McLaughin fended off teammates Power and Newgarden for a second time through the frontstretch to retain the lead as the field behind fanned out to multiple lanes. In the midst of the field fanning out, Kyle Larson, the 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion who was piloting the No. 17 HendrickCars.com/Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet as part of his ‘Double Duty’ effort that included competing in the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway later in the day, lost a bevy of spots while running in the top 10 and was getting overtaken by oncoming competitors after missing a gear to launch at the start as he also made slight contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay. The field continued to scatter, fan out and jostle for early spots through the backstretch while McLaughlin retained the lead ahead of his two Team Penske teammates at the Lap 10 mark.

    Through the first 15 scheduled laps, McLaughlin was leading by less than a tenth of a second over teammate Power and nearly half a second over teammate Newgarden while Santino Ferrucci and Alexander Rossi were in the top five. Behind, Rinus VeeKay occupied sixth place ahead of Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta and Kyle Kirkwood while Alex Palou, Takuma Sato, Helio Castroneves, Kyle Larson and Ryan Hunter-Reay were in the top 15. Behind, Scott Dixon, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter, Sting Ray Robb and rookie Kyffin Simpson trailed in the top 20.

    Six laps later, the caution returned after Katherine Legge, who started on the final row, had smoke billowing out of her No. 51 e.l.f/Dale Coyne Racing Dallara-Honda as her fourth bid to win the Indy 500 came to an end. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by McLaughin pitted for service while the following names that included Sting Ray Robb, Conor Daly, Christian Lundgaard and Graham Rahal remained on the track as part of an early strategic plan. Following the pit stops, McLaughlin retained the lead after exiting pit road first ahead of teammates Power and Newgarden while Ferrucci, Rossi, Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Herta, Palou and Sato followed suit in the top 10.

    During the next restart period on Lap 26, Daly overtook Robb from the outside lane through the frontstretch to assume the lead. Robb would retain second through the first two turns and through the backstretch while McLaughlin settled in fourth place as he was running in between Lundgaard and Rahal while Ferrucci was trying to crack the top five amid more jostling of spots within the field. The event’s third caution flew a lap later after Linus Lundqvist, who was running in the middle of the field, got loose and hit the outside wall in Turn 1, which knocked him and his No. 8 American Legion/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda team out of contention.

    With the event restarting under green on Lap 32, McLaughlin muscled his No. 3 Pennzoil/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet past Daly’s No. 24 Polkadot/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing/Cusick Motorsports Dallara-Chevrolet through the frontstretch to reassume the lead. Behind, Ferrucci made his way into the runner-up spot followed by Daly, Robb and Lundgaard as the field fanned out to multiple lanes just past the backstretch before navigating through Turns 3 and 4 to complete the following lap. Daly would then overtake Ferrucci to claim the runner-up spot by Lap 34 before overtaking McLaughlin through the frontstretch to reassume the lead two laps later.

    Just past the Lap 40 mark, Daly was leading by two-tenths of a second over McLaughlin while third-place Ferrucci trailed by seven-tenths of a second. Robb and Rossi trailed in the top five within a second as Newgarden, Herta, Lundgaard, Palou and O’Ward were scored in the top 10 ahead of Rosenqvist, Larson, Dixon and Rahal while Power dropped to 15th.

    Towards Lap 38, Robb, who was running in the top five, pitted his No. 41 Goodheart/A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara-Honda under green. Daly would surrender the lead to pit under green during the following lap as McLaughlin cycled back into the lead as he was being pursued by Ferrucci, Ross, Herta and Newgarden.

    At the one-quarter mark on Lap 50, McLaughlin continued to lead by four-tenths of a second over Ferrucci while Rossi, Herta and Newgarden continued to trail in the top five. Behind, Palou occupied sixth place ahead of Rosenqvist, O’Ward, Larson and Rasmussen while Dixon, VeeKay, Power, Sato and Augustin Canapino were in the top 15. Meanwhile, teammates Lundgaard and Rahal were mired back in 25th and 26th, respectively, after both pitted a few laps earlier.

    Five laps later, the event’s fourth caution flew after Felix Rosenqvist, who was running in the top 10, pulled his No. 60 SiriusXM/Meyer Shank Racing Dallara-Honda off the track in the backstretch and retired due to an engine failure, which marks the third Honda engine failure in the event. During the caution period, nearly the entire field led by McLaughlin returned to pit road for service while Daly and Robb remained on the track. Following the pit stops amid a tight squeeze amongst the leaders, Rossi exited in first place by a hair over McLaughlin as Herta, Newgarden, Palou, Ferrucci, Rasmussen, Larson, VeeKay and Power followed suit in the top 10.

    The start of the next restart period on Lap 64 featured the field fanning out through the frontstretch and prior to reaching the start/finish line as McLaughlin made a bold three-wide move beneath Daly and Robb to move into the lead entering the first turn. Robb would then return to the top of the leaderboard two laps later after he overtook McLaughlin through the frontstretch. Robb would retain the lead by the Lap 70 mark and by four-tenths of a second over McLaughlin while Daly, Herta and Newgarden trailed in the top five.

    Then on Lap 85, the caution flew after Herta, who was running second and was deemed a potential favorite of the event, got loose and spun backwards into the outside wall in Turn 1, where he damaged the front wing of his No. 26 Gainbridge/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda. Despite sustaining minimal damage to his entry, Herta would have his car towed to the garage, where he would return to the track following extensive repairs and being multiple laps down.

    During the exchange of pit stops as nearly the entire field led by McLaughlin pitted during the caution period, Kyle Kirkwood ran into the rear of Ilott, which cause Ilott to overshoot his pit stall and into Ed Carpenter’s pit stall, which caused Carpenter to jam on the brakes and stall his car while waiting for Ilott to be pushed back into his respective stall.

    With the race restarting under green on Lap 91, Rinus VeeKay, who was among a handful of competitors who did not pit and inherited the lead, was quickly overtaken by Lundgaard for the lead entering the first turn. Behind, Newgarden muscled his way up to fourth place as he settled behind Robb while Ferrucci and Daly battled for fifth place in front of McLaughlin, Palou, Rossi and Larson.

    Seven laps later, VeeKay pitted his No. 21 askROI/Ed Carpenter Racing Dallara-Chevrolet under green. Lundgaard would also pit his No. 45 Hyvee/Letterman Lanigan Racing Dallara-Honda another three laps later as Newgarden proceeded to lead the halfway mark on Lap 100. By then, Ferrucci moved up to second as McLaughlin, Robb and Daly cycled up into the top five ahead of Palou, Larson, Rossi, Castroneves and Rasmussen.

    Six laps later, the event’s sixth caution flew after Ryan Hunter-Reay, who gained a draft to overtake Scott Dixon through the backstretch for 17th place, got blocked and forced into the backstretch’s grass amid contact with Dixon, which resulted with Hunter-Reay doing a full 360 spin through the grass and the racing surface, but managing to straighten his car through the grass without coming back across oncoming traffic as Hunter-Reay limped his damaged No. 23 VensureHR/Four Sixes Racing Beef/101 Studios/Dreyer & Reinbold Racing Dallara-Chevrolet back to his pit stall, where he would retire.

    The following restart period with 87 laps remaining did not last long as Marco Andretti, who was battling for a top-20 spot, slipped sideways and backed his No. 98 Mapei/Andretti Global Dallara-Honda into the outside wall in Turn 1 as his 19th bid to win his first Indianapolis 500 came to a late end.

    The ensuing restart period with 82 laps remaining generated a different outcome as McLaughlin muscled ahead with the lead of a tight battle involving teammate Newgarden, Ferrucci, Rossi, Palou, Larson, Castroneves, Canapino and Rasmussen entering the first turn. With Newgarden retaining second, McLaughlin also retained the lead by four-tenths of a second with 80 laps remaining.

    At the three-quarters mark with 75 laps remaining, McLaughlin retained the lead by three-tenths of a second over Rossi followed by Newgarden, Ferrucci and Palou while Larson, Rasmussen, Castroneves, Canapino and Rahal were in the top 10. Behind, Dixon was in 11th ahead of Simpson, VeeKay, O’Ward and Daly while Power, Sato, Robb, Ilott and Kirkwood were mired in the top 20.

    Two laps later, Newgarden cycled his No. 2 Shell Powering Progress/Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet past teammate McLaughlin to reassume the lead through the frontstretch. Newgarden, however, would then pit under green with 70 laps remaining before McLaughlin pitted during the following lap. During McLaughlin’s pit service, the following names that included Larson, Canapino, Simpson and Ilott also pitted. Amid the pit stops, however, Larson, who had methodically driven his way into the top five prior to pitting, was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding while entering pit road. Larson, who smoked his front tires when he was penalized for speeding, would serve the penalty with nearly 65 laps remaining as more names pitted under green.

    Back on the track, O’Ward, who has yet to pit, was leading ahead of Dixon. O’Ward would then pit from the lead with 63 laps remaining, which moved Dixon into the lead ahead of VeeKay, Daly, Sato, Robb, Kirkwood, Lundgaard and Carpenter as McLaughlin led a large group of competitors who recently pitted, among which included Rossi, Palou, Newgarden and Ferrucci. During the next two laps, Rossi navigated past McLaughlin and Palou to move into 10th place while scored the first competitor who recently pitted.

    With less than 60 laps remaining, Dixon pitted under green as Daly cycled into the lead. Daly would then pit with nearly 55 laps remaining, which enabled Robb to assume the lead ahead of Lundgaard and O’Ward while Dixon and Daly trailed by more than 35 seconds in the top five.

    Then with 54 laps remaining, the caution flew after Power, who was racing within the top 20 and battling Rasmussen, slipped sideways and spun backwards into the outside wall in Turn 1, which he slapped and destroyed the right side of his No. 12 Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet.

    Down to the final 45 laps of the event, Dixon briefly led the field back to green flag racing conditions before he was placed in the middle of an Arrow McLaren sandwich through the frontstretch as Rossi overtook both teammate O’Ward and Dixon into the lead. Behind, Newgarden, who restarted eighth, rocketed his way up to fourth place as he was ahead of Palou, VeeKay, McLaughlin and Daly as Rossi retained the lead. During the following lap, teammate O’Ward overtook Rossi to assume the lead with Dixon retaining third. With McLaughlin mired in seventh, Rossi and O’Ward traded spots for a second time through the frontstretch as the former reassumed the lead. O’Ward and Rossi swapped positions for a third time through the frontstretch with 42 laps remaining as Rossi returned to the lead.

    With 35 laps remaining, Rossi, who kept swapping the lead with his Arrow McLaren teammate O’Ward through the frontstretch, reassumed the lead while third-place Dixon trailed by within seven-tenths of a second. Behind, Newgarden and Palou trailed in the top five ahead of McLaughlin while VeeKay, Daly, Ferrucci and Kirkwood were scored in the top 10.

    Three laps later, however, Rossi surrendered his back-and-forth trade for the lead with teammate O’Ward to pit his No. 7 Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet under green. Another two laps later, Dixon made his move beneath O’Ward to move his No. 9 PNC Bank/Chip Ganassi Racing Dallara-Honda into the lead as Sato and Robb peeled off the track to pit under green. Newgarden, McLaughlin and Daly would pit during the next lap before Dixon, Canapino, O’Ward, Castroneves and Lundgaard pitted with 38 laps remaining. Amid the pit stops, Dixon emerged ahead of Newgarden, Rossi and O’Ward while Kirkwood, who was among nine front-runners who has yet to pit, was leading.

    With 25 laps remaining, Dixon overtook Newgarden through the frontstretch to reclaim the top spot as the competitor who recently pitted despite being scored in seventh place. By then, Kirkwood was still leading ahead of Ilott, Rahal, Carpenter, Larson and Simpson, all of whom have yet to pit under green. Dixon and Newgarden would spend the next five laps gaining drafts and swapping spots over one another through the frontstretch as they moved up the leaderboard into fourth and fifth. Meanwhile, Larson, who cycled into the lead a lap earlier after Ed Carpenter pitted, was leading by seven-tenths of a second over Simpson with 20 laps remaining as Newgarden, Rossi and Dixon moved up into the top five.

    Four laps later, Larson surrendered the lead to pit under green. Once Simpson pitted during the next lap, Newgarden cycled into the lead as he held a three-tenths of a second advantage over a hard-charging Rossi, with Dixon and O’Ward also trailing by within seven-tenths of a second. Rossi would then overtake Newgarden from the outside lane through the frontstretch to lead with 13 laps remaining. Behind, O’Ward overtook Dixon for third place while Rossi was trying to muscle away with the lead.

    Down to the final 12 laps of the event, Newgarden rocketed past Rossi from the inside lane through the frontstretch to reassume the lead while O’Ward was trying to close in on teammate Rossi for the runner-up spot. With Dixon trailing in fourth place by more than a second and Rossi trying to close back towards Newgarden’s rear bumper, Newgarden continued to lead by two-tenths of a second with 10 laps remaining.

    With nine laps remaining, Rossi gained another draft on Newgarden to reassume the lead through the frontstretch. As Rossi led by three-tenths of a second during the next lap, O’Ward was trying to fend off Dixon for third place while Kirkwood, Palou and McLaughlin trailed from fifth to seventh, respectively.

    Then with seven laps remaining, Newgarden reclaimed the lead while O’Ward seized an opportunity to rocket past teammate Rossi through the frontstretch as he assumed the runner-up spot. O’Ward then made his move beneath Newgarden to assume the lead through the frontstretch with five laps remaining before Newgarden reassumed the top spot during the proceeding lap. Newgarden would proceed to retain the lead by a narrow margin over O’Ward during the next two laps.

    When the white flag waved and the final lap started, O’Ward made his move to the outside lane and overtook Newgarden to assume the lead, where he retained it through the first two turns. Then while trying to muscle away as he swerved his car to the left and right to not give Newgarden any drafting momentum, the latter was able to gain enough momentum to make a bold move to the outside lane entering Turn 3 and zip by O’Ward. With the lead back within his grasp and O’Ward losing ground, Newgarden was able to muscle away with the lead for two final turns and cycle back to the frontstretch to claim his second consecutive checkered flag at the Greatest Spectacle of Racing in Indianapolis, Indiana.

    With the victory, Newgarden became the 21st competitor overall to win the Indianapolis 500 multiple times and the first to win the event in back-to-back seasons since Helio Castroneves made the last accomplishment between 2001 and 2002. The 2024 Indy 500 victory marks Newgarden’s 30th of his NTT IndyCar Series career and the first of the season, which made him the fourth winner through the season’s first five events on the schedule.

    The victory served as a redemptive moment for Newgarden and his No. 2 Team Penske team as they were disqualified from winning the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg due to violating rules involving their use of the push-to-pass system. The disqualification also affected their teammate Will Power, who initially finished third in the event. Earlier this month, Team Penske suspended several key members from their organization, including managing director Ron Ruzewski and team president Tim Cindric.

    “[The critics] can say whatever they want after this point. I don’t care anymore,” Newgarden said on the frontstretch on NBC. “I’m just so proud of the team. They crushed it. They came here with the fastest cars. We worked our tails off, Team Chevy brought it. [Race engineer] Luke [Mason], Tim [Cindric], they’re not here today, but they’re a huge part of this. I’m just so proud of everybody for Team Penske. That’s the way I wanted to win the [race] right there.”

    “I knew we could win this race again and [it was] just a matter of getting it right,” Newgarden added in Victory Lane. “There’s no better way to win a race than that. I got to give it up to Pato [O’Ward] as well. He’s an incredibly clean driver. It takes two people to make that work, so it’s not just a good pass. It’s also someone that you’re working with that’s incredible clean. He could’ve easily won this race too, but it just fell our way. I just went for it. I said, ‘Alright, the car’s good enough. You guys have done your job Let me drive to the front.’ [The team] backed me the entire way. You can’t win this race without a great car. It’s the best car in the field, so hats off to the team. It’s always a team win. Today epitomizes the team victory. It’s a team win on the pole, it’s a team win today. I’m thankful for Roger Penske. He’s stood by me. He’s the man, he’s a legend. There’s no one that I’ve ever met that cares more about the fan and the experience than that man. I promise you, he cares so much about this place and I’m thankful for him.”

    In addition, Newgarden, who achieved his second Indy 500 victory following a last-lap pass for a second consecutive season after overtaking Marcus Ericsson for the win a year ago, had the honors of bestowing the record-setting 20th Indianapolis 500 victory to team owner Roger Penske, who is also the owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

    “It’s a dream come true,” Penske said. “You think about all these fans that were here today. [They] Waited five hours to see that race. Unbelievable finish. I never saw one car get ahead by a couple of seconds. For me, it’s a job we love to do. We love to win. I think this puts away a lot of the things we talked about who we are and where we are. We’re winners.”

    As Newgarden fought back tears of joy and relief in Victory Lane, O’Ward, who led 12 laps and was striving to become the first Mexican competitor to win the Indy 50, fought back tears of disappointment on pit road after settling in the runner-up spot in the 500 for a second time in three seasons.

    “It’s hard to put it into words,” O’Ward said. “I’m proud of the work that we did today. We recovered. We went back, we went forward, we went back. Some people were driving like maniacs. We had so many near race-enders and [we were] just so close again. So close. I put that car through things I never thought it was going to be able to do. Somehow I came out the other side of the corner. It’s just so painful when you put so much into it and [we were] two corners short. [This track] owes me nothing. I much rather have finished the race rather than compared to last year, but it’s always a heartbreak whenever you’re just so close, especially when it’s not the first time. You just don’t know how many opportunities like that you have.”

    Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner, came home in third place followed by Alexander Rossi, both of whom led 12 laps apiece, while Alex Palou, the 2024 Sonsio Grand Prix winner and two-time series champion, finished fifth.

    “[The finish] was like a win, obviously,” Dixon said. “We had some ups and downs  through the race. We definitely just didn’t have the speed today, unfortunately. It was just one of those days where I feel like everybody gave each other pretty good room. We had some incidents here and there, but it was wild to watch. Obviously at the end there, when you’re going for third place, you see the first two mixing it up. You hope they’re going to crash into each other, unfortunately, but that’s just the way it goes.”

    “The fuel number I had to hit, I couldn’t lead.” Rossi added. “Just an amazing effort for the whole Arrow McLaren organization and Team Chevy. It was an amazing month. It’s really hard when you come away from this event not thinking you should’ve changed anything and still, the result isn’t there. I look back and there’s nothing to this month that I would’ve done any differently. The car was great. When you can’t win with that, it’s a tough pill to swallow.”

    “I didn’t have a perfect day, but almost,” Palou added. “Strategy wasn’t the best in our case, but [it] still was good. We tried. We gave everything we had. [We] Didn’t have the ultimate speed today and had fun passing some cars. Pretty happy to finish P5. Not the best result, obviously here, but it was a good race.”

    Pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin, Kyle Kirkwood, Santino Ferrucci, Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly completed the top 10 in the final running order.

    Notably, Kyle Larson finished 18th in both his first career start in the NTT IndyCar Series and Indianapolis 500. In addition, Takuma Sato finished 14th ahead of Graham Rahal, Sting Ray Robb, who led 23 laps as part of his strategic moves, finished 16th ahead of Ed Carpenter and Helio Castroneves ended up 20th,

    There were 52 lead changes for 18 different leaders. The event featured eight cautions for 47 laps. In addition, 21 of 33 starters finished on the lead lap.

    Following the fifth event of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, Alex Palou leads the championship standings by 20 points over Scott Dixon, 26 over Will Power, 49 over both Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta, 52 over Scott McLaughlin and 61 over Josef Newgarden.

    Results.

    1. Josef Newgarden, 26 laps led

    2. Pato O’Ward, 12 laps led

    3. Scott Dixon, 12 laps led

    4. Alexander Rossi, 12 laps led

    5. Alex Palou, one lap led

    6. Scott McLaughlin, 64 laps led

    7. Kyle Kirkwood, two laps led

    8. Santino Ferrucci, eight laps led

    9. Rinus VeeKay, eight laps led

    10. Conor Daly, 22 laps led

    11. Callum Ilott, one lap led

    12. Christian Rasmussen, one lap led

    13. Christian Lundgaard, four laps led

    14. Takuma Sato

    15. Graham Rahal, one lap led

    16. Sting Ray Robb, 23 laps led

    17. Ed Carpenter, three laps led

    18. Kyle Larson, four laps led

    19. Romain Grosjean

    20. Helio Castroneves

    21. Kyffin Simpson, three laps led

    22. Agustin Canapino, one lap down

    23. Colton Herta – OUT, Contact

    24. Will Power – OUT, Contact

    25. Marco Andretti – OUT, Contact

    26. Ryan Hunter-Reay – OUT, Contact

    27. Felix Rosenqvist – OUT, Mechanical

    28. Linus Lundqvist – OUT, Contact

    29. Katherine Legge – OUT, Mechanical

    30. Marcus Armstrong – OUT, Mechanical

    31. Tom Blomqvist – OUT, Contact

    32. Marcus Ericsson – OUT, Contact

    33. Pietro Fittipaldi – OUT, Contact

    Next on the 2024 NTT INDYCAR Series schedule is the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at the Streets of Detroit, Michigan. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 2, and air at noon ET on USA Network.

  • Larson finishes 18th in first Indy 500 attempt; misses 2024 Coca-Cola 600

    Larson finishes 18th in first Indy 500 attempt; misses 2024 Coca-Cola 600

    Kyle Larson capped off an eventful day and month of motorsports competition leading up to Memorial Day weekend on a bittersweet note that resulted with his plans of performing ‘Double Duty’ between the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 being partially spoiled due to on-track precipitation and resulting with him campaigning in the former over the latter.

    The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion from Elk Grove, California, commenced his planned ‘Double Duty’ task by opting to remain at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to compete in this year’s 108th running of the Indy 500 with Arrow McLaren on Sunday, May 26, despite the event being delayed by four hours due to a heavy stream of precipitation.

    Qualifying in fifth place during last Sunday’s qualifying session with a four-lap average-qualifying speed of 232.846 mph in two mintutes, 34.6083 seconds, Larson, who started the main event on the second row, dropped one spot on the track amid a multi-car wreck on the opening lap that knocked Pietro Fittipaldi, Tom Blomqvist and the 2022 Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson out of contention.

    Then during the next restart period on the ninth lap, Larson endured a brief scary moment when he fell off the pace after missing a gear and getting his car to launch at the start. Larson’s gearing issues resulted with the Californian dropping to 14th place as he made wheel-to-wheel contact with Ryan Hunter-Reay through the frontstretch. Amid the contact, Larson was able to keep his No. 17 HendrickCars.com/Arrow McLaren Dallara-Chevrolet pointing straight as he remained within 14th place in the early stages.

    After gaining two spots on pit road following his first INDYCAR pit service amid another caution period for Katherine Legge having a mechanical issue, Larson would remain in the top 15, starting through the event’s next restart period on Lap 26.

    Over the course of the event, Larson, who would carve his way back into the top 10 on the track, was scored in ninth place by the Lap 50 mark before he moved up to seventh place at the halfway mark on Lap 100. Through a steady pace on the track and stellar pit stops from his team, Larson would run as high as fourth place on the track.

    Then during a late cycle of green flag pit stops with 69 laps remaining, Larson’s strong run was foiled after he smoked his front tires while trying to reduce his speed to enter pit road while running in the top five. Amid his pit service, Larson would be assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding on pit road. After serving his pass-through penalty, Larson was mired back in 22nd place on the track.

    During the final round of green flag pit stops that commenced with nearly 30 laps remaining, Larson, who was on a different pit strategy compared to the leaders, would lead his first lap in the Indy 500 with 20 laps remaining. He would lead the next four laps before he surrendered the lead to pit for the final time under green with 16 laps remaining. Returning to the track, Larson would cross the finish line in 18th place, which made him the lowest-finishing Arrow McLaren competitor of the day while his teammates Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi and Callum Ilott finished second, fourth and 11th, respectively.

    “I would definitely love to be back next year,” Larson said on NBC. “I feel like I learned a lot throughout the race. [I] Felt like I did a really good job on the restarts and was able to learn a lot. Obviously, I smoked the left front [tire] or something into the green flag stop and killed our opportunity, so proud to finish, but pretty upset at myself. If I just could’ve executed a better race, you never know what could happen. Bummed at myself, but huge thank you to Arrow McLaren, Hendrick Motorsports, Hendrick Automotive Group, Rick Hendrick, Chevrolet, everybody that’s a part of this. We’ll go hop on a jet and see if I can get into the [Coca-Cola] 600 somehow.”

    By the time Larson arrived at the track from his helicopter, however, the event, which had started without Larson present, was under a caution period due to precipitation and eventually red-flagged on Lap 249 of 400. By then, Justin Allgaier, an Xfinity Series veteran for JR Motorsports who was selected to serve as Larson’s standby competitor, had piloted the No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 up to 13th place after Allgaier was forced to start at the rear of the field due to a driver change.

    Eventually, the event was made official by NASCAR due to the precipitation around the Charlotte Motor Speedway circuit, with Christopher Bell claiming the rain-shortened victory and Allgaier being credited for 13th place by both starting and finishing the event while Larson, who had planned to contest in 1,100 miles between the Indy 500 and the Coke 600, was unable to pilot his No. 5 entry for a lap.

    As a result, this season marks the first time where a competitor attempting the double during Memorial Day weekend ends up competing in one event over the other since Robby Gordon ended up only competing in the Indy 500, which was delayed by three hours and caused him to miss the Coke 600.

    By missing this year’s Coca-Cola 600, Larson, who snaps a 121-race starting streak, and Hendrick Motorsports have yet to submit a waiver request to NASCAR that would keep Larson eligible to make the 2024 Cup Series Playoffs. In addition, Larson, who came into the Coke 600 with a 30-point lead in the 2024 Cup Series regular-season standings, drops to third place in the standings, but trails points leader Denny Hamlin by six points and runner-up Martin Truex Jr. by one.

    With his 2024 Indianapolis 500 start complete, Larson shifts his focus back to his full-time Cup Series role for the upcoming series’ event at Gateway’s World Wide Technology Raceway for the Enjoy Illinois 300. The event is scheduled to occur next Sunday, June 2, and air at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1.

  • McLaughlin saves season with dominant drive in Alabama

    McLaughlin saves season with dominant drive in Alabama

    On Wednesday, Scott McLaughlin learned he lost his second-place finish in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, for push-to-pass violations by Team Penske. As a result, he fell to last in NTT INDYCAR SERIES points.

    “We took the penalty, as we said at the start of the week,” he said. “It was black and white. You move on.”

    Fast-forward to Sunday, McLaughlin dominated the field to win in Alabama.

    He led a race high of 59 laps to win the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix for the second year in a row, and the fifth time in his career. He built up a large enough gap to pit on Lap 75 and exit pit road ahead of Alex Palou. A caution with five laps to go gave Palou and the field another chance, but nobody had the goods to overtake McLaughlin on the final restart with two laps to go.

    “We did what we thought we could do,” he said. “It was execution. Like, probably one of the most I guess you could say so proud of the execution, the way that the team, particularly on the three cars, stuck together. We just kind of kept executing. That’s our word for the rest of the year. Keep knocking ’em out. Points are points. Points are imaginary things. You just, like, get them. It’s a reward at the end of the race.

    “It’s about executing. The higher you finish, the more points you get. Ultimately it’s a bonus at the end of the season. We’re here to just take it race by race and see what happens towards the end.”

    Teammate, Will Power, who lost 10 points in Wednesday’s penalty announcement, brought his No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet home to a runner-up finish. INDYCAR rookie, Linus Lundqvist, passed Palou for third on Lap 79. For a moment, he thought he could pass Power in Turn 5. To no avail.

    “I think these guys were obviously the pace of the field today,” he said. “I was able to hold off fairly easily from Palou. I think he still had some fuel saving or old tires.”

    Felix Rosenqvist and Palou rounded out the top-five.

    Christian Lundgaard, Santino Ferrucci, Colton Herta, Marcus Armstrong and Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top-10.

    Race summary

    McLaughlin led the field to green at 1:40 p.m. ET. A three-car incident in Turn 1 set the tone for the day. For which Rinus VeeKay served a pass-through penalty, for avoidable contact. I counted at least six times one car touched another, over the course of 90 laps.

    McLaughlin pitted from the lead on Lap 28. Palou followed suite, two laps later. Followed by Rosenqvist on Lap 31 and Ferrucci on Lap 36. McLaughlin cycled back to the lead on Lap 37.

    Alexander Rossi lost a wheel exiting pit road on Lap 44. Which brought out a caution. Running on a three-stop strategy, Palou stayed out during the caution to retake the lead. When Sting Ray Robb plowed into the Turn 1 tire barrier on Lap 55, Ferrucci stayed out to inherit the lead. It was a lucky break for McLaughlin, who was “probably on the backfoot” when the caution flew.

    “That was a way of us getting back to the point where these other guys had to take the fuel and hope they made the fuel,” he said.

    After Ferrucci pitted on Lap 66 and Lundqvist on Lap 70, McLaughlin built a roughly 30-second gap to Palou. When he pitted on Lap 75, he exited ahead of Palou.

    Aside from Christian Rasmussen’s stall in Turn 14 with five laps to go, it was McLaughlin’s race to lose.

    What else happened

    File under “Well that happened.”

    On Lap 53, a mannequin named Georgina fell off the bridge before the entry to Turn 7 and partially onto the track. Which Luca Ghiotto clipped. In a sports league where fans tape up beer cans to make a beer tower on Carb Day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, nothing compares to this. Hell, I once saw a bat fly around the media center at Bristol Motor Speedway, and that was less bizarre than any of this.

    Nuts and bolts

    The race lasted one hour, 56 minutes and 45 seconds, at an average speed of 106.369 mph. There were 10 lead changes among six different drivers and four cautions for 15 laps.

    Herta leaves Barber Motorsports Park as the points leader.

  • Grosjean to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    Grosjean to make 50th IndyCar career start at Barber Motorsports Park

    In his third full-time campaign in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, Romain Grosjean is within reach of achieving a milestone start. When he takes the green flag in this weekend’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama, the driver of the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Dallara-Chevrolet will make his 50th career start in the IndyCar circuit.  

    Grosjean, who was born in Geneva, Switzerland, but competes under the French flag, made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar circuit at Barber Motorsports Park in April 2021. He was coming off a 10-year campaign in Formula One, where he had recorded 10 podium results and 391 points while competing for Lotus and Haas F1 teams, and had survived a harrowing opening lap accident at Bahrain International Circuit during the Bahrain Grand Prix. The incident ended his F1 career and led him to transition to IndyCar competition.

    Piloting the No. 51 Dallara-Honda for Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing in a part-time campaign, Grosjean started seventh and finished 10th in his IndyCar debut. After finishing 13th during his second series start at the Streets of St. Petersburg, Grosjean earned the spotlight during his third series start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course for the GMR Grand Prix in May, where he achieved his maiden pole position and proceeded to lead a race-high 44 laps before settling in a career-best runner-up spot behind Rinus VeeKay.

    Grosjean proceeded to finish in the top seven twice during his next five starts before he achieved both his second runner-up result and second podium of the season at Indianapolis during the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix in August. Three races later, he achieved his third podium result of the season and the third of his career, at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca after carving his way from starting 13th. He would then make his 13th and final IndyCar start of the year in the season-finale Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, where he finished 24th after being involved in a late accident. Making 13 starts in total throughout the 2021 season, Grosjean settled in 15th place in the final driver’s standings with 272 points.

    Amid his strong performances throughout the 2021 season, Grosjean was recruited by Andretti Global to pilot the No. 28 Dallara-Honda on a full-time basis for the 2022 IndyCar season, replacing the 2014 Indianapolis 500 champion Ryan Hunter-Reay. He began the season by finishing fifth at the Streets of St. Petersburg in February before claiming his first podium result of the season in the form of a second-place finish at the Streets of Long Beach event two races later. Grosjean finished no higher than seventh during his next four starts before managing a top-five finish in the form of a fourth-place run at Road America in June.

    He ended up in 31st place during his first Indianapolis 500 start in May after being involved in an accident just past the halfway mark. He would then proceed to record two top-10 results during the following eight events on the schedule before finishing in seventh place in the finale at Laguna Seca. With an average-finishing result of 13.7, one spot lower than 12.7 during the 2021 season, Grosjean concluded his sophomore IndyCar season in 13th place in the final standings and with a career-high 328 points. 

    Returning for a second IndyCar season with Andretti Global in 2023, Grosjean captured the pole position for the season-opening event at the Streets of St. Petersburg. Despite leading 31 laps, however, he ended up in 18th place in the final running order after being involved in a late accident with Scott McLaughlin, whom he was battling for the victory. After being involved in a second consecutive accident during the following event at Texas Motor Speedway while battling for a top-five spot with two laps remaining, Grosjean rallied by notching back-to-back runner-up results and podiums at Long Beach and Barber Motorsport Park, respectively, the latter of which occurred after he started on the pole position for a third time and led a race-high 57 laps before being outdueled by McLaughlin in the closing laps.

    For the remaining 13 events on the schedule, Grosjean would manage to record a single top-10 result, which was a sixth-place run at Nashville Street Circuit in August, as he ended up in 13th place in the final driver’s standings for a second consecutive season, but with 296 points and an average-finishing result of 15.2. 

    After not being retained by Andretti following the 2023 season, Grosjean found a new team to call home for the 2024 season in the form of Juncos Hollinger Racing, where he replaced Callum Ilott to drive the No. 77 Dallara-Chevrolet on a full-time basis. Coming off a 24th-place result in the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg followed by an eighth-place run at the Streets of Long Beach, he is currently ranked in 13th place in the driver’s standings and trails the points lead by 57 points. 

    Through 49 previous IndyCar starts, Grosjean has achieved three poles, six podiums, and 152 laps led with an average-finishing result of 14.0 as he continues his pursuit for both his first IndyCar race victory and championship. 

    Romain Grosjean is scheduled to make his 50th NTT INDYCAR Series career start at Barber Motorsports Park for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on Sunday, April 28. The event’s broadcast time is scheduled to commence at 1 p.m. ET on NBC. 

  • Scott Dixon: The Drive for 67 Race Victories

    Scott Dixon: The Drive for 67 Race Victories

    With his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory of the 2024 season in the 49th running of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in Long Beach, California, on Sunday, April 21, Scott Dixon is within reasonable distance of achieving another major accomplishment to his racing resume.

    Currently sitting at 57 career victories in IndyCar competition, Dixon, who is in second place in the all-time IndyCar wins list, is 10 victories away from tying AJ Foyt for the most series wins at 67.

    The six-time champion from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, left little to doubt with his impeccable run during Sunday’s Grand Prix at Long Beach, where he rallied from starting in eighth place by leading twice for a race-high 42 of 85 laps and executing his pit strategies to perfection by having enough fuel to lead the final 34 laps and fend off late challenges from Josef Newgarden and Colton Herta to win the Grand Prix at Long Beach for the second time in his career.

    Dixon’s victory also extended the current streak of most consecutive IndyCar seasons with a victory at 20, with the champion left relieved in Victory Lane as he celebrated his first IndyCar victory of the 2024 season and his first since winning the 2023 season-finale event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last September.

    “That was tough, that was real tough,” Dixon, who was the championship runner-up in 2023, said on USA Network. “Honestly, I didn’t think we were gonna make it. [The team] kept giving me a number and it just wasn’t…I was close, but not enough. Luckily, we were on the safe side there. Huge credit to everybody on the PNC Bank No. 9 [Honda]. Today was really fun driving my Honda. Hopefully, we can keep doing this this year, but it was huge.”

    Even as Dixon managed to steer his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda smoothly around the 11-turn circuit around the Streets of Long Beach through the final 34 laps on a low tank of fuel with the lead, he was intimated by the reigning Indianapolis 500 Josef Newgarden during the stretch, who went from a three-second deficit with 20 laps remaining to narrow it down by getting as close to Dixon’s rear wing during the proceeding laps.

    Dixon then caught a break with nine laps remaining after Newgarden, who nearly got to Dixon’s rear bumper in Turn 11, was hit from behind by a hard-charging Colton Herta. The contact stalled Newgarden’s momentum and allowed both Herta and the reigning IndyCar champion/Dixon’s teammate Alex Palou to overtake Newgarden for second and third, respectively. With his advantage back up to a second, Dixon then had to fend off Herta for the final nine laps through his low tank of fuel, which he was able to as he beat Herta’s Honda entry by nine-tenths of a second across the finish line to claim the checkered flag first.

    “Josef [Newgarden] was coming strong and I was kind of unsure how he was gonna be once he got behind us,” Dixon added. “I also knew that he’d be burning the tires off, too. [Team owner] Chip [Ganassi] came on [the radio]. He’s like, ‘Just go for it, man.’ And I was like, ‘I’m gonna try.’”

    Dixon’s victory was one that received high praise from team owner Chip Ganassi, whose team Chip Ganassi Racing and Honda notched their first IndyCar points-paying victory of the 2024 season. They previously won the non-points $1 Million Challenge at California’s The Thermal Club in late March with Alex Palou.

    “I don’t know if it was the most improbable [win for Dixon], but [it was] certainly a hard-fought win,” Ganassi added. “We were managing [the fuel] to the finish. We kept telling [Dixon] the fuel number he had to get, but to stay in front of those guys. He was not getting the fuel number we had to get, so we had to keep making that up. That’s tough to do. It was relief at the end. It was relief more than anything. It was relief more than joy.”

    During his victory celebrations, Dixon dedicated the victory to Sir Colin Giltrap, a New Zealand philanthropist and businessman who was involved in the motor vehicle industry and served as a big influence on Dixon.

    Herta and Palou made it a Honda podium sweep by finishing second and third behind Dixon while Newgarden, who led 19 laps in his Penske Chevrolet and is coming off a season-opening victory at the Streets of St. Petersburg, ended up in fourth place in his 200th IndyCar career start. Marcus Ericsson, the 2022 Indianapolis 500 champion, came home in fifth place in an event where 18 of 27 starters finished on the lead lap.

    With the victory, Dixon trails Newgarden in the current driver’s standings by 12 points with 15 points-paying events remaining on the schedule.

    In addition to trailing AJ Foyt for the most IndyCar victories at 67, Dixon also strives to tie Foyt for the most INDYCAR championships at seven in 2024, with Dixon’s sixth and latest title occurring in 2020. He also strives to win his second Indianapolis 500 event since winning his first in 2008, though he has also tallied a total of five Indy 500 poles.

    Dixon’s continued quest for 67 victories continues next Sunday, April 28, at Barber Motorsports Park for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix in Birmingham, Alabama. The event’s broadcast time is set to air at 1 p.m. ET on NBC.

  • Newgarden to make 200th IndyCar career start at Long Beach

    Newgarden to make 200th IndyCar career start at Long Beach

    With a new season of NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition underway, Josef Newgarden is primed to achieve a milestone start. By competing in this weekend’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on the Streets of Long Beach, California, the reigning Indianapolis 500 champion, two-time IndyCar champion and driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet will reach career start No. 200 in the IndyCar circuit. 

    A native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, Newgarden’s racing career commenced through karts before ascending through the open-wheel ranks including Skip Barber, Formula Ford, GP3 Series and Indy Lights. He claimed the 2011 title and made his inaugural presence in the IndyCar Series at the start of the 2012 season, where Sarah Fisher Hartman signed him. Driving the No. 67 Honda for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, Newgarden started 19th and finished 11th in his IndyCar debut. He would achieve a front-row starting spot at the Streets of Long Beach and notch a total of five top-15 results and an average-finishing result of 18.2 through 14 starts before settling in 23rd place in the final standings with 200 points.  

    The following two seasons, Newgarden remained at Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing and competed in the team’s No. 67 entry in all but one event, where he piloted the No. 21 entry during the 2013 Indianapolis 500. Throughout both seasons, he achieved his maiden podium result in the form of a runner-up finish during the 2013 Grand Prix of Baltimore at the Streets of Baltimore before notching another runner-up result at Iowa Speedway in 2014. After finishing in 14th place in the final driver’s standings with 348 points, he ended up one spot better, 13th, in 2015 with 406 points. 

    In 2015, Newgarden, who competed in a Chevrolet for CFH Racing following a merged partnership between Sarah Fisher and Ed Carpenter and finished no higher than seventh during the season’s first three events, captured his maiden IndyCar victory in the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park in April after leading a race-high 46 laps. He finished in the top 10 twice during his next five series’ starts before notching his second career victory in the Honda Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place in June. Managing two runner-up results and his maiden pole position at the Milwaukee Mile throughout the final six events on the schedule, Newgarden climbed his way up to seventh place in the final driver’s standings with 431 points. By then, he had racked up four podium results, including two victories, 345 laps led and an average-finishing result of 10.8. 

    The following season, owner Sarah Fisher withdrew from IndyCar and Newgarden’s team was rebranded to Ed Carpenter Racing, with the Tennessee native piloting the No. 21 Chevrolet. Newgarden would achieve a front-row starting spot for the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 along with two podiums and six top-10 results through the first nine-scheduled events before notching his first victory of the season at Iowa Speedway in July.

    A month before the victory at Iowa, he was involved in a harrowing accident on Lap 42 when Conor Daly, whom Newgarden was battling with, got loose underneath Newgarden entering Turn 4 and shot back across the track as he sent Newgarden pinned against the wall before the latter rolled upside-down and made another head-on contact into the wall after being pushed by Daly’s car. Amid the wild wreck, Newgarden, who survived the wreck, suffered a broken hand and clavicle, but would not miss any events. Managing a runner-up result at Watkins Glen International and three top-10 results during the final five events on the schedule, Newgarden ended up in fourth place in the final standings with 502 points and an average-finishing result of 9.9. 

    The 2017 season was a breakthrough year for Newgarden, who departed Ed Carpenter Racing and replaced two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya to drive the No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet for Team Penske. After commencing the season by finishing eighth at the Streets of St. Peterburg followed by a third-place run at the Streets of Long Beach, Newgarden captured his first victory as a Penske competitor at Barber Motorsports Park in April after leading the final 14 laps. He would then record two runner-up finishes and five top-10 results during his next eight starts before notching a dominant victory at the Streets of Toronto in July.

    After winning for a second consecutive week at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in late July, Newgarden assumed the points lead for the first time in his career. He would retain the points lead following a runner-up result at Pocono Raceway, a dramatic victory at World Wide Technology Raceway in August and an 18th-place finish at Watkins Glen between August and September.

    Then during the season-finale event at Sonoma Raceway, which marked his 100th career start in the IndyCar circuit, Newgarden, who led a race-high 41 laps and came into the event with a four-point lead in the standings, finished in second place behind teammate Simon Pagenaud and clinched his maiden IndyCar Series championship by 13 points over Pagenaud and 21 over four-time champion Scott Dixon. As a result, Newgarden became the first American-born competitor to win an IndyCar title since Ryan Hunter-Reay made the last accomplishment in 2012 and he delivered the 15th IndyCar title for car owner Roger Penske. In addition to winning his first IndyCar championship, Newgarden notched a career-high nine podiums, including his four victories, 390 laps led and a career-best average-finishing result of 6.1. 

    Entering the 2018 season as the reigning champion, Newgarden finished seventh in St. Petersburg before claiming his first victory of the season during the following scheduled event at Phoenix Raceway. Despite winning at Barber Motorsports Park two races later, the Tennessee native would lose the points lead in May and would spend the remainder of the season flirting within the top five in the standings. Ultimately, he would notch his third victory of the season at Road America in June and a total of 13 top-10 results and a career-high four poles throughout the 17-race schedule before settling in fifth place in the final standings with 560 points and an average-finishing result of 7.1. 

    Newgarden commenced the 2019 season by winning the season opener at St. Petersburg, where he led 60 laps before notching two podiums and four top-four results during the following five events. He would then win the first of a Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader feature at The Raceway on Belle Isle, Michigan, in June before proceeding to win at Texas the following weekend and at Iowa in July. To go along with a total of seven podiums and 14 top-10 results throughout the 17-race schedule, Newgarden, who led the championship standings in all but one event, secured his second IndyCar championship following an eighth-place finish in the season-finale Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and edging teammate Simon Pagenaud for the title by 25 points. With his championship, Newgarden led 490 laps and achieved an average-finishing result of 5.6. 

    Throughout the 2020 season which was shortened to 14 events amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Newgarden won four races: Iowa Speedway in July, World Wide Technology Raceway in August, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course and the season-finale event at St. Petersburg in October. Despite finishing in the top 10 in all but two events, notching a career-high average-finishing result of 5.2, leading 455 laps and never dropping below the top five in the standings, Newgarden fell short of winning his third IndyCar title by 16 points over Scott Dixon, who notched his sixth title. 

    In 2021, which marked his 10th season as an IndyCar competitor, Newgarden commenced the season with a 23rd-place finish at Barber Motorsports Park after being involved in a multi-car wreck on the opening lap. He would rally by finishing in the runner-up spot three times and accumulate six top-10 results during his next eight starts before achieving his first elusive victory of the season at Mid-Ohio in July, where he led all but seven of 80 scheduled laps. Three races later, he would fend off a hard-charging Pato O’Ward to win at World Wide Technology Raceway in August and draw himself into championship contention. Despite finishing no lower than seventh during the final three events on the schedule, Newgarden, who recorded an average-finishing result of 7.3 and six podiums, including his two season victories, ended up in the runner-up spot in the final driver’s standings for a second consecutive season as he fell short of winning the title by 38 points to Alex Palou. 

    Newgarden commenced the 2022 season by rallying from finishing 16th at St. Petersburg to notch back-to-back victories at Texas and the Streets of Long Beach. After finishing no higher than 13th during his next three events, which dropped him from first to fifth in the standings, he rallied by finishing fourth at Belle Isle before scoring his third victory of the season at Road America.

    Despite winning the first Iowa Speedway doubleheader feature in July and at World Wide Technology Raceway in August, Newgarden, who dealt with inconsistent results and no additional podiums outside of his victories throughout the season, managed to climb his way up to the runner-up spot in the standings on the strength of five top-eight results during the final five events on the schedule. Despite finishing in the runner-up spot during the finale at Laguna Seca, he settled in the runner-up spot in the final standings for a third consecutive season and missed the title by 16 points over teammate Will Power amid a year where he won a career-high five races, six podiums, three poles, led 527 laps and ended up with an average-finishing result of 8.2.  

    This past season, Newgarden rallied from finishing 17th at St. Petersburg before prevailing in a late battle against Pato O’Ward to win at Texas in early April. Then four races later, the Tennessee native triumphed for the first time in the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after overtaking reigning Indy 500 champion Marcus Ericsson on the final lap amid a one-lap shootout. The Indy 500 victory, which marked Newgarden’s 12th attempt to accomplish the feat, made Newgarden the 75th different competitor to win the event as he became the first American competitor to win the event since Alexander Rossi made the last accomplishment in 2016.

    In addition, Newgarden delivered the 19th Indy 500 victory for Roger Penske. Following the Indy 500 victory, he would win both Iowa doubleheader events in July and rack up seven top-10 results during the final 11 events on the schedule. After finishing 21st during the finale at Laguna Seca, however, Newgarden concluded the season in fifth place in the final standings with 479 points. Overall, he notched four victories, five podiums, a career-high 602 laps led and an average-finishing result of 9.5 throughout the 2023 campaign. 

    This season, which marks his 13th season in IndyCar competition, Newgarden is coming off a season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg victory after he led a race-high 92 of 100 laps, which marks his 30th career win and third in St. Pete. Despite finishing in eighth place in the non-points $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club, the Tennessee veteran leads the IndyCar standings by 13 points over Pato O’Ward as he commences his pursuit for both a second Indy 500 victory and a third IndyCar title. 

    Through 199 previous IndyCar starts, Newgarden has achieved two championships, 30 victories, 53 podiums, 18 poles, 4,075 laps led and an average finishing result of 9.6. 

    Josef Newgarden is scheduled to make his 200th NTT INDYCAR Series career start in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach at the Streets of Long Beach, California, on Sunday, April 21. The event’s broadcast is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on USA Network.