Josef Newgarden of Team Penske showcased his exceptional race management skills as he claimed his third victory at St Petersburg in the opening race of the 2024 IndyCar season. Leading the pack was a quartet of Chevrolet cars.
The initial stint of the race was uneventful, with minimal changes in the race order due to fuel-saving tactics employed by the drivers. The only highlight during this period was an interview with Jon Bon Jovi on lap seven, promoting the race.
On lap 27, Marcus Armstrong’s costly mistake led to a caution period after crashing at Turn 10. This incident injected some action into the race.
Following Newgarden’s early dominance, he slipped back to fifth place while Christian Lundgaard, who had pitted due to a puncture caused by reigning champion Alex Palou, took the lead. Palou, fortunate to avoid a penalty, remained on the track.
However, Newgarden quickly showcased his skills by overtaking two cars and a subsequent caution on lap 35 allowed him to take the lead after Lundgaard pitted. Pato O’Ward became his closest challenger.
The second stint of the race was another unexciting period of fuel-saving. At the final pit stop, Newgarden emerged with a significant lead of five-and-a-half seconds. However, with 31 laps remaining, a crash involving Linus Lundqvist, who was hit by Romain Grosjean, brought out a caution and eliminated the need for further fuel-saving.
Grosjean, making his debut with Juncos Hollinger Racing, had initially shown promise but fell back during the race. He was ultimately penalized for the Lundqvist incident and retired before the race’s conclusion.
At the front, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, Newgarden’s teammates at Penske, overtook Colton Herta on the restart. Both McLaughlin and Power were on a strategy of using the soft tires until the end of the race. They put pressure on O’Ward, who was on hard tires, for second place.
However, McLaughlin and Power were unable to capitalize on the advantage of the soft tires before the hard tires reached optimal performance. This allowed O’Ward to maintain his position and Newgarden to extend his lead. O’Ward faced intense pressure in the final laps but managed to hold on.
After experiencing several personnel changes before the season, Newgarden’s pole position and victory provided the perfect start to the season for the two-time champion. O’Ward finished second for the second consecutive year with Arrow McLaren.
McLaughlin and Power’s strong performances ensured three Penske cars finished in the top four, adding to their team’s impressive record at St Petersburg. Herta secured fifth place for Andretti, achieving his goal of a strong start to the season after a challenging 2023.
Reigning champion Palou delivered a remarkable drive, finishing in sixth place. Starting from 13th on the grid, Palou struggled to break into the top 10 for most of the race. However, a well-timed pit stop propelled him to seventh before overtaking Felix Rosenqvist to secure sixth place.
Rosenqvist had an almost flawless weekend in his debut with Meyer Shank Racing. Despite the team’s previous success on street circuits, Rosenqvist’s performance was commendable, with a second-place qualification and a lap record.
In the previous stint and final pit stop, he fell behind his competitors and dropped to a respectable seventh-place finish – the team’s highest since the July 2022 race in Toronto.
Similar to Palou, Alexander Rossi made a significant leap in the standings during the last round of pit stops, transforming his 15th-place start into eighth. He finished ahead of Scott Dixon and Rinus VeeKay from Ed Carpenter Racing.
Santino Ferrucci experienced a sharp decline in position during the initial pit stop but managed to recover and finish in 11th place. This showcased AJ Foyt’s improvement in pace, achieving their best result on a road and street course since the Long Beach race in April 2022.
Callum Ilott substituted for the injured David Malukas and secured 13th place for Arrow McLaren. This placed him one position ahead of Kyffin Simpson, the top rookie from Ganassi. Simpson’s impressive debut performance silenced critics who doubted his abilities due to the financial support he brings to the team.
Although Marcus Ericsson had a promising start at Andretti by qualifying sixth, the previous year’s St Pete winner was forced to retire from seventh place due to a power loss.