Josef Newgarden can check off one of his major goals for the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. The two-time champion ended a 27-race pole position drought by capturing the NTT P1 Award for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Newgarden ripped a fast lap of 59.5714 seconds around the 1.8-mile street circuit in the final seconds of qualifying to edge out Felix Rosenqvist by just 0.0058 seconds. It marked Newgarden’s first pole since June 2022 at Detroit and the 17th of his INDYCAR career.

“I get jacked up every time I show up for an INDYCAR race,” an exuberant Newgarden said. “It’s an elevated level when you start out the year because you have no idea if you’re going to keep coming back and producing results.”

Rosenqvist continued his blistering start with new team Meyer Shank Racing by qualifying second at 59.5772 in the No. 60 Honda. The Swede led practice on Friday and broke the track record in the opening round of knockout qualifying.

“It’s been an incredible start,” said Rosenqvist. “We don’t want to get carried away; the race is a different challenge. But we had a feeling from practice, from rolling off the truck, and that’s great.”

Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta will make up the second row for the 100-lap race after qualifying third and fourth respectively. Romain Grosjean had an impressive debut for Juncos Hollinger Racing by taking fifth on the grid.

Last year’s St. Petersburg winner Marcus Ericsson rounded out the Firestone Fast Six in sixth position in his first qualifying session since joining Chip Ganassi Racing over the off-season.

The qualifying session showcased parity in the INDYCAR field, with the top six positions occupied by five different teams. However, reigning champion Alex Palou, six-time titlist Scott Dixon, and runner-up Scott McLaughlin will have work to do on raceday after qualifying 13th, 11th and 9th respectively.

With Newgarden claiming his first pole of 2024, he can now set his sights on checking off another goal – ending a winless drought dating back to June 2022.

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg rolls off at noon ET on Sunday with live coverage on NBC, Peacock, Universo and the INDYCAR Radio Network. A warmup session kicks things off at 9:10am ET.