Josef Newgarden started the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in perfect fashion, leading 92 of 100 laps to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding. The two-time series champion drove the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet to a convincing 7.9-second victory over runner-up Pato O’Ward.

It was a near-flawless performance by Newgarden from start to finish on the 1.8-mile street circuit. He captured the pole position in Saturday’s qualifying, then jumped out to an early lead on Sunday. Though a couple of caution periods bunched up the field, Newgarden was able to pull away on every restart.

The popular American driver was simply untouchable, turning the fastest lap of the race and beating out teammates Will Power in fourth and Scott McLaughlin in third. The victory was the 30th of Newgarden’s INDYCAR career, breaking a tie with Team Penske legend Rick Mears for 13th on the all-time wins list.

“I had a lot of fun today,” said Newgarden. “We’ve worked really hard to bring the speed we were missing on road and street courses last year, and today we brought that speed.”

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was the only driver who could keep Newgarden insight for portions of the race, but he had to settle for a distant second place, 7.9 seconds back. O’Ward acknowledged the superiority of Team Penske, saying “They were just too strong for us today.”

Colton Herta finished fifth for Andretti, while two-time defending champion Alex Palou drove from 13th to sixth representing Chip Ganassi Racing. Among the rookies, Kyffin Simpson’s 14th place effort for Ganassi was the highest finish.

With the dominating win, Newgarden makes an early statement that he is the driver to beat for the 2024 INDYCAR title. The series heads next to The Thermal Club for The $1 Million Challenge exhibition race on March 24th.