Josef Newgarden of Team Penske started the 2024 IndyCar season on the pole, his first since 2022, and went on to dominate the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, winning by nearly eight seconds over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward in second place.
It was a Formula One-like display of dominance from a driver and team that had not won a single race on a street track previous season. In fact, all four of Newgarden’s victories last season, during which he won the Indy 500 but tied his lowest championship result in seven years with Roger Penske’s team, were on ovals.
So the fact that Newgarden led the Captain to a 1-3-4 result on a street track made a big statement to start the season, especially because the next championship race isn’t for another five weeks.
Josef Newgarden is currently the IndyCar championship favorite.
It was such a big deal that after just one race, Newgarden is suddenly the IndyCar championship favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, which is offering fans an initial $150 bonus just for betting $5.
Newgarden started the year ranked second behind Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou. The two drivers are still listed at +300 and +450, respectively, with Newgarden holding the lesser odds through one of the 17 points events on the schedule.
Palou, like Newgarden, is a two-time series winner. The defending champion hopes to become the first driver to win two championships in a row since Dario Franchitti did it from 2009 to 2011.
The last time Newgarden started a season with a victory was in 2019, when he went on to win his second championship. Palou’s last two championship finishes in St. Petersburg were 17th and eighth, respectively, and he finished sixth on Sunday afternoon.
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