Newgarden dominant in St. Petersburg Indycar opener

St. Petersburg, FL – during the 2024 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg. (Photo/Joe Skibinski | IMS Photo) On a weekend that couldn’t of been more tumultuous for the Indycar Series in terms of public discussions pertaining to the financial viability for team owners, polesitter Josef Newgarden focused squarely on the task at hand and obliterated the field leading ninety-two of the one hundred 100 laps to capture the 20th running of the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg.  Newgarden toyed with the entire field throughout the event, relinquishing the lead only through routine pit stops, giving Team Penske a quick start to the 2024 campaign in the process. Team McLaren’s Pato O’Ward brought it home second with Newgarden’s teammate and 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg Champion Scott McLaughlin rounding out the podium in third position.& Notes: Defending NTT Indycar Series Champion Alex Palou made a spirited charge throughout the day to finish sixth after starting thirteenth. The race was relatively clean with just three cautious flags flown for a total of nine laps, which was quite the dramatic improvement over last year which was a virtual crashfest. Newgarden’s margin of victory...