Newgarden starts season on pole
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Josef Newgarden won the pole position in Saturday qualifying for IndyCar’s 2024 season opener on Sunday, giving Team Penske something to celebrate as its leadership faced criticism throughout the paddock for its management of North America’s premier open-wheel series.
It made for a weird day on what is supposed to be a celebratory weekend as IndyCar got back on track after a six-month offseason with its share of unfavorable headlines. Instead, the mood was muted.
Felix Rosenqvist qualified second in his debut with Meyer Shank Racing, while Pato O’Ward of McLaren was third, followed by Colton Herta of Andretti. Romain Grosjean of Juncos Hollinger Racing was fifth in his debut with his new team, and Marcus Ericsson finalized the Fast Six shootout in his debut with Andretti.
Off the track, there was dissension as multiple team owners are growing restless with Penske Entertainment’s management of the series. Michael Andretti went so far as to call on Roger Penske to sell the series if he doesn’t invest the capital needed to elevate IndyCar’s profile.
“I think there’s a lot of people on the sidelines thinking, ‘This is a diamond in the rough if you do it right.’ But what you need is big money behind it to get it to that level, and if he’s not willing to do it, I think he should step aside and let someone else buy it,” Andretti said.
His public criticism enraged Penske executives, who have had multiple conversations with Andretti officials since his Friday comments. Penske owns both IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway in addition to his three-car team.
Newgarden won four races last year, including the Indianapolis 500, but failed to score a single pole.
“This is a rock star team,” Newgarden, a two-time IndyCar season champion, said Saturday. “I don’t want to get too excited about it. We should enjoy it, but we’ve got to get through tomorrow. Tomorrow is what pays the bills.”
Andretti wasn’t alone in venting; Brad Hollinger, coowner of tiny Juncos Hollinger Racing, on Saturday outpointed the differences between the energy surrounding a Formula 1 race versus the toned-down promotion of IndyCar events.
“We have by far the best product, the racing is spectacular. It’s phenomenal. Just compare it to what’s going on literally right now over in Saudi Arabia — we already know who is going to win the race, who is going to come in second and third,” Hollinger said of Max Verstappen’s 19th win in the last 20 races for the global open-wheel circuit.
“Here you can have the top 15 to 20 guys fighting for the top position. But the way it is packaged and promoted needs to be dramatically enhanced. And the only way to do that is to get more money into the program.”
Hollinger called for “meaningfully more investment in marketing and social media.
Asked if he’d shared his thoughts with Penske, Hollinger said, “in so many words, yes,” but he found that Penske was “intensely focused on the Indy 500, and I understand that, I get that.”