Our penultimate IndyCar Wrap-Up has us at Team Penske, and we could spend a few days talking about Team Penske's 2024 season. From technical infractions to contract negotiations, teammates bickering and uncharacteristically poor results, disqualifications and accidents to another Indianapolis 500 victory, Team Penske was a soap opera in its own right. However, it was still Team Penske. Despite all of its issues, it still won the most races this season, but the team was not clinical enough to claim the title.
Scott McLaughlin
Expectations are always high at Team Penske, but McLaughlin entered his fourth full season in IndyCar expecting to continue his ascension in IndyCar. After finishing fourth and third in the championship the previous two years, McLaughlin was looking to assert himself as the best at Team Penske, and he made a great case for it.
What objectively was his best race?
McLaughlin won three races. He won at Barber Motorsports Park, the first Iowa race and the second Milwaukee race. Iowa and Milwaukee were his first career oval victories.
What subjectively was his best race?
Milwaukee stands out the most because McLaughlin had the best car, but the way the strategies played out, he could not just rely on being the best car. He had to hold off the strategic drives of Will Power, Colton Herta and Scott Dixon. A late restart only added to the pressure, but McLaughlin was able to keep the field at bay and pick up his third victory of the season.
What objectively was his worst race?
It is the race where McLaughlin was disqualified. The push-to-pass violation found after St. Petersburg relegated McLaughlin from a third-place finish with 35 points to 27th and no points. That would prove to be costly.
What subjectively was his worst race?
It is the race where McLaughlin was disqualified. The push-to-pass violation found after St. Petersburg relegated McLaughlin from a third-place finish with 35 points to 27th and no points. That would prove to be costly.
What subjectively was his worst race?
In combination to the St. Petersburg race, McLaughlin lost a gearbox in the second race at Long Beach. At that time in Long Beach, we thought it was a third combined with a 26th, two results that effectively canceled each other out. Once the disqualification was announced, it went from a third and a 26th and 41 combined points to a 27th and a 26th and a combined five points.
It felt like it was season over at that point, but credit to McLaughlin to do all that he could to remain alive. Sadly, McLaughlin lost 39 points. The St. Petersburg penalty was a 39-point swing to Álex Palou as Palou gained four points in combination with the 35 points McLaughlin lost. If St. Petersburg's results remained unchanged, McLaughlin would have won the championship on tiebreaker.
Scott McLaughlin's 2024 Statistics
Championship Position: 3rd (505 points)
Wins: 3
Podiums: 7
Top Fives: 8
Top Tens: 11
Laps Led: 637
Poles: 5
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 9
Average Start: 6.411
Average Finish: 9.1765
Wins: 3
Podiums: 7
Top Fives: 8
Top Tens: 11
Laps Led: 637
Poles: 5
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 9
Average Start: 6.411
Average Finish: 9.1765
Will Power
Power entered 2024 after experiencing the highest of highs and the lowest of lows over the previous two seasons. In 2022, Power was champion. In 2023, Power was winless for the first time since the 2006 Champ Car season. Add to it health concerns for his wife, 2023 was a much tougher season away from the track than on it. With his wife's health restored, Power found his old spark in 2024.
What objectively was his best race?
Power also won three races this season. The first came at Road America in a race that Team Penske dominated, but Power was the third-best of the three drivers until he leaped forward in the final round of pit stops. Power again found fortune in a pit cycle when Power had yet to stop when the caution came out in the second Iowa race. He was the only driver yet to stop and this put him into the lead for the remainder of the race. At Portland, he pounced at the start and led from second on the grid, and he went on to lead 101 of 110 laps.
What subjectively was his best race?
Considering how the Road America race was turning into Scott McLaughlin vs. Josef Newgarden and Power was an after-thought, this victory was far more impressive than the others. It felt inevitable the race would be decided during the final round of pit stops between McLaughlin and Newgarden. During the final round of pit stops, Power went the longest before making his final stop, and running long was the better strategy, as Power emerged clear of his teammates. Power was able to keep the other two Penske cars behind him and he ended up taking the victory, ending a 33-race winless streak.
What objectively was his worst race?
Power had two finishes of 24th, the Indianapolis 500 and Nashville.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Power had two finishes of 24th, the Indianapolis 500 and Nashville.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Nashville should be viewed as a disaster because the most self-inflicted wound ended Power's championship hopes. His seatbelts were not properly fastened prior to the start of the race and Power had to come in to get that rectified 15 laps into the contest. The championship ended right then and there. It took five laps for Power to get his belts fixed and it was a race where he had to finish third or better. The remainder of the race was wondering what could have been.
Will Power's 2024 Statistics
Championship Position: 4th (498 points)
Wins: 3
Podiums: 7
Top Fives: 7
Top Tens: 11
Laps Led: 367
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 6
Fast Twelves: 9
Average Start: 6.705
Average Finish: 8.6471
Wins: 3
Podiums: 7
Top Fives: 7
Top Tens: 11
Laps Led: 367
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 6
Fast Twelves: 9
Average Start: 6.705
Average Finish: 8.6471
Josef Newgarden
No driver was more vocal during the offseason about personal changes made than Josef Newgarden. After a good but not great year in 2023, Newgarden was set to re-focus his career and he worked on getting the most out of on-track results. Dropping off-track concerns like his YouTube series with McLaughlin and unfollowing everyone on social media, Newgarden was ready to return to the top of IndyCar. Newgarden could not have prepared for a more unconventional season than the one he experienced in 2024, and he ended up heading in the wrong direction.
What objectively was his best race?
The history books will credit Newgarden with two victories for the 2024 season. The first was the Indianapolis 500, his second consecutive time winning IndyCar's most famous race, and it put Newgarden in esteemed company. The second was Gateway Motorsports Park, a race where Newgarden overcame a spin and where he had a tight battle in the closing stages with McLaughlin.
What subjectively was his best race?
It is Indianapolis. Off the back of the push-to-pass controversy, Newgarden had been marred leading into Indianapolis. His results after the disqualification were poor, and he needed a bounce back. For it to come at Indianapolis, but not just in the form of a good run, but a daring passing to the outside of Patricio O'Ward in turn three of the final lap was the statement most drivers wish they could make in their careers.
Any doubt over talent or ability was cast aside with Newgarden flying around the outside. With it all on the one, Newgarden took a gamble and it stuck. He stole it from the fingertips of another exceptional driver, and it could leave little doubt over Newgarden's greatness.
What objectively was his worst race?
Because he was run over when the start was waved off of the second Milwaukee race, Newgarden was classified in 27th with only five laps completed though he started on pole position. That was a dagger to what was a difficult season.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Because he was run over when the start was waved off of the second Milwaukee race, Newgarden was classified in 27th with only five laps completed though he started on pole position. That was a dagger to what was a difficult season.
What subjectively was his worst race?
It wasn't one race, but the number of mental errors we saw from Newgarden all year. He made some blunders, and if it wasn't for the Indianapolis 500 victory, it would be the defining characteristic of his 2024 season. In some ways, it still is.
He was woeful at Barber Motorsports Park and the Grand Prix of Indianapolis. He spun on his own at Detroit and it cost him dearly. He spun out from fifth late at Laguna Seca and he was flat uncompetitive at Mid-Ohio, attempting a three-stop strategy that was never going to work. The track change at Iowa caught him out, though he stilled pulled out two good results. He coughed up a top ten finish at Toronto. Then he had the Milwaukee weekend from hell, tangling with Marcus Ericsson in the first race while looking for a top five finish and having Marcus Armstrong run over him before the second race even began.
Newgarden had eight finishes outside the top fifteen this year, his most since eight in 2014. This was a stunningly poor season or Newgarden, and that isn't even taking into consideration he was disqualified from victory at St. Petersburg. And he was still eighth in the championship.
Josef Newgarden's 2024 Statistics
Championship Position: 8th (401 points)
Wins: 2
Podiums: 6
Top Fives: 7
Top Tens: 8
Laps Led: 137
Poles: 2
Fast Sixes: 6
Fast Twelves: 9
Average Start: 7.294
Average Finish: 12.765
Wins: 2
Podiums: 6
Top Fives: 7
Top Tens: 8
Laps Led: 137
Poles: 2
Fast Sixes: 6
Fast Twelves: 9
Average Start: 7.294
Average Finish: 12.765
An Early Look Ahead
We cannot think Team Penske will be this dysfunctional again in 2025. There is a very good argument that if the St. Petersburg penalty never comes, this season looks very different, and I am not talking about McLaughlin winning the championship on tiebreaker.
After St. Petersburg, it felt like Newgarden was going to be the driver to beat this year. Even after fourth at Long Beach, it appeared Newgarden was at a level to match the consistency of Álex Palou. Once the penalty came down, it shook the organization. It shook Newgarden more than the rest.
Whether we will ever know who knew what about the technical infractions on the push-to-pass system, an otherwise steady organization was in turmoil. It clearly rocked the confidence of Newgarden. All three driver lost key crew members early in the season. The team was able to right the ship at the Indianapolis 500, and McLaughlin did win at Barber Motorsports Park, but it is fair to say this group was the most disjointed in IndyCar at the start of May.
I cannot envision Penske being that off again. It isn't going to break the rules in such a manner that is for sure.
Either way, it has McLaughlin entering 2025 riding a great wave of confidence and arguably the best in the team. Power is revived after a difficult 2023, but for all the speed we saw from Power, he wasn't clean now the stretch with five finishes outside the top ten in the final nine races. Newgarden had his worst year at Team Penske by a considerable margin. He could not string together three consecutive good weekends to save himself.
McLaughlin and Power may have the easiest move into the new season, but Newgarden has work to do. Newgarden vowed to make changes for the better in 2024, and he went in the wrong direction. An Indianapolis 500 victory softens the blow, but too often the #2 team struggled to get into contention or Newgarden took them out of contention. They cannot afford a repeat of that next season, and Newgarden must figure out what is the best mindset for him outside the race car.
Everyone should get better, or at least be in a better headspace in 2025. If all three of these drivers are focused, Team Penske will improve from where it was in 2024, which is already a pretty great position despite the minor chaos that happened behind the scenes.
