It’s been half a year since Alex Palou secured his second IndyCar championship in three years, but the off-season has been anything but smooth for America’s premier open-wheel racing series.
Public grievances from Honda, grumblings among team owners, a delayed transition to hybrid engines, and the relocation of the highly anticipated season finale in Nashville due to stadium construction have marked the past months.
As the new season kicks off this weekend in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, IndyCar aims to showcase its prowess across 17 races this year. With Formula 1 embroiled in controversy and dominated by a single driver, IndyCar sees an opportunity to highlight its on-track product as superior to the more popular European series.
Josef Newgarden, winner of the iconic Indianapolis 500, remains optimistic about the upcoming season despite the challenges: “It’s been probably a tougher offseason for cadence and news, but I really think 2024 can be another great step for us in the IndyCar Series.
We have so many positive things going on… (and) it helps when we get back to the track because we just have a great racing product, too. … I think that we have the highest level of racing in this series.”
IndyCar witnessed seven different winners last season, with Palou clinching the title with a race to spare. While Formula 1 saw Max Verstappen dominate the season opener with a 22-second lead, Newgarden’s victory at the Indy 500 came down to a thrilling 0.097-second margin.
However, Newgarden’s winning maneuver, a low-line sweep to block Marcus Ericsson, has since been prohibited by IndyCar.
Series owner Roger Penske expressed frustration with the offseason setbacks but remains committed to pushing IndyCar forward: “We’ve been falling over rocks that have been put in front of us, many of them I would not say we caused it, but it’s within our company.
We’ve got to be in a situation where we deal with them. But if you get into the details on this stuff, we are busting our butts. The things we are trying to do, bring revenue into the company, the investments we are making — we are really working hard.”
