Newgarden, Team Penske add more hardware to trophy case

DAYTONA, Fla. (WISH) — Add Rolex 24 to the long list of recent accomplishments for Team Penske.

The legendary racing team started off the 2024 season with a bang, winning the 24 hours at Daytona marathon event with defending Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden helping lead the way.

Newgarden — joined by fellow drivers Matt Campbell, Felipe Nasr, and Dane Cameron — drove one of Team Penske’s Porsche IMSA cars into victory lane after 24 grueling hours of continuous driving at the Daytona International Speedway. The win marks Team Penske’s first since 1969.

In the last year, a Penske driver has won the Indy 500 (Newgarden), the NASCAR Cup Series Championship (Ryan Blaney), and now, the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

With the win, Newgarden becomes just the 16th driver to win the Indy 500 and the Rolex 24 during their racing career.

“I just showed up, that’s all I did. Porsche and Team Penske delivered the result,” Newgarden told the Associated Press. “I was just happy to be here. You got to talk to (Roger Penske), though. I think he was crying up there on the pit stand.”

Penske’s other Porsche which featured another IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin finished fourth.

“To come back here and have both cars run for 24 hours and then win the race, it’s hard for me to believe,” Penske said to AP. “This goes down as one of the biggest wins we’ve had.”

Blaney’s NASCAR championship win also made Team Penske the first team in history to win back-to-back NASCAR titles.

Newgarden and his IndyCar teammates McLaughlin and Will Power racked up five wins and four poles for owner Roger Penske during the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series.

Team Penske will be back at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May for the Sonsio Grand Prix on the IMS road course before the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 on May 26th.