Newgarden vaults from 23rd to seventh at St. Petersburg

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden put in a stirring drive to overcome a poor qualifying run that left his No. 2 Chevy starting 23rd on Sunday at St. Petersburg.

By virtue of missing out on participating in the run for pole position, Newgarden and others who were knocked out of IndyCar’s advanced qualifying rounds had an extra set of brand-new Firestone alternate tires, which would last longer while producing faster lap times.

The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and his race strategist Jonathan Diuguid went with the same tire usage strategy followed by those who finished third, fourth, and fifth, but it was Newgarden who made the longest haul while motoring from 23rd to seventh.

“Just what you need on a day like today - just execute,” Newgarden said. “Pit stops were incredible. The best I’ve seen in years. The strategy was pretty standard, but it was a good day for our strategy. Just what we needed to do. Nothing went against us, and we tried to use our speed in the Chevy when we could to climb. You just have to be happy with a day like this. It’s a shame how tough the weekend was. I wish we could have had made more of it by starting up front.”