DETROIT -- A driver who notoriously never talks about his contracts, and a team that historically waits until the end of a season to confirm new deals, held a six-person press conference Saturday afternoon at the Detroit Grand Prix to announce a contract extension.

As had long been expected, Josef Newgarden, now a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner, a two-time IndyCar champion and early this year the hottest name on the free agent market, is off the silly season board, having signed a multi-year contract to stay with Team Penske beyond 2025. Newgarden's current deal with Team Penske was set to expire at the end of this season.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed -- Newgarden wouldn't even confirm or deny he'd undergone talks with other teams on the grid. It's worth noting, though, that this offseason, Pato O'Ward, winner of five IndyCar races without a title or 500 victory to his name, signed a two-year extension through 2027 worth $8.2 million.

Arrow McLaren had previously been seen as Newgarden's most likely landing spot, should the driver with 30 wins seek a new home. "News that comes out nowadays is very interesting, but I'm not surprised," Newgarden said when asked in St. Pete about O'Ward's new deal, seemingly taking a keen interest in the news and even correcting a reporter about the details. "The health across some segments of this sport are undeniable. I don't think it hurts anybody, that's what I would say."

Newgarden's new deal comes in the wake of his $4.288 million winner's purse from Sunday's Indy 500 victory, which goes to the team before the driver gets a sizable cut determined by his contract.

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During a sit-down Friday evening to discuss his return to the paddock following a two-week team suspension, Team Penske president Tim Cindric told IndyStar that they had "a few details to work out." When asked about a curiously-timed Saturday afternoon press conference with no clear purpose that was added to IndyCar's list of media availabilities for the week, Cindric noted that the topic of Newgarden's deal was not the "catalyst" for it.

"Hopefully we can get there, and I don't think we're far away," Cindric told IndyStar. "If that all turns out to be part of it, that wasn't the catalyst for it. From the very beginning, I was confident we'd figure it out, but we still have a couple of details to work through, and then hopefully we can put that to bed publicly."

Along with Newgarden's extension, Team Penske announced a multi-year extension Saturday with longtime partner Hitachi Astemo -- which proved to be original reason for the presser, before the driver deal was seemingly finalized over the last 24 hours.

After noting that his most recent 500 victory had nothing to do with the timing of Saturday's announcement, Newgarden did admit that his new contract had been struck "just recently."

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"This very much feels like home to me and has for eight years, and they've provided me with every opportunity I could ever dream of. I've enjoyed my time here immensely, and nothing's ever been missing," Newgarden said. "There's not somewhere else I'd want to go.”

With Saturday's news, Team Penske's lineup for at least the 2025 IndyCar season is set. Along with Newgarden being locked down through at least 2026, Will Power's current deal runs through the end of 2025. Scott McLaughlin inked his latest multi-year deal with Team Penske in the fall of 2022, and it's understood to run through at least the end of 2025.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Josef Newgarden lands multi-year contract extension with Team Penske