ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Felix Rosenqvist came away with the record, but Josef Newgarden will lead the field to green Sunday afternoon, as IndyCar kicks off its 2024 calendar on the streets of St. Petersburg – commemorating a 20-year run at the course.

For the 2023 Indianapolis 500 winner, the result Saturday after a mid-pack finish in a disjointed Practice 1, followed by the second-fastest lap in Practice 2, could be the sign of marked improvement over a 2023 campaign where Newgarden failed to record a single pole for the first time in his Team Penske tenure that began in 2017.

Despite four wins, he finished 5^th in points, tied for his worst finish while with Roger Penske’s program. Newgarden also failed to finish on a podium during any of the five street races in 2023 – his best finish was 4^th – and he registered just one road course podium (Road America).

The eternal realist, though, wasn’t ready for any preemptive predictions or celebrations yet.

“I can’t tell you how good it felt, but it’s only Day 1,” Newgarden said. “We have to get through tomorrow. Tomorrow is what pays the bills and gets us up the road in the championship.”

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Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevy pipped Rosenqvist, who laid down a track-record lap in the Fast 12 (59,2706), by 58-thousandths-of-a-second in the Fast 6 to capture Sunday’s pole, marking the tightest 1-2 gap in IndyCar street course qualifying since the 2012 event on the streets of Belle Isle and the 17^th of the Team Penske driver’s career.

Undoubtedly happy to come away with the edge, Newgarden was similarly thrilled to be joined on the media center stage by Rosenqvist, who is in the midst of his first weekend with Meyer Shank Racing after an up-and-down three years with Arrow McLaren.

“We get the question every offseason: ‘Who is your main threat?’ And you can’t answer that clearly in IndyCar. You just don’t know who is going to rise to the occasion and improve, and I think Felix is a great example of this,” Newgarden said. “I’ve always thought the world of Felix. He’s a top-level driver, one of the best drivers in the world.

“You get in a little different environment, and 12 months can make a big difference.”

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For Rosenqvist, who topped the timing charts in Practice 1 on Friday and excelled in the series’ preseason test in late-February in Sebring, the relatively seamless first two days felt “very natural” in the cockpit of the No. 60 Honda. The front-row start Sunday marks MSR’s best qualifying effort since 2022 in Mid-Ohio.

And when he stopped a second to think, he admitted even he was a bit surprised to have come out the gates so hot with a new team that struggled mightily the last two years.

“My target was to get into the Fast 6. I definitely thought we could do that. To be so close to pole is both cool and frustrating,” Rosenqvist said. “I think when we came here this weekend, I could tell that people were hesitant to believe that we were as quick as we were in testing, but (Practice 1) was a big relief for everyone.

“We’re in it. We’re good, and honestly, (team co-owner) Mike (Shank) and I have been talking mostly about race craft because I think that’s more of a personal thing with me. I’ve been generally strong in qualifying, but I think race craft is something I want to improve. I think we celebrate a bit. This result is a super cool day for us, and we’ll recharge for tomorrow.”

IndyCar qualifying results for St. Pete

1. Josef Newgarden

2. Felix Rosenqvist

3. Pato O’Ward

4. Colton Herta

5. Romain Grosjean

6. Marcus Ericsson

7. Rinus VeeKay

8. Will Power

9. Scott McLaughlin

10. Marcus Armstrong

11. Scott Dixon

12. Christian Lungaard

13. Alex Palou

14. Santino Ferrucci

15. Alexander Rossi

16. Callum Ilott

17. Tom Blomqvist

18. Kyle Kirkwood

19. Linus Lundqvist

20. Agustin Canapino

21. Christian Rasmussen

22. Graham Rahal

23. Kyffin Simpson

24. Sting Ray Robb

25. Colin Braun

26. Pietro Fittipaldi

27. Jack Harvey

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar: Josef Newgarden takes St. Pete pole, Felix Rosenqvist sets track record