#3– Scott McLaughlin, 3rd in the championship standings (488 points) – 17 races
- 1 win, 4 podiums, 7 top fives, 14 top 10s, 2 poles, 10 Fast Six Appearances
- Best Finish: 1st (Barber)
- Best Start: 1st (Nashville)
#2 – Josef Newgarden, 5th in the championship standings (479 points) – 17 races
- 4 wins, 5 podiums, 8 top fives, 11 top 10s, 0 poles, 7 Fast Six Appearance
- Best Finish: 1st (Texas, Indianapolis 500, Iowa – Race 1, Iowa – Race 2)
- Best Start: 1st (Gateway* – qualified second, inherited start with McLaughlin penalty)
#12 – Will Power, 7th in the championship standings (425 points) – 17 races
- 0 wins, 4 podiums, 6 top fives, 11 top 10s, 2 poles, 3 Fast Six Appearances
- Best Finish: 2nd (Detroit, Iowa – Race 2)
- Best Start: 1st (Iowa – Race 1, Iowa – Race 2)
Joey Barnes: When taking a look at Scott McLaughlin’s results from the year, it’s staggering to see how quickly of a transition he has made from Supercars. He never qualified lower than 18th and never finished lower than 16th all season, which is astounding considering most – unless you’re Alex Palou – have a devastating result or two. If the late race crash while battling for the win with Romain Grosjean at St. Petersburg went differently, there’s no telling how different of a tone that sets for the first half of the year. The Kiwi has built a habit of getting on a mid-to-late season run of strong results. If that gets expanded in any way, he is a true threat for titles moving forward.
Winning the Indianapolis 500 obviously made the year for Josef Newgarden. For whatever reason, there were moments of struggle at road and street circuits. Qualifying seemingly always put him on the backfoot and chasing the weekend, with seven starts outside the top 10. Even with that, he was at one point looking like the biggest threat to challenge Palou for the title, until three finishes of 21st or worse in three of the final four rounds. I would imagine the attention to detail he typically carries will see more established consistency on more than just the ovals next year.
Yes, Will Power came into the year as the defending champion. Honestly, though, I cannot fathom how he was able to focus and do the work on the race weekends, especially on the early part of the season, with everything happening away from the track in his personal life. Hat tip to him for how he handled everything.
Even with that, the Aussie still stood on the podium four times and added to his mastery in qualifying by claiming two poles. Considering he has also logged more miles than anyone in the hybrid, which is set to come out some time around mid-season next year, I’m curious if he’ll be more primed than most. Either way, I can’t see him going win-less for a second consecutive season.
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
Race winner Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet
Nick Degroot: Team Penske wasn’t able to defend its 2022 championship, but Josef Newgarden drank the milk at the Indianapolis 500. He also won nearly every other oval race on the schedule, only falling short at Gateway.
As for its most recent champion, it was a frustrating year for Power as he went winless for the first time since 2006. While he suffered a bit of a slump after winning the title, things continue to be on the upswing for McLaughlin. The ex-Supercars star improves every year, and 2023 was his best yet. He ended the year third in the standings, beating both of his veteran team-mates.
It was a solid year overall for Penske and it’s hard to criticise too much about it. However, solid just wasn’t anywhere near good enough to challenge Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing.
I expect to see big things from McLaughlin in 2024, more oval domination from Newgarden, and a return to the top step of the podium for Power. But if Penske wants to be a champion again, it needs to have to step things up a notch on the road/street courses to take some points off of Ganassi duo Palou and Scott Dixon.