Conor Daly tips Josef Newgarden-led Team Penske for legendary Indy 500 feat

Josef Newgarden is on the verge of writing history at the upcoming Indy 500, and Conor Daly has deemed Team Penske as the favorite for the win. The 33-year-old talked about the advantage that the Mooresville-based squad holds, giving Newgarden a fair shot at achieving an impressive three-peat.

Team Penske locked out the front row at the qualifying for the 2024 Indy 500. Scott McLaughlin lined up his car on pole, with Will Power missing out on another pole position at the fabled race, and Newgarden closing out the front row.

Less than an mph separated the 34-year-old and fourth-place qualifier Alexander Rossi. However, the introduction of hybrid power units has livened up the challenge for the Indy 500.

Despite this, Indy 500's most successful team, Team Penske, is tipped off by Conor Daly as his favorite to bag the victory at the end of the 500 miles. Moreover, with Josef Newgarden at the helm of the team, the result of the qualifying for the 500 is seemingly already decided, as Daly said:

"I hate to say it but it's going to be a [Team] Penske front row lockout again. I think by the largest margin we've ever seen to P4, and I hate to say that to you, and I don't want to be [true]. But I felt like giving out a nice take like that, because I want to be wrong. So I'm going to say that, hoping to be wrong, but when I look at the level of downforce those cars were running and when you look at how fast they were going, Penske cars are literally not even in the same category."

On the other hand, though the Tennessee-born driver has won the Indy 500 two times, he has never qualified on pole position.

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Josef Newgarden talks about the biggest factor to win the Indy 500

Josef Newgarden at the INDYCAR Indy 500 Open Testing - Source: Getty

Newgarden's best qualifying attempt for the Indy 500 came in 2016. He qualified second on the grid and eventually finished on the podium with Ed Carpenter Racing.

His wait to win the elusive race finally ended after a dozen years as he won the 2023 Indy 500. He repeated this feat in 2024 and is now on the brink of rewriting history.

Regardless of the predictions, there is still a lot required to go for right for Josef Newgarden to win, but most importantly, the car needs to be fast, as the 34-year-old said (via IndyCar):

"For most everybody here, putting a car on the track for the first time and hoping it just goes relatively quick... When the car is fast, everything else can be fixed. It’s the car’s speed that fixes everything."

If Newgarden wins the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, he will become the first driver to complete a three-peat at the fabled race and bring home a 21st victory for Team Penske at the track.