Josef Newgarden and his Team Penske crew are again set to defend a victory in the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

The group again showed their teamwork by winning Friday’s Oscar Mayer $150,000 Pit Stop Challenge at Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a second straight year. Last year, they swept both Memorial Day weekend events, becoming only the seventh to do so.

Can they sweep again? This performance suggests they can.

“It just fills you with so much confidence going into a race,” said Luke Mason, Newgarden’s strategist. “There’s a reason why they’re back-to-back Pit Stop champions.”

Newgarden’s group edged teammates from Will Power’s crew in three rounds in the best-of-three finals, giving the organization a morale boost heading into Sunday’s race (10 a.m., FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network). Both cars will start in the last row – in positions 32 and 33, respectively – after their cars were docked 21 positions each for technical rules violations last Sunday heading into the Top 12 round during PPG Armed Forces Qualifying.

This will be the deepest Newgarden has started a “500.” The furthest any driver has come from to win the race is 28th (Ray Harroun in 1911 and Louis Meyer in 1936). But in the No. 2 Shell V-Power NiTRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet, Newgarden turned the fastest lap of the two-hour Miller Lite Carb Day practice featuring all 33 starters. His best lap was 225.687 mph. Power was fifth on the day’s speed chart in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet at 224.419.

“They are the unsung heroes of this race,” Newgarden said of his crew. “They’re risking it every time we come in, cars speeding up and down (pit road) at 60 mph. It’s never easy to do this job. They work on these cars all day, all night. Then they come out here and perform … it’s a huge part of what we do. I always feel so lucky to have them behind my back.

“(Pit stops) help you win the Indy 500. Everything’s got to be perfect, and this is a big part of it. I love my team. Nothing’s going to the shake the smile from my face.”

The crew is comprised of tire changers Chad Gordon (outside front), Keenan Watson (outside rear), Caitlyn Brown (inside front) and Sean O’Hara (inside rear) along with Tom Jones (air jack), Clint Cummings (fueler) and Andy Greer (tear-offs). The pit stop support staff includes Tim Yerger (front hose puller), Kyle Lapier (stop sign), Kaiden Buringa-Bradley (deadman) and Alex Murphy (rear tire passer).

The win was the third in four years for Newgarden’s bunch, which also took the crown in 2022 and 2024. Newgarden's crew earned $50,000; Power's $25,000.

Newgarden tied Al Unser Jr. for fourth place in the event’s history. Helio Castroneves leads with eight victories, Danny Sullivan and Scott Dixon four each.

Team Penske has won the Pit Stop Challenge a record 20 times. It will go for its record-extending 21st “500” victory on Sunday.

Mason said there was significant pride that the two Team Penske cars competing in the 13-car event reached the finals.

“This matters – pit stops matter,” he said. “I guarantee they practice back more than anyone else back at the shop. They’re at the shop more than I am, and they’re always practicing stops … we might be starting on the back row, but these guys are going to get us five spots every (stop).”

This Pit Stop Challenge featured five first-round matchups after Graham Rahal’s No. 15 United Rentals Honda withdrew as the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing worked on a race car that had mechanical issues early in the two-hour Carb Day practice. That left 13 competitors.

Rahal’s exit allowed Conor Daly and his No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet to advance to the second round, where it was defeated by O’Ward. Colton Herta’s No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian beat rookie Nolan Siegel’s No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet; Newgarden knocked out Christian Rasmussen and his No. 21 ECR Splenda Chevrolet; NTT INDYCAR SERIES points leader Alex Palou and his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda beat Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay and his No. 18 askROI Honda; Alexander Rossi’s No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet beat rookie Louis Foster in the No. 45 Desnuda Tequilla Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing; Power eliminated the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Christian Lundgaard.

Also in the second round, Newgarden defeated Herta, Scott Dixon and his No. 9 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda beat Palou, and Power knocked out Rossi, setting up the four finalists: O’Ward, Newgarden, Dixon and Power. The semifinal duel of Newgarden and O’Ward was a rematch of last year’s “500” where Newgarden executed a Turn 3 pass on the last lap for his second straight win. Power beat Dixon in their matchup.