ST. PETERSBURG - Racing returns to the streets of downtown St. Petersburg next week. 

The course was always a tough one for IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden. 

"The track itself, it always brings a little chaos, which is exciting, that’s what a street course should be. A little chaotic,” Newgarden said. "It’s city streets. These are lived on every day and they’re not the smoothest out there, especially when you put a super high horse engine IndyCar on the track and kind of let it rip, try to contain it.” 

"Everyone had asked me when are you going to find some success in St. Pete because it traditionally hadn’t been a successful track for us,” Newgarden explained. "I always felt confident we could be successful at St Pete, we had good speed, we were always competitive, but just seemed to fall apart for one reason or another. It was a hard equation to figure out for us personally.” 

In 2019, he cracked the code. Not even 2020 curveballs could stop his success in St. Pete. Next weekend he’s going for a three-peat. 

"Now we’ve won two in a row, it seems like we can’t stop. Hopefully that’s the new trend. Instead of not being able to finish the race and finish it successfully we’re just, we don’t know how not to win the event is what I hope happens.” 

For the second time in six months, Newgarden will return to St. Petersburg — competing against a new field of talent, hoping history will repeat itself. 

"I feel like we have so much momentum, I feel like that every year, certainly have a lot of new faces, Jimmy Johnson from NASCAR who’s joining us…younger guys coming in,” Newgarden said. "The competition’s never been higher. I think it’s going to be a challenging year, but that’s what makes it exciting.”

It’s the thrill of the chase that keeps him coming back for more.  

"I love it, I’m an adrenaline junkie, if I didn’t have that competitiveness, I don’t know what I would do with my life,” Newgarden said. "I literally wake up every day wanting to compete.”