It's 2024, and Rick Mears has just moved up the all-time IndyCar wins list

Six and a half weeks later, Team Penske's Josef Newgarden has been stripped of his 2024 IndyCar season-opening victory on the streets of St. Petersburg, leaving him with only the one point he earned for taking the race's pole position.

Teammate Scott McLaughlin was also disqualified from third place after it was discovered this past weekend in Long Beach that Team Penske had manipulated the push-to-pass overtake system, allowing their three drivers to utilize the function on the start and restarts.

Will Power was docked 10 points, but he was still promoted from fourth to second (meaning it was a net two-point deduction).

As a result of the discovery of the infraction and the subsequent issuing of the penalties, original runner-up Pato O'Ward of Arrow McLaren has been credited with his fifth career win and first since July 2022 at Iowa Speedway.

And as crazy as it sounds, Newgarden's disqualification has moved Rick Mears up a spot on the all-time IndyCar wins list.

Newgarden's 30th career win moved him into sole possession of 13th place on the all-time wins list, with Mears slotting into 14th with 29. Now the Team Penske Indy 500 winners are again tied for 13th.

I'm not sure anybody can say that they had the four-time winner of the "Greatest Spectacle in Racing" moving up from 14th to 13th on the all-time IndyCar wins list on their bingo card for April 2024, considering the fact that it has been 32 years since he competed in a race (and 33 since he won one), but here we are.

Mears is still a Team Penske advisor to this day.

Newgarden should still have a chance to reclaim 13th as his own this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. The Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, which he won in 2015, 2017, and 2018, is set to be broadcast live on NBC beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, April 28. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and don't miss it!