PLYMOUTH, Wisc — Josef Newgarden is on a roll. He’s finished in the top two in two of the last three races on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season now which includes a win in the 107th Running of the Indianapolis 500. The only problem is, he still trails Alex Palou by 81 points in the standings.

That’s because Palou has won the other two races and while Newgarden finished runner-up in Sunday’s Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America, Palou finished one spot better. That has Newgarden conflicted in regards to his feelings leaving the scenic Wisconsin road course with his second straight top two finish as well.

“I mean, it was a pretty good day. Yeah, it was an okay day. Disappointing for the way it finished for us just because there was a great opportunity in the middle to win this race,” he admitted.

“I think at the end Alex had the field covered. He was very good on that final stint. I don’t think we were going to make anything happen there. In the middle there was a great opportunity, we just didn’t capitalize on it. Got pretty dicey with the restarts.

“I’m conflicted because on the one hand it was a great recovery for all of us on Team Penske. We started this weekend in pretty bad shape, were really far off the pace. We chipped away at it, did a lot of work, felt like we got really close in qualifying, had a really good race car.

“From that standpoint I’m elated, but just disappointed. Looked like we had an opportunity today and we weren’t really able to seal the deal. It was a great job for our team.”

With 9 races remaining, can anyone catch Palou?

“It’s kind of out of our control,” said second place finisher, Newgarden on Sunday. “They’ve had a good run up to this point, right? They’ve not had a bad race. I think that’s to be expected.

“We had an engine pop on us in the very first round. Everybody has a different story. If you look at their story, they’ve not had one bad race yet. When you have eight races in a row without a bad one, this is what happens points-wise.

“What’s going to happen on the final nine, it’s impossible to say. There’s so much season still that he’s got a good cushion at this point, they’ve done a great job, but I don’t think that guarantees anything in INDYCAR.”

He’s won twice (Texas, Indy 500). He’s finished second once (Road America). It’s 17th in St. Pete. It’s 15th in Barber. It’s 10th in Detroit. That’s why podiums no longer cut it.

Newgarden is also conflicted about how he feels about the race and the track itself as well.

“I mean, it was an unbelievable race. I think as a driver, not always what you want,” he says. “You want to be just out front, kind of green from start to finish, just an easy day. But if you’re a fan, this is a very difficult race. There was just a lot that happened.

“People were shuffling forward and backwards. Restarts were bringing different action. The tires were bringing something different for people. It was possible to pass, like very much so. It raced really well.

“There was a lot of unknowns going into the new surface on how it would race. I think today, I don’t know how you could have asked for much better of a race. From that standpoint it was more stressful for us. Hopefully the fans really enjoyed the action of it.”

For him, he prefers the old style with the old surface.

“Well, I’m biased. I’m an old surface fan anywhere we go,” he says. “I don’t like new pavement at any track. But it is a different challenge than what you get on an old surface.

“I think as a team we’re not excelling on smooth surfaces, particularly something like this. It’s in our control to make it better. As a team, we’ve got to figure out a better formula for our cars with this type of track.

“I think this weekend just cemented that for us. We already felt that way at previous tracks. Running through this weekend, the test last week, we definitely confirmed that we have a weakness on these type of surfaces.

“We knew that going in. We knew it was going to be new. I love Road America. I still love it just as much as I loved it in the past.

“Yeah, if I had to pick my choice, I always like an old track. But that’s a personal opinion.”