Josef Nicolai Newgarden (born December 22, 1990)Josef Newgarden . Indycar.com.Josef Newgarden scores and statistics – USA Today / SportsDirect is an American racing driver who races the No. 2 Team Penske Dallara/Chevrolet in the IndyCar Series. He was the 2011 Indy Lights champion, and the 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series Champion. He won the 2023 and 2024 Indianapolis 500, and the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona, becoming the 16th driver to win both an Indy 500 and a 24 Hours of Daytona, as well as the first driver since Hélio Castroneves to win the Indianapolis 500 two years in a row.
Newgarden began racing at the age of thirteen in karts, capturing four championship titles in 2005–2006. He switched to open-wheel racing in 2006, competing in the Skip Barber Racing School Series, finishing second in the regional championship in 2006, followed by sixth and second in the national series in 2007 and 2008. In 2008, he became the first U.S. driver to capture a Formula Ford Festival title while driving for Team USA in England.
In 2009, Newgarden moved to England to begin his European career. He competed in the British Formula Ford Championship, finishing runner-up and leading the ultra-competitive series with nine race wins. He competed in the opening round of the 2009 Formula Palmer Audi Season, taking two wins. In 2010, he competed in the GP3 Series, capturing one pole position.
Newgarden returned to the United States in 2011 and competed in the Indy Lights Series, capturing five wins and ten podiums out of fourteen races. He clinched the points championship with one race remaining. In 2012, Newgarden joined the IndyCar Series, earning his first career win in 2015 at Barber Motorsports Park followed by a win at Toronto. In 2016, Newgarden captured his third win at Iowa, where he led 282 of 300 laps and set a series record for most laps led in a race.
Newgarden joined Team Penske in 2017, scoring his first win with the team in his third start. He earned four wins and nine podiums in 2017, capturing his first IndyCar Series Championship the same year, and saw a fifth-place finish in the standings with three wins in 2018. Newgarden earned his second Championship in 2019 with four wins and seven podium finishes. During the 2020, 2021, and 2022 seasons, he produced four, two, and five wins respectively, finishing second each year. Newgarden won the inaugural PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge in 2022 by winning on an oval, road, and street course.
In 2023, Newgarden swept the Iowa Speedway weekend and nearly became the first driver to win every oval race on the schedule with wins at Texas and Indianapolis. After a last-lap pass, Newgarden won the 2023 Indianapolis 500 in his twelfth attempt. He finished fifth in the standings in 2023, his eighth consecutive season finishing in the top-five in the championship standings. Newgarden won the 2024 Indianapolis 500, becoming the first driver in over twenty years to win the Indianapolis 500 back-to-back.
Early career
Karting According to an interview on The Dale Jr. Download, Newgarden's first race vehicle was a motorized scooter purchased at a skate shop in Hendersonville, Tennessee. In 2001, Newgarden competed in events across the country. After a year of this, his father purchased a kart.
When he was 13, Newgarden and his family ventured outside of Tennessee to find a competitive kart racing environment. This led Newgarden to a kart racing facility in New Castle, Indiana, that had been recently launched by IndyCar driver Mark Dismore. In order to be efficient with his funding, Newgarden focused on local and regional championships rather than competing nationally.
In his first year of karting (2005), Newgarden finished second and third in the Kart Racers of America (KRA) Junior Can Championship. He also competed in the TAG world championships that year in the junior division, securing the title.
The year 2006 proved to be Newgarden's most successful year in karting; he secured two championships in the KRA Junior Can division and repeated as the TAG World Champion in the junior division.
Newgarden then went on to compete in junior car racing in 2007, but returned to karting multiple times over the next few years so he could race in the highly competitive Robo-Pong 200 at New Castle Motorsports Park. He also won the 200-mile endurance race twice, with both successes coming with members of the Dismore family as his teammates (Mark Dismore Sr in 2011 and Mark Dismore Jr in 2013).
Early formula car racing
Skip Barber Newgarden started his open-wheel car career in the Skip Barber Racing School series in 2006. In his first year in the series, he finished runner-up in the Southern Regional Series with three wins and another seven podium finishes. He next competed in the 2007 BFGoodrich / Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda championship, finishing sixth with two wins. Newgarden remained in the series for 2008 and improved to second place, with three wins.
Formula Ford
After the 2008 season, Newgarden was selected for the Team USA scholarship to compete at the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy. He secured the Formula Ford Festival title, becoming the only American to do so.
At the Walter Hayes Trophy event, Newgarden won all of the qualifying races leading to the main event. He started the event from the pole position, but mid-way through the race wet conditions settled in and Newgarden crashed and finishing in sixth place.
In 2009, Newgarden moved to England to compete in the British Formula Ford Championship and start his European career. He finished runner-up in 2009, leading the series in total race wins and amassing 550 points.
Formula Palmer Audi Newgarden competed in the opening round of the 2009 Formula Palmer Audi season at Brands Hatch, taking two wins and a fourth in the third race.
GP3 Series
In 2010, Newgarden signed to compete at British Formula Three, but his main investor withdrew before the official test session. The driver shifted his focus and instead competed in the newly formed 2010 GP3 Series with Carlin Motorsport. He finished eighteenth overall with eight points. The season was highlighted by a pole position at Hockenheimring and his season best fifth place finish at the finale at Monza.
Indy Lights
2011 saw Newgarden returning home to the United States to compete in the Indy Lights Series with Sam Schmidt Motorsports. He won his first Indy Lights race in the season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg. He followed his opening win with four more wins and ten podium finishes out of thirteen races in 2011. His performance that year clinched him the points championship with one race to go. In New Hampshire, the eleventh race of 2011, Newgarden lapped the entire field and went on to win the race. He was the first Indy Lights driver to do this since Thiago Medeiros in March 2004. Newgarden, as a rookie, would also lead the series with the highest number of wins for the 2011 season.
IndyCar
Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing (2012–2014) On December 7, 2011, Newgarden was announced as the driver for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. He competed in IndyCar from 2012 to 2014 with Fisher's team. He would earn his first podium at the 2013 race in Baltimore and his second at the Iowa Speedway in 2014.
CFH Racing (2015) During his fourth full season in IndyCar, Newgarden raced under the merged team of Sarah Fisher and Ed Carpenter. Under this new team banner, Newgarden started 2015 by finishing in twelfth position at St. Petersburg.
During the fourth race weekend in 2015 at Barber Motorsports Park, Newgarden earned his first IndyCar Series victory at the 2015 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, moving up from fifth to second place on the first lap of the race, and leading the most laps on his way to a 2.2-second win.
Newgarden would win again that season at the 2015 Honda Indy Toronto and finished the 2015 season seventh in the standings with 431 points.
Ed Carpenter Racing (2016) In 2015, Sarah Fisher ended her participation in IndyCar, with Newgarden remaining with the team again known as Ed Carpenter Racing. Newgarden started the 2016 season with a podium at the 2016 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. He just missed qualifying for the pole position at the 2016 Indy 500 and instead started in the middle of the front row. He finished third in the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500.
At the 2016 Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway, Newgarden was injured in a crash that saw him breaking his hand and clavicle. Nevertheless, he returned to the car two weeks later, finishing in a top-ten spot at the 2016 Kohler Grand Prix at Road America.
Then, 28 days after his crash at Texas, Newgarden won the 2016 Iowa Corn 300 in dominating fashion by leading 282 of 300 laps.
At IndyCar's return to Watkins Glen International, the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen, Newgarden claimed another podium by finishing second in the race. After a sixth-place finish at the 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, he finished the season fourth overall in the season standings, the highest non-Team Penske car in the series.
Team Penske (2017–present)
On September 29, 2016, ECR owner Ed Carpenter confirmed that Newgarden would not be back with the team in 2017. Newgarden moved to Team Penske for the 2017 season, with Team Penske making an official announcement on October 5.
Newgarden won his first race with Team Penske during round 3 of the 2017 season at Barber Motorsports Park; clinching the victory after a duel with Scott Dixon in the final laps. Newgarden moved into the IndyCar points lead following back to back victories at Toronto and Mid Ohio."Newgarden dominates at Mid-Ohio for 2nd straight IndyCar win" Associated Press
At Gateway, Newgarden held off his teammates and Dixon to clinch his fourth series victory of the season, but not without controversy. Newgarden went under teammate Simon Pagenaud very late as they drove into turn one. After bumping tires, both continued, but Pagenaud nearly hit the wall and was obviously not pleased with his teammate's move.
The following week at Watkins Glen, Newgarden had a sizable cushion in the points over second-place Dixon. Coming back onto the track on cold tires after a pit stop, he lost control of the car and Sébastien Bourdais made contact with him which damaged the suspension. Newgarden ended up leaving the Glen with a three-point lead, later a four-point lead, as he won the pole for Sonoma, setting a track record. Newgarden needed to finish fourth or higher regardless of Pagenaud's result and he finished second to clinch his first title. Newgarden became the first American driver to win the Astor Cup since Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012.
Newgarden won the opening race of the 2019 season at St. Petersburg and followed that up with wins at Detroit, Texas, and Iowa. He led the points standings after every race except the Indianapolis 500, which Team Penske teammate, Simon Pagenaud, won from the pole position. Newgarden won his second IndyCar title at Laguna Seca by only 25 points."Josef Newgarden clinches title; Colton Herta wins finale" NBC Sports
Newgarden started his second title defense slowly in 2020, a season shorted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although he finished third at the opener in Texas, he found himself in an early-season slump that put him behind rival Scott Dixon. By mid-season down the final strentch of the season, Newgarden produced a series of wins and podium finishes, setting him up for a title-deciding showdown with Dixon at the final round in St. Petersburg. Newgarden could only secure the championship by winning the race; if Dixon finished no better than ninth. In the closing laps of the race, Newgarden overtook Pato O'Ward after a restart and held onto the lead for his second consecutive win in St. Petersburg. Nonetheless, he ultimately failed to defend his title as Dixon finished third.