Josef Newgarden

Josef Newgarden (born December 22, 1990)[1][2] is an American race car driver that currently competes in the IndyCar Series.

Josef Newgarden
Newgarden in 2018
Nationality American
BornJosef Nicolai Newgarden
(1990-12-22) December 22, 1990
Hendersonville, Tennessee, United States
IndyCar Series career
148 races run over 9 years
Team(s)No. 1 (Team Penske)
2020 position2nd
Best finish1st (2017, 2019)
First race2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg)
Last race2020 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg)
First win2015 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Barber)
Last win2020 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg)
Wins Podiums Poles
18 35 11

He found a passion for racing at a very early age which immediately led to go kart racing prior to his pursuit of a professional motorsports career. He is the only American to win the prestigious Formula Ford Festival in England, a well-known proving ground for up and coming European drivers. After a foray into Europe he returned to the United States to compete in the Indy Lights Series, securing the championship in his one and only season. In 2012, he secured a multi-year contract to compete professionally in the NTT IndyCar Series, a rare offer for a rookie driver.

He is the 2017 and 2019 NTT Indycar Series Champion and drives the No. 1 Dallara Chevrolet for the legendary Team Penske, and has claimed 18 wins in the series since his debut in 2012.

Career

Karting

Newgarden started racing at an early age. When he was 13, he and his family ventured far outside of Tennessee to find a competitive karting environment. This led Josef to a new state of the art racing facility in New Castle, Indiana that had recently been launched by IndyCar driver Mark Dismore. In an order to stay efficient with funding, Newgarden would focus on local and regional championships rather than competing nationally, as a result, New Castle Motorsports Park would become like a second home.

In just his first year of karting (2005), Josef would finish 2nd and 3rd in the Kart Racers of America (KRA) Junior Can Championship. He would also compete in the TAG world championships that year in the junior division, securing the title.

In 2006, he would have his most successful year in karting, securing two championships in the KRA Junior Can division and repeating as the TAG World Champion in the junior division.[3]

He would go on to compete in junior car racing in 2007, but would return to karting several times down the road, racing in the highly competitive Robo-Pong 200 at New Castle Motorsports Park several times over the next few years. He would win 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). In addition to being track owners and teammates, the Dismore family was instrumental in guiding Josef's early years in karting.

Skip Barber

Newgarden started his single-seaters career in the Skip Barber Racing School series in 2006. A highly cost-effective junior formula car series, Skip Barber presented an economical bridge from karting to car racing. He finished as runner-up in the Southern Regional Series with three wins and another seven podium places.[4] He next competed in the 2007 BFGoodrich / Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda championship, finishing sixth with two wins.[5] Newgarden remained in the series for 2008 and improved to second place, with three wins.[6] His second-place finish in 2008 would lead to his biggest opportunity yet, a scholarship to compete with Team USA at the Formula Ford Festival in Europe.

Formula Ford

Josef Newgarden wins the 2008 Formula Ford Festival

At the conclusion of the 2008 season, Josef was selected for the Team USA scholarship. This scholarship brings young up-and-coming drivers to England to compete at the prestigious Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy. The scholarship has helped launch the careers of world famous American drivers like Jimmy Vasser, Bryan Herta, Memo Gidley, and others.

Josef would quickly show his speed amongst the fierce competition in Europe. He would secure the Formula Ford Festival title, becoming the only American to ever do so.

At the Walter Hayes Trophy event, Josef would win all of the qualifying races leading to the main event. He would also start the event from the pole position. Unfortunately, mid-way through a rain stricken race Josef made a rare mistake and crash from the lead, finishing a disappointing 6th place.

Both of these events would lead to a significant transition in Josef's career. In 2009, he would move to England to compete in the British Formula Ford Championship and start his European career. He would finish runner-up in 2009, leading the series in total race wins and amassing 550 points.[7]

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.[8]

GP3 Series

Josef Newgarden - 2010 GP3 Series

2010 was an interesting year for Newgarden. He had set his sights on moving up to the ultra-competitive British Formula 3 Championship but funding for the season would prove difficult to acquire. A lifeline appeared to have materialized as a new investor was interested in supporting Josef's racing efforts. He had made a seat with a prominent team in the series and was at the first pre-season test of the season ready to go. The check from his new found investor just needed to clear and he was in the car. Ultimately, the funds would never materialize and the investor soon disappeared. This heartbreak led to an opportunity to compete in the newly formed 2010 GP3 Series with the highly successful Carlin Racing Team.[9] With the fallout from the F3 opportunity, the race was on to get prepared to compete in this new F1 support series. 2010 would end in Josef's most disappointing championship position of his young career, finishing 18th in the points. The season was highlighted by a pole position at Hockenheimring and a best finish of fifth at the season finale at Monza.

Indy Lights

Josef Newgarden clinching the Indy Lights Championship

At the start of 2011, Josef was at a cross-roads. He'd just come off the most difficult year of his career and was low on the critical funding that was required to continue his pursuit of a professional racing career. He would return home to the United States with little hope of securing a top-level ride in a prominent junior series. A ray of hope would appear in an opportunity with Indy Lights team owner Sam Schmidt and his successful team, Sam Schmidt Motorsports.[10] Josef would secure this opportunity, forgoing a return to Europe, to compete in the United States. It was clear from the start that he'd made the right decision, he won his first Indy Lights race in the season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg.[11] He followed his opening win in St. Petersburg with four more wins and ten podium finishes out of thirteen races in 2011,[12] clinching him the points championship with one race to go.[13] In New Hampshire, the 11th race of 2011, Newgarden lapped the entire field and went on to win. He was the first Indy Lights driver to do this since Thiago Medeiros in March 2004.[14] Josef, as a rookie, would also lead the series with the most number of wins for the 2011 season.

2012–2014: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing

On December 7, 2011, Newgarden was announced as the driver for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. It is quite rare in IndyCar for a rookie driver to be offered a multi-year contract but Sarah and her team saw promise in Josef. Sarah's team was viewed as the smallest outfit in the series and Josef was certainly headed for a significant challenge in his first entry into professional motorsport. He competed in IndyCar from 2012 to 2014 with Sarah Fisher's team, steadily progressing and improving with each weekend. He would earn his first podium at the 2013 race in Baltimore. 2014 would be his standout year with SFHR, he would very nearly secure wins at both Long Beach and Mid-Ohio, and would stand on his second career podium at Iowa Speedway.[15]

2015: CFH Racing

During his fourth full season in IndyCar, Newgarden raced under the merged team of Sarah Fisher and Ed Carpenter.[16] Under this new team banner, Newgarden was ready to build on his momentum from 2014 and he started 2015 strong, finishing in 12th position at St. Petersburg and improving his position with each race.

During the fourth race weekend in the 2015 season, at his "home" race at Barber Motorsports Park, Josef would see all of his hard work pay off and he would earn his first Indycar Series victory at the 2015 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama, moving from 5th to 2nd on the first lap of the race, and leading the most laps on the way to a 2.2-second win.[17]

Proving that his win wasn't luck he would win again later in the season at the 2015 Honda Indy Toronto[18] and finished the 2015 season 7th in the standings with 431 points, a personal best in IndyCar.

2016: Ed Carpenter Racing

Sarah Fisher ended her participation in IndyCar after the 2015 season, leaving Newgarden to drive for the reformed Ed Carpenter Racing. Newgarden started the 2016 season strong with a podium at the 2016 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. He barely missed pole position during qualifying for the 2016 Indy 500 and started in the middle of the front row. He finished the 100th running of the Indy 500 in a strong 3rd.[19]

At the 2016 Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway Newgarden crashed hard into the wall, breaking both his hand and clavicle.[20] Remarkably, he returned to the car two weeks later, working his way to a top 10 spot at the 2016 Kohler Grand Prix at Road America.[21]

Only 28 days after his crash at Texas, Newgarden won the 2016 Iowa Corn 300 in dominating fashion, leading 282 of 300 laps.[22] A remarkable achievement with a broken hand and shoulder.

At IndyCar's return to Watkins Glen International, the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen, Newgarden claimed another podium, finishing 2nd.[23] After a 6th-place finish at the 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma,[24] he finished the season in fourth place overall in the season standings. In a testament to their hard work and success, Josef and ECR would finish the season as the highest non-Team Penske car in the series. A considerable feat for a small team.

2017–present: Team Penske

Newgarden celebrating after winning at Texas in 2019

On September 29, 2016, ECR owner Ed Carpenter confirmed that Newgarden would not be back with the team in 2017.[25] Newgarden moved to Team Penske for the 2017 season,[26] with the team making an official announcement on October 5.[27]

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.[28] Newgarden moved into the IndyCar points lead following back to back victories at Toronto and Mid Ohio.[29]

At Gateway, Newgarden held off his teammates and Scott Dixon to clinch his fourth series victory of the season but not without controversy as late in the race, Newgarden went under teammate Simon Pagenaud very late going into Turn 1. After bumping tires, both continued but, as Pagenaud nearly hit the wall, he was 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 after a pit stop under green on cold tires, he lost control of the car as Sébastien Bourdais made contact with him damaging 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 4th or higher regardless of Pagenaud's result and he finished 2nd to clinch his first title.[30] Newgarden became the first American born 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 Indy 500 where Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud led from the pole position. Newgarden won his second IndyCar title at Laguna Seca by only 25 points. [31]

Josef continues to cement his place in the IndyCar series. He has led the most laps of any driver in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons and he has secured the most race wins of any driver since 2014.

Personal life

Before focusing on racing, Newgarden played baseball and basketball, but continues to pursue other athletic pursuits off the track. Along with fellow racers Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves, he competed in the Indianapolis round of season 8 of American Ninja Warrior in 2016.[32]

Newgarden is the driver ambassador for the SeriousFun Children's Network, a charity started by actor and race team owner Paul Newman.[33] Newgarden is also a talented ping-pong player. He hosts an annual celebrity tournament during the month of May that raises funds for the Serious Fun Children's Network. In 2019, the tournament raised over $100,000 for the charity.[34]

Newgarden is an avid gamer and is currently a Brand Ambassador for the Microsoft title Forza Motorsport. His voice is featured in the game and he is frequently featured in Forza content.[35]

On October 7, 2018, Newgarden announced that he and his longtime girlfriend, Ashley Welch, had got engaged while on a trip to Japan.[36] Josef and Ashley were married in the fall of 2019 in Nashville, TN.

He was featured on several episodes of CMT's Nashville Squares during the fall of 2019.

Racing record

Career summary

Season Series Team Races Wins Poles FLaps Podiums Points Position
2006–07 Skip Barber Southern RT LLC 12 3 3 5 10 443 2nd
2007 Skip Barber National RT LLC 14 2 3 3 4 326 6th
Skip Barber Southern Regional Run-Offs ? 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2007–08 Skip Barber Southern RT LLC 2 0 1 1 1 61 29th
2008 Skip Barber National RT LLC 14 3 6 3 5 372 2nd
Ontario Formula Ford Challenge F1600-A 2 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Skip Barber Eastern 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
Skip Barber Mid Western 1 1 0 1 1 69 35th
IMSA Lites L1 Presented by Hankook Batos Racing 2 0 0 1 1 16 19th
Formula Ford 1600 Walter Hayes Trophy Team USA / Cliff Dempsey Racing 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 14th
Formula Ford Festival – Kent Class 1 1 0 0 1 N/A 1st
2009 British Formula Ford Championship JTR 25 9 4 8 16 550 2nd
Formula Ford Festival 1 0 0 0 0 N/A NC
Formula Palmer Audi MotorSport Vision 3 2 0 0 2 64 18th
Formula Ford 1600 Walter Hayes Trophy 1 0 0 0 0 N/A 6th
2010 GP3 Series Carlin 15 0 1 0 0 8 18th
2011 Indy Lights Sam Schmidt Motorsports 14 5 3 4 10 533 1st
2012 IndyCar Series Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing 14 0 0 3 0 200 23rd
2013 IndyCar Series Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing 19 0 0 0 1 348 14th
2014 IndyCar Series Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing 18 0 0 2 1 406 13th
2015 IndyCar Series CFH Racing 16 2 1 0 4 431 7th
2016 IndyCar Series Ed Carpenter Racing 16 1 0 3 4 502 4th
2017 IndyCar Series Team Penske 17 4 1 5 9 642 1st
2018 IndyCar Series Team Penske 17 3 4 1 3 560 5th
2019 IndyCar Series Team Penske 17 4 2 4 7 641 1st
2020 IndyCar Series Team Penske 14 4 3 1 6 521 2nd

Complete GP3 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 DC Points
2010 Carlin CAT
FEA

Ret
CAT
SPR

16
IST
FEA

10
IST
SPR

23
VAL
FEA

Ret
VAL
SPR

26
SIL
FEA

16
SIL
SPR

11
HOC
FEA

18
HOC
SPR

19
HUN
FEA

7
HUN
SPR

Ret
SPA
FEA

DNS
SPA
SPR

21
MNZ
FEA

7
MNZ
SPR

5
18th 8

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

Indy Lights

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points
2011 Sam Schmidt Motorsports STP
1
ALA
6
LBH
13
INDY
1
MIL
2
IOW
1
TOR
8
EDM
2
EDM
1
TRO
3
NHM
1
BAL
2
KTY
2
LVS
9
1st 553

IndyCar Series

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points
2012 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing Dallara DW12 Honda STP
11
ALA
17
LBH
26
SAO
23
INDY
25
DET
15
TXS
13
MIL
25
IOW
19
TOR
13
EDM
17
MDO
12
SNM
23
BAL FON
16
23rd 200
2013 STP
23
ALA
9
LBH
13
SAO
5
INDY
28
DET
7
DET
16
TXS
8
MIL
11
IOW
15
POC
5
TOR
23
TOR
11
MDO
23
SNM
24
BAL
2
HOU
5
HOU
13
FON
20
14th 348
2014 STP
9
LBH
19
ALA
8
IMS
17
INDY
30
DET
20
DET
17
TXS
11
HOU
20
HOU
20
POC
8
IOW
2
TOR
20
TOR
13
MDO
12
MIL
5
SNM
6
FON
10
13th 406
2015 CFH Racing Chevrolet STP
12
NLA
9
LBH
7
ALA
1
IMS
20
INDY
9
DET
8
DET
21
TXS
21
TOR
1
FON
21
MIL
5
IOW
2
MDO
13
POC
2
SNM
21
7th 431
2016 Ed Carpenter Racing STP
22
PHX
6
LBH
10
ALA
3
IMS
21
INDY
3
DET
14
DET
4
ROA
8
IOW
1
TOR
22
MDO
10
POC
4
TXS
22
WGL
2
SNM
6
4th 502
2017 Team Penske STP
8
LBH
3
ALA
1
PHX
9
IMS
11
INDY
19
DET
4
DET
2
TXS
13
ROA
2
IOW
6
TOR
1
MDO
1
POC
2
GTW
1
WGL
18
SNM
2
1st 642
2018 STP
7
PHX
1
LBH
7
ALA
1
IMS
11
INDY
8
DET
9
DET
15
TXS
13
ROA
1
IOW
4
TOR
9
MDO
4
POC
5
GTW
7
POR
10
SNM
8
5th 560
2019 STP
1
COA
2
ALA
4
LBH
2
IMS
15
INDY
4
DET
1
DET
19
TXS
1
ROA
3
TOR
4
IOW
1
MDO
14
POC
5
GTW
7
POR
5
LAG
8
1st 641
2020 TXS
3
IMS
7
ROA
14
ROA
9
IOW
5
IOW
1
INDY
5
GTW
12
GTW
1
MDO
2
MDO
8
IMS
1
IMS
4
STP
1
2nd 521


Years Teams Races Poles Wins Top 5s Top 10s Indianapolis 500
Wins
Championships
9 4 148 11 18 54 87 0 2

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2012 Dallara Honda 7 25 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
2013 Dallara Honda 25 28 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
2014 Dallara Honda 8 30 Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing
2015 Dallara Chevrolet 9 9 CFH Racing
2016 Dallara Chevrolet 2 3 Ed Carpenter Racing
2017 Dallara Chevrolet 22 19 Team Penske
2018 Dallara Chevrolet 4 8 Team Penske
2019 Dallara Chevrolet 8 4 Team Penske
2020 Dallara Chevrolet 13 5 Team Penske

References

  1. Josef Newgarden. Indycar.com.
  2. Josef Newgarden scores and statistics - USA Today / SportsDirect
  3. "Josef". raceroftomorrow.com. Josef Newgarden. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  4. "Skip Barber Southern Regional Series 2006–07". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  5. "BFGoodrich / Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda 2007". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  6. "BFGoodrich / Skip Barber National Presented by Mazda 2008". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  7. "MSA Formula Ford Championship of Great Britain 2009". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  8. "Brands Hatch: Josef Newgarden weekend summary". Motorsport.com. Motorsport.com, Inc. June 19, 2009. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  9. "Newgarden confirmed at Carlin for GP3". GP3 Series. GP2 Motorsport Limited. April 12, 2010. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  10. "Newgarden Returns to North American Racing with Sam Schmidt Motorsports". eFormulaCarNews. Holbi. March 9, 2011. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  11. Putnam, Bob (March 27, 2011). "Josef Newgarden wins Indy Lights debut in St. Petersburg". St. Petersburg Times. Times Publishing Company. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  12. "Firestone Indy Lights 2011 standings". driverdb.com. Driver Database. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  13. "Newgarden Takes Title Early and in Style". eFormulaCarNews. Holbi. October 4, 2011. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  14. Remillard, Jason (August 14, 2011). "Josef Newgarden laps the field to win Firestone Indy Lights race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway". MassLive. MassLive LLC. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  15. "Official Race Results for the Iowa Corn Indy 300". Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  16. DiZinno, Tony (August 24, 2014). "Newgarden confirmed for 2015 with merged CFH Racing". NBC Sports. NBCUniversal. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  17. Olson, Jeff (April 26, 2015). "Josef Newgarden wins at Alabama for first career IndyCar victory". USA Today. Gannett Company, Inc. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
  18. "Hendersonville's Josef Newgarden Wins Indy Toronto | Lincoln Electric Canada". Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  19. "100th Running of the Indianapolis 500". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  20. "Josef Newgarden has broken right shoulder, hand after scary Texas crash". USA TODAY Sports. June 12, 2016. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  21. "KOHLER Grand Prix". IndyCar.com. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  22. Reiman, Samuel. "Josef Newgarden destroys the IndyCar field at Iowa". Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  23. "Dixon wins IndyCar race at Watkins Glen; Power crashes". Retrieved September 4, 2016.
  24. "OFFICIAL BOX SCORE VERIZON INDYCAR SERIES GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma" (PDF). INDYCAR.com. September 18, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2016.
  25. "Josef Newgarden leaving Ed Carpenter Racing". Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  26. LAT, Robin Miller / Images by. "INDYCAR: Newgarden to wave the flag at Penske". www.racer.com. Archived from the original on September 21, 2016. Retrieved September 30, 2016.
  27. "NEWGARDEN SET TO JOIN TEAM PENSKE INDYCAR PROGRAM". Retrieved October 5, 2016.
  28. "Josef Newgarden races to second IndyCar Series win at Barber Motorsports Park". Autoweek. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
  29. "Newgarden dominates at Mid-Ohio for 2nd straight IndyCar win" Associated Press
  30. Ayello, Jim (September 17, 2017). "Josef Newgarden wins his first Verizon IndyCar Series championship". USA Today. Gannett Company. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
  31. “ Josef Newgarden clinches title; Colton Herta wins finale” NBC Sports
  32. http://autoweek.com/article/indycar/three-indycar-drivers-compete-america-ninja-warrior
  33. "IndyCar partners with charity for kids with serious illness founded by Paul Newman". Indianapolis Star. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  34. "Drivers have some 'Serious Fun' at charity ping pong tournament". IndyCar.com. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  35. "Take on IndyCar Champion Josef Newgarden in FM7 Bounty Hunter Challenge". GTPlanet. October 14, 2017. Retrieved August 27, 2018.
  36. Bonkowski, Jerry. "Josef Newgarden pops the question to longtime girlfriend Ashley Welch". nbcsports.com. NBC Universal. Retrieved October 8, 2018.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jean-Karl Vernay
Indy Lights
Champion

2011
Succeeded by
Tristan Vautier
Preceded by
Simon Pagenaud
IndyCar Series
Champion

2017
Succeeded by
Scott Dixon
Preceded by
Scott Dixon
IndyCar Series
Champion

2019
Succeeded by
Scott Dixon

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