Josef Newgarden

Josef Newgarden
Newgarden in 2022
Nationality	American
Born	Josef Nicolai Newgarden (1990-12-22) December 22, 1990 Nashville, Tennessee, United States
IndyCar Series career
187 races run over 12 years
Team(s)	No. 2 (Team Penske)
2022 position	2nd
Best finish	1st (2017, 2019)
First race	2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg)
Last race	2023 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
First win	2015 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Barber)
Last win	2023 Indianapolis 500 (Indianapolis)
Wins Podiums Poles 27 49 17

Josef Nicolai Newgarden (born December 22, 1990) is an American racing driver who competes in the IndyCar Series full-time for Team Penske. He is the 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series Champion, the 2011 Indy Lights champion, and the winner of the 2023 Indianapolis 500.

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, he 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 recently been launched by IndyCar driver Mark Dismore. In order to stay efficient with funding, Newgarden focused on local and regional championships rather than competing nationally.

In his first year of karting (2005), Newgarden finished 2nd and 3rd 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.

2006 was his 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.

He went on to compete in junior car racing in 2007, but returned to karting several times, racing in the highly competitive Robo-Pong 200 at New Castle Motorsports Park multiple times over the next few years. He 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. He finished as runner-up in the Southern Regional Series with three wins and another seven podium places. 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

Newgarden after winning the 2008 Formula Ford Festival

After the 2008 season, Newgarden was selected for the Team USA scholarship to compete at the Formula Ford Festival and Walter Hayes Trophy. He would secure the Formula Ford Festival title, becoming the only American to do so.

At the Walter Hayes Trophy event, Newgarden would win all of the qualifying races leading to the main event. He would also start the event from the pole position but mid-way through the race in wet conditions, Newgarden crashed from the lead, finishing 6th place.

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.

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

Newgarden competing in the 2010 GP3 Series

In 2010, Newgarden competed in the newly formed 2010 GP3 Series with Carlin Motorsport. 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

Newgarden clinching the Indy Lights Championship

At the start of 2011, Newgarden would return 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 in St. Petersburg with four more wins and ten podium finishes out of thirteen races in 2011, clinching him the points championship with one race to go. 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. Josef, as a rookie, would also lead the series with the most number of wins for the 2011 season.

IndyCar

2012–2014: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing

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 in 2014, would stand on his second career podium at Iowa Speedway.

2015: CFH Racing

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 finishing in 12th position at St. Petersburg.

During the fourth race weekend in the 2015 season at Barber Motorsports Park, Newgarden earned 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.

He would win again later in the season at the 2015 Honda Indy Toronto and finished the 2015 season 7th in the standings with 431 points.

2016: Ed Carpenter Racing

Sarah Fisher ended her participation in IndyCar after the 2015 season, 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 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 3rd.

At the 2016 Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway, Newgarden was injured in a crash, breaking his hand and clavicle. He returned to the car two weeks later, finishing in a top 10 spot at the 2016 Kohler Grand Prix at Road America.

28 days after his crash at Texas, Newgarden won the 2016 Iowa Corn 300 in dominating fashion, leading 282 of 300 laps.

At IndyCar's return to Watkins Glen International, the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen, Newgarden claimed another podium, finishing 2nd. After a 6th-place finish at the 2016 GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, he finished the season in fourth place overall in the season standings, the highest non-Team Penske car in the series.

2017–present: Team Penske

Newgarden celebrating after winning at Texas in 2019

Newgarden on a victory lap after winning at Texas in 2022

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 the team 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.

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. 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.

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 in a hole to rival Scott Dixon. By mid-season and toward the final stretch he produced a series of wins and podium finishes that set him up for a title-deciding showdown with Dixon at the final round in St. Petersburg. Newgarden could only win the championship if he won the race and Dixon either retired or finished no better than ninth. During the race, Newgarden overtook Pato O'Ward in the closing laps after a restart and held onto the lead for his second consecutive win in St. Petersburg but ultimately failed to defend his title when Dixon finished third.

2021 would be an up-and-down year for Newgarden and Team Penske. Despite earning a season leading four pole positions, he would not pick up a win until the tenth round of the season at Mid Ohio. The win was Newgarden's nineteenth in IndyCar, making him the most successful American driver currently active in the series. Newgarden picked up a second win at Gateway. Heading into the final race of the season at Long Beach, Newgarden was one of only three drivers mathematically in contention for the title alongside Alex Palou and Pato O'Ward. Newgarden finished second in the race, giving him a second-place finish in the championship for the second consecutive year.

Newgarden would be an at times dominant and at times inconsistent force in 2022. He set a career high in wins in a season with five; winning Texas, Long Beach, Road America, Iowa, and Gateway. This would be the most wins by an IndyCar driver in one season since 2016, when former teammate Simon Pagenaud won five races. Newgarden's best finish on the season outside of his five wins was a fourth place at Detroit, putting him in a deficit for the championship heading into the season finale. At the second race in Iowa Newgarden suffered a massive crash due to a mechanical failure while leading the race. Although he was able to exit the car on his own power and walked away he collapsed shortly afterwards in the driver's motorhome lot, after which he was airlifted to a hospital in Des Moines for further evaluation. Newgarden was later cleared to race in the following weekend's Gallagher Grand Prix. Heading into the season finale at Laguna Seca Newgarden was one of five drivers in contention for the series title alongside his Penske teammates Will Power and Scott McLaughlin along with Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson. Although Newgarden mounted a furious charge from 25th to 2nd at Laguna Seca he was ultimately unsuccessful at clinching his third championship, finishing second in the standings to Will Power.

In 2023, Newgarden drafted Marcus Ericsson on the final lap of the Indy 500 to take victory with two corners to go.

Other racing

Josef participated in the 2018 Race of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the 2019 Race of Champions at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, Mexico, both times for Team USA.

On February 23, 2022, it was announced that Josef would be a guest driver in Tony Stewart's Superstar Racing Experience at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, in Josef's hometown of Nashville.

On December 5, 2022, Newgarden announced that he would be teaming up with fellow Team Penske IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin and Indy NXT driver Kyffin Simpson would be entering the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona with an LMP2 entry.

Personal life

Newgarden at the 2018 ABC Supply 500

Newgarden was born in Nashville, Tennessee, to Joey and Tina Newgarden, who had moved from New York in the 1980s with the family photography business. He is the youngest of three siblings, having two older sisters. Josef is half Danish via his mother. He credits watching racing on TV at an early age with his father, who was an avid fan of NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula 1, as what got him into the sport.

Newgarden grew up in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and attended Pope John Paul II High School, where he was friends with and a former classmate of NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver Golden Tate. Additionally, he was a former classmate of NASCAR driver Josh Berry in the 7th and 8th grades.

Before starting racing, Newgarden played baseball, football and basketball.

On October 7, 2018, Newgarden announced that he and his longtime girlfriend, Ashley Welch, had gotten engaged while on a trip to Japan. They were married in the fall of 2019 in Nashville. In 2022, Newgarden's wife gave birth to their first child.

Media appearances

Along with fellow racers Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves, he competed in the Indianapolis round of season 8 of American Ninja Warrior in 2016.

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

Newgarden is a gamer and was a Brand Ambassador for the Microsoft title Forza Motorsport. His voice is featured in the game and he is featured in Forza content.

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	2	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
2021	IndyCar Series	Team Penske	16	2	4	2	5	511	2nd
2022	IndyCar Series	Team Penske	17	5	1	3	6	544	2nd
2023	IndyCar Series	Team Penske	6	2	0	0	2	182	4th*
	IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2	Tower Motorsports	1	0	0	0	0	0	*

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	No.	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	67	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		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
			21						INDY 28
2014			67		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			DET 8	DET 21	TXS 21	TOR 1	FON 21	MIL 5	IOW 2	MDO 13	POC 2	SNM 21				7th	431
			21						IMS 20	INDY 9
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		2		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			1		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			2		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			1		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
2021			2		ALA 23	STP 2	TXS 6	TXS 2	IMS 4	INDY 12	DET 10	DET 2	ROA 21	MDO 1	NSH 10	IMS 8	GTW 1	POR 5	LAG 7	LBH 2				2nd	511
2022					STP 16	TXS 1	LBH 1	ALA 14	IMS 25	INDY 13	DET 4	ROA 1	MDO 7	TOR 10	IOW 1	IOW 24	IMS 5	NSH 6	GTW 1	POR 8	LAG 2			2nd	544
2023					STP 17	TXS 1	LBH 9	ALA 15	IMS 7	INDY 1	DET	ROA	MDO	TOR	IOW	IOW	NSH	IMS	GTW	POR	LAG			4th*	182*

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Indianapolis 500 wins	Championships
11	4	181	16	25	70	112	1	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
2021	Dallara	Chevrolet	21	12	Team Penske
2022	Dallara	Chevrolet	14	13	Team Penske
2023	Dallara	Chevrolet	17	1	Team Penske

Superstar Racing Experience

(key) * – Most laps led. ¹ – Heat 1 winner. ² – Heat 2 winner.

Superstar Racing Experience results
Year	No.	1	2	3	4	5	6	SRXC	Pts
2022	2	FIF	SBO	STA	NSV 71	I55	SHA

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Class	Make	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pos.	Points
2023	Tower Motorsports	LMP2	Oreca 07	Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8	DAY 5†	SEB	MON	WGL	ELK	IMS	PET	-*	0*

^† Points only counted towards the Michelin Endurance Cup, and not the overall LMP2 Championship. ^* Season still in progress.

External links

• Official website
• Josef Newgarden driver statistics at Racing-Reference
• Josef Newgarden career summary at DriverDB.com
• IndyCar 36: Josef Newgarden - 2012 IndyCar documentary
• IndyCar 36: Josef Newgarden - 2013 IndyCar documentary