Josef Newgarden

Josef Newgarden (born December 22, 1990 in Nashville, Tennessee)[1][2] is an American race car driver that currently competes in the IndyCar Series for Team Penske. He is the 2017 and 2019 champion, and has claimed 15 wins in the series since his debut in 2012.

Josef Newgarden
Newgarden in 2020
Nationality	American
Born	Josef Nicolai Newgarden (1990-12-22) 22 December 1990 Hendersonville, Tennessee, United States
IndyCar Series career
138 races run over 9 years
Team(s)	No. 1 (Team Penske)
2019 position	1st
Best finish	1st (2017, 2019)
First race	2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg)
Last race	2020 Iowa INDYCAR 250s, Race 2 (Iowa)
First win	2015 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Barber)
Last win	2020 Iowa INDYCAR 250s, Race 2 (Iowa)
Wins Podiums Poles 15 30 11

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.

Early Formula Car Racing

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.

IndyCar

2012–2014: Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing

Josef Newgarden - 2012 SFHR

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.

Josef Newgarden Wins At Barber Motorsports Park

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 and 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. Newgarden won his second IndyCar title at Laguna Seca by only 25 points. [31]

Josef continues to cement his place in IndyCar. 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 Serious Fun 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	3	4	7	641	1st

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	GTW	GTW	IMS	IMS	STP								3rd*	191*

* Season still in progress.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
8	4	134	6	14	27	47	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

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.

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

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 Incumbent