Last weekend, Josef Newgarden made the IndyCar Series title fight interesting. Well, a bit. The Team Penske driver’s double victories at Iowa Speedway, a track he truly excels at, puts him 80 points off dominator Alex Palou. So, should Chip Ganassi Racing’s Spanish ace be worried?
Not really. Those 80 points are effectively a win and a sixth-placed finish, so Newgarden is going to have to keep up his hot form from here on in. But his Iowa brace – he’s now up to six and in some rarified air of IndyCar greats with half a dozen victories or more at one track – gives him an outside chance.
On the plus side, Newgarden has dominated at every oval track this year. Penske has a proven record for winning just about everywhere. And he’s chased titles before – winning the Astor Cup in 2017 and 2019.
On the downside, inconsistency has been his downfall. Too many times we’ve seen Newgarden infuriated, but it’s been a more of a lack of execution, rather than a lack of opportunity that has defined his season. While the St Petersburg engine problem and Long Beach fuelling issues weren’t his fault, he damaged his car on the opening lap at Barber, which cost him dear.
Qualifying has been Newgarden’s true Achilles heel, starting outside the top 10 on five occasions (versus Palou’s twice). His best starting spot all season has been third, while Palou has two poles and a streak of seven top-four starts from Long Beach to Mid-Ohio.
Of course, Newgarden is always going to be able to look back at this year with huge satisfaction as he scored his first Indianapolis 500 victory. I say ‘his first’, because I expect more. His first word as he crossed the line – “Finally!” – spoke volumes for Newgarden thinking he should have done it before. It’s also something he does have over Palou…
Source: Autosport