The reigning Indianapolis 500 champion only made his sportscar debut at Daytona 12 months ago in a Tower Motorsports LMP2 car, before making his GTP class bow at Road Atlanta’s IMSA SportsCar Championship season-closing Petit Le Mans – where he finished fourth in a factory-entered 963.
Sharing with Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr and Matt Campbell, Newgarden says he’s well prepared to face the challenge of the 24 hours that lie ahead.
Interview: Cameron opens up on his return to IMSA
“I feel really comfy in the car,” Newgarden told Autosport. “There’s a lot that goes into each stint, it’s going to be about stint averages, double stints, how you stack up within all those segments.
“I feel like we’ve got a really good base underneath us. I think we can be strong at many points in the race, survive the double-stint situation that everyone has to work through, and if we can get ourselves in position at the end, then I think we’ve got enough to capitalise on it.
“So I think we’ve cautiously optimistic going into the race right now.
“It’s going to take all of us to perform, I’m focused on doing my part, we’ve got to own each ‘race’ that we run – because they all count.”
Source: Autosport