Newgarden ‘in the fight’ for IndyCar championship
NEWTON, Iowa (WISH) — Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden had a dream weekend at Iowa Speedway.
The 2023 Indy 500 champion picked up a pair of victories on the short oval during the track’s doubleheader weekend.
“I just love this place,” Newgarden said.
The two victories this weekend at Iowa gave Newgarden six career wins at the track.
They also kept his current streak of oval victories alive. Newgarden has won the last five IndyCar races that have been run on ovals. He doesn’t know if there’s a secret recipe for that recent oval success, but, nonetheless, he hopes it continues.
“It’s hard to put it into words,” Newgarden said. “I don’t know. If I knew the answer, I’d bottle it up and we’d take it everywhere.”
Newgarden is now in second place in the IndyCar Series standings as he chases his third career IndyCar championship. Newgarden is 80 points behind championship leader Alex Palou.
“I think we’re in the mix,” Newgarden said. “It’s not the best position. We need to be closer, there’s no doubt. I think Alex has done a tremendous job. He’s in a great spot. But for us, we are in the fight. Anything can happen in IndyCar.”
The NTT IndyCar Series will have a weekend off before racing on the streets of Nashville on Aug. 6.
Click on the video above to watch Newgarden’s full conversation with News 8 Sports’ Andrew Chernoff on SportsLocker Sunday.