By David Morgan, Associate Editor
INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet has been a common fixture at the top of the scoring pylon this week ahead of the 109th Indy 500, and not just due to driver Josef Newgarden.
Shortly after the two-time and defending Indy 500 champion paced Carb Day practice, his pit crew proved their mettle in the Oscar Mayer Pit Stop Challenge to walk away with bragging rights for another year. Not to mention the $50,000 prize to the winner.
The crew consists of Luke Mason (strategist), Chad Gordon (crew chief), Clint Cummings (fueler), Keenan Watson (outside rear), Sean O’Hara (inside rear), Tom Jones (air jack), Caitlyn Brown (inside front), Chad Gordon (outside front and chief mechanic), and Shaun Rinaman (pit stop coach).
They were able to put away other crews from Ed Carpenter Racing (Christian Rasmussen), Andretti Global (Colton Herta), and Arrow McLaren (Pato O’Ward) before the final round matchup against a fellow Team Penske crew in the No. 12 crew of Will Power.
In a best of three competition, Newgarden’s crew took the first matchup, with Power’s crew evening it up with the second to head into a winner-take-all third round.
This time, Newgarden’s crew would once again get the best of their fellow Team Penske crew, changing four tires and simulating fueling with a 10.263 second stop.
“It just fills you with so much confidence going into a race when you’ve got these guys behind you, just nailing stop after stop,” said Mason. “There’s a reason why they’re back-to-back pit stop champions. They just proved it there.
“I guess it shows the depth that we’ve got at that shop, as well, that in the final we’re up against our teammate, the 12 car, and both teams doing 10-second stops there just to prove that this matters. What we do at Team Penske, pit stops matter, and these guys practice — I guarantee you they practice more than anyone back at the shop.
“They’re in the shop before I am. They’re already doing stops. And the fact that they had keep doing it and keep backing it up and backing it up, and going into Sunday it just fills you with so much confidence that we might be starting on the back row but these guys are going to get us fast bullets every time and we’re just going to creep our way forward and we’re going to have shot on Sunday to win this thing and go back-to-back just like we did in that pit stop comp right there.”
On Sunday, Newgarden and his team will have the chance to become the first team to win three Indy 500s in a row – a feat that the crew is not shying away from in the least.
“No one has ever done it, so there is no pressure,” Mason said. “No one is expecting us to do it. It’s never been done. Look at this group here. Look at our driver. We’ve just proven we’ve got the fastest crew on pit lane. I think I’ve got the best driver driving my race car.
“I think the reality is I think this week we’ve showed we’ve got the fastest car and we’ve got nothing to lose on Sunday, so we’re going for No. 3, and I think it goes for everyone here that we’re excited at the opportunity to create history.
“If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. But it’s going to be a good show on Sunday, us coming through the field from the back. It’s going to be awesome to watch.”
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