Josef Newgarden Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Team Penske confirmed today that three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves will switch from racing in the Verizon IndyCar Series full time in 2018 to the IMSA Weather Tech Sports Car Championship, piloting one of the teams’ two Acura ARX-05 DPi prototypes. Castroneves is the third driver to be announced for the Penske sports car program after Juan Pablo Montoya and Dane Cameron were confirmed for the other prototype. Remaining drivers have yet to be announced. Castroneves will continue racing for TeamRead More

Listen to “Drafting The Circuits September 21, 2017” on Spreaker. Frank Santoroski and the Drafting the Circuits panel – Joey Barnes, Richard Youden and Seth Eggert – run down the Verizon IndyCar Series championship finale at Sonoma Raceway, have a heated discussion about the merits of NASCAR’S playoff format, and discuss the madness that took over Formula One in the Singapore Grand Prix. Credits: Host – Frank Santoroski DTC Panel – Joey Barnes, Seth Eggert & Richard Youden Producers – Anthony Arnold & Keith Hayes Special thanks to Whoobazoo forRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer Simon Pagenaud didn’t know he was going to do a four stop strategy until his engineer sent him a text. It ended up being the move that earned him the final Verizon IndyCar Series race victory of 2017 in Sunday’s GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. “My engineer texted me when I was at the Verizon dinner,” said Pagenaud. “And he said, ‘We’re going to do four stops.’ I’m like, what? Four stops never worked here; why would we do four stops? HeRead More

By INDYCAR SONOMA, California (Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017) – For Team Penske, it was the perfect day at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Simon Pagenaud won the race to conclude the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Teammate Josef Newgarden finished second to wrap up the championship. Pagenaud, the 2016 champion driving the No. 1 DXC Technology Team Penske Chevrolet, beat Newgarden to the finish line by 1.0986 seconds to win the 85-lap race at Sonoma Raceway. It was the Frenchman’s 11th career victory and second straight on the 2.385-mile,Read More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In a Verizon IndyCar Series qualifying session that demanded perfection, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden met that demand with a near-perfect lap for pole position ahead of Sunday’s IndyCar season finale, the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. Newgarden’s lap of 1:15.5205 was a new track record as the Tennessee native edged out Penske teammates Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Helio Castroneves in the Firestone Fast Six. Takuma Sato and Scott Dixon line up fifth and sixth. Qualifying began with the first round whichRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer In preparation for the final round of the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series at Sonoma Raceway, practice for the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma came to a close with the final session on Saturday. 2016 IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud turned the fastest lap on the 2.385 mile road course in Saturday’s third practice session with a fastest lap of 1:16.0329 ahead of second place Scott Dixon’s lap of 1:16.1454. Championship contenders Will Power, Josef Newgarden and Helio Castroneves were third through fifth andRead More

By INDYCAR SONOMA, California (Friday, September 15, 2017) – Championship leader Josef Newgarden led both practice sessions on the opening day of GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma activities as the Team Penske driver looks to close in on his first Verizon IndyCar Series title. Holding a slim three-point lead entering the 2017 season-finale weekend at Sonoma Raceway, Newgarden’s fast lap in the second 45-minute practice — 1 minute, 16.2485 seconds (112.605 mph) — was under the track record established last year by teammate Simon Pagenaud. Newgarden also paced the morning session withRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — After a day filled with pit challenges, off strategy calls and random misfortunes for other Verizon IndyCar Series championship contenders, Alexander Rossi managed to navigate through for his second career win and first on a permanent road course in Sunday’s INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen. Josef Newgarden made a massive move at the start going to the lead, but Rossi was able to get around him at the end of the first turn. With the entire fieldRead More

By INDYCAR WATKINS GLEN, New York (Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017) – Alexander Rossi’s weekend of great news continued today when he won the Verizon P1 Award in qualifying for the INDYCAR Grand Prix at The Glen. A day after it was announced he would return to Andretti Autosport next season in a multiyear deal along with sponsor NAPA Auto Parts, Rossi clocked a dramatic last lap of 1 minute, 22.4639 seconds (147.119 mph) on Watkins Glen International’s high-risk, high-reward permanent road course. It was the fastest lap in the FirestoneRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, IndyCar & Road to Indy Writer WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Friday practice has concluded for the INDYCAR Grand Prix at the Glen, the penultimate Verizon IndyCar Series race of the season and Honda came up with the fastest times of the day in both sessions. In the opening practice session, Honda had the top five cars as Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Graham Rahal went fastest with a lap of 1:23.2603 seconds, averaging 145.712 mph around the 3.37 mile natural terrain road course. Second fastest was Andretti Herta Autosport’s AlexanderRead More