Josef Newgarden Tag

By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor SPEEDWAY, Ind. – Operating without key personnel after suspensions because of the push-to-pass scandal, there’s one thing Team Penske isn’t lacking at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.  Speed.  Penske’s three cars posted the top three four-lap speeds Friday in preparation for Saturday qualifying for the Indianapolis 500.  Josef Newgarden averaged 234.063 mph in his mid-afternoon simulated qualifying run, Scott McLaughlin 233.623 and Will Power 233.451.  After one more short practice Saturday morning, qualifying will lock the fastest 30.  The Fast 12 will return Sunday for two roundsRead More

By Kirby Arnold, Special Contributor SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Team Penske floated to the top of the speed chart Wednesday when Indianapolis 500 practice resumed on another soggy day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rain again was the major story in a session that started about five hours late and ended a few minutes early because of wet conditions.  Scott McLaughlin drove his Team Penske Chevrolet to the fastest lap of the day, 229.493 mph on the 2.5-mile oval, teammate Will Power was second (228.767) and defending champion Josef Newgarden fourth (227.675). ColtonRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou started his defense of his 2023 Sonsio Grand Prix victory in the best way possible Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, winning the pole for this year’s race. Two-time and reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou earned his fourth career NTT P1 Award and his first since the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear last June. His best lap today in the Firestone Fast Six was 1 minute, 9.0004 seconds in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. SEE: Qualifying Results The pole on the 14-turn, 2.439-mileRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor The fallout continues. In the aftermath of the penalties handed down by the NTT IndyCar Series to Team Penske for its Push to Pass infractions in the season opener at St. Petersburg, the team has made the call to levy penalties of its own to a number of key personnel heading into the Month of May. On Tuesday morning, the team announced that it had completed an internal investigation into the matter and after finding “significant failures in our processes and internal communications” the decision hadRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The field is set. Time to go race. Barber Motorsports Park showed no mercy to the NTT IndyCar Series field during qualifying for Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix, with every driver having to give their all to be able to advance through the rounds to fight for the pole at the end of the day. Team Penske came out on top when the dust settled as defending race winner Scott McLaughlin banked the pole, with his teammate Will Power starting alongside,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Scott McLaughlin is a man on a mission. Coming into the weekend at Barber Motorsports Park, the driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet has nowhere to go but up, with only five points to his name after a disqualification in St. Petersburg and a mechanical issue in Long Beach that has him all the way down at the bottom of the cellar in the point standings in 29th — last among any driver that has started a race in 2024. WithRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A new challenger enters the fray. After Josef Newgarden topped the board in Friday’s opening practice of the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, Saturday brought a new contender with Ed Carpenter Racing’s Rinus VeeKay putting his No. 21 Chevrolet on the top of the scoring pylon during the morning session. VeeKay’s lap of one minute, 6.5463 seconds was enough to hold off the second fastest car of Romain Grosjean, giving the smaller teams in the paddock something toRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Josef Newgarden is out to defy his critics. After a trying week in which he and Team Penske have been dealing with the aftermath of their St. Petersburg disqualifications, the No. 2 team did what they do best in the opening practice for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, topping the Friday afternoon session. While the session got off to an inauspicious start, with Newgarden spinning off track in Turn 14 in the opening minutes of the 90-minuteRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – And now for the rest of the story. Ahead of Sunday’s Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, Team Penske has been busy trying to put out the fires after two of their three cars were disqualified for tampering with the Push to Pass system in the season-opening race in St. Petersburg. But many in the NTT IndyCar Series paddock aren’t buying the explanations that have been put forth for the team’s transgressions. Across the board from Andretti Global to ChipRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Team Penske apology tour has begun. Still sifting through the ashes of the disqualifications, points and monetary fines levied by INDYCAR earlier this week for tampering with its Push to Pass system in St. Petersburg, the organization comes into race weekend in Alabama having to fight a war on two fronts. Before the cars ever turn a lap for the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix at Barber Motorsports Park, the team will have to find a way to navigate through theRead More