81 Facts About Josef Newgarden

Josef Newgarden was the 2011 Indy Lights champion, and 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series Champion.

Josef Newgarden won the 2023 and 2024 Indianapolis 500, and the 2024 24 Hours of Daytona, becoming the 16th driver to win both an Indy 500 and a 24 Hours of Daytona, as well as the first driver since Helio Castroneves to win the Indianapolis 500 two years in a row.

In 2009, Josef Newgarden moved to England to begin his European career.

Josef Newgarden competed in the British Formula Ford Championship, finishing runner-up and leading the ultra-competitive series with nine race wins.

Josef Newgarden competed in the opening round of the 2009 Formula Palmer Audi Season, taking two wins.

Josef Newgarden returned to the States in 2011 and competed in the Indy Lights Series, capturing five wins and 10 podiums out of 14 races.

Josef Newgarden clinched the points championship with one race remaining.

In 2016, Josef Newgarden captured his third win at Iowa, where he led 282 of 300 laps and set a series record for most laps led in a race.

Josef Newgarden joined Team Penske in 2017, scoring his first win with the team in his third start.

Josef Newgarden earned his second Championship in 2019 with four wins and seven podium finishes.

Josef Newgarden won the inaugural PeopleReady Force for Good Challenge in 2022 by winning on an oval, road course, and street circle.

In 2023, Josef Newgarden swept the Iowa Speedway weekend and nearly became the first driver to win every oval race on the schedule with wins at Texas and Indianapolis.

Josef Newgarden won the 2024 Indianapolis 500 becoming the first driver in over twenty years to win the Indianapolis 500 back-to-back.

Download, Josef Newgarden's first race vehicle was a motorized scooter purchased at a skate shop in Hendersonville, Tennessee.

Josef Newgarden competed in the TAG world championships that year in the junior division, securing the title.

Josef Newgarden went on to compete in junior car racing in 2007, but returned to karting several times, racing in the highly competitive Robo-Pong 200 at New Castle Motorsports Park multiple times over the next few years.

Josef Newgarden won the 200-mile endurance race twice, with both successes coming with members of the Dismore family as his teammates.

Josef Newgarden started his open-wheel car career in the Skip Barber Racing School series in 2006.

Josef Newgarden finished as runner-up in the Southern Regional Series with three wins and another seven podium places.

Josef Newgarden remained in the series for 2008 and improved to second place, with three wins.

Josef Newgarden secured the Formula Ford Festival title, becoming the only American to do so.

At the Walter Hayes Trophy event, Josef Newgarden won all of the qualifying races leading to the main event.

Josef Newgarden started the event from the pole position, but mid-way through the race in wet conditions, Newgarden crashed from the lead, finishing 6th place.

Josef Newgarden finished runner-up in 2009, leading the series in total race wins and amassing 550 points.

Josef Newgarden competed in the opening round of the 2009 Formula Palmer Audi season at Brands Hatch, taking two wins and a fourth in the third race.

In 2010, Josef Newgarden was signed to compete at British Formula Three, but his main investor withdrew before the official test session.

Josef Newgarden won his first Indy Lights race in the season opener on the Streets of St Petersburg.

Josef Newgarden followed his opening win in St Petersburg with four more wins and ten podium finishes out of thirteen races in 2011, clinching him the points championship with one race to go.

In New Hampshire, the 11th race of 2011, Josef Newgarden lapped the entire field and went on to win.

Josef Newgarden was the first Indy Lights driver to do this since Thiago Medeiros in March 2004.

On December 7,2011, Josef Newgarden was announced as the driver for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing.

Josef Newgarden competed in IndyCar from 2012 to 2014 with Fisher's team.

Josef Newgarden would earn his first podium at the 2013 race in Baltimore and in 2014, would stand on his second career podium at Iowa Speedway.

Under this new team banner Josef Newgarden started 2015 finishing in 12th position at St Petersburg.

Sarah Fisher ended her participation in IndyCar after the 2015 season, with Josef Newgarden remaining with the team again known as Ed Carpenter Racing.

Josef Newgarden started the 2016 season with a podium at the 2016 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park.

Josef Newgarden missed pole position during qualifying for the 2016 Indy 500 and started in the middle of the front row.

Josef Newgarden finished the 100th running of the Indy 500 in 3rd.

At the 2016 Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway, Josef Newgarden was injured in a crash, breaking his hand and clavicle.

Josef Newgarden returned to the car two weeks later, finishing in a top 10 spot at the 2016 Kohler Grand Prix at Road America.

At IndyCar's return to Watkins Glen International, the 2016 Grand Prix at the Glen, Josef Newgarden claimed another podium, finishing 2nd.

Josef Newgarden moved to Team Penske for the 2017 season, with the team making an official announcement on October 5.

Josef Newgarden won his first race with Team Penske during round 3 of the 2017 season at Barber Motorsports Park; clinching the victory after a duel with Scott Dixon in the final laps.

Josef Newgarden moved into the IndyCar points lead following back to back victories at Toronto and Mid Ohio.

At Gateway, Josef Newgarden held off his teammates and Scott Dixon to clinch his fourth series victory of the season but not without controversy as late in the race, Josef Newgarden went under teammate Simon Pagenaud very late going into Turn 1.

Josef Newgarden ended up leaving the Glen with a three-point lead, later a four-point lead as he won the pole for Sonoma, setting a track record.

Josef Newgarden needed to finish 4th or higher regardless of Pagenaud's result and he finished 2nd to clinch his first title.

Josef Newgarden became the first American born driver to win the Astor Cup since Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012.

Josef Newgarden won the opening race of the 2019 season at St Petersburg and followed that up with wins at Detroit, Texas and Iowa.

Josef Newgarden led the points standings after every race except the Indy 500 where Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud led from the pole position.

Josef Newgarden won his second IndyCar title at Laguna Seca by only 25 points.

Josef Newgarden started his second title defense slowly in 2020, a season shorted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Josef Newgarden finished second in the race, giving him a second-place finish in the championship for the second consecutive year.

Josef Newgarden would be an at times dominant and at times inconsistent force in 2022.

Josef Newgarden set a career high in wins in a season with five; winning Texas, Long Beach, Road America, Iowa, and Gateway.

Josef Newgarden's best finish on the season outside of his five wins was a fourth place at Detroit, putting him in a deficit for the championship heading into the season finale.

At the second race in Iowa Josef Newgarden suffered a massive crash due to a mechanical failure while leading the race.

Josef Newgarden was later cleared to race in the following weekend's Gallagher Grand Prix.

Josef Newgarden took two victories in the first half of the season, including his first win in the Indianapolis 500 after a last lap pass against Marcus Ericsson.

Josef Newgarden started 2024 with a pole position at St Petersburg, but was stripped of his win after Team Penske violated push-to-pass regulations.

Josef Newgarden rebounded by winning the 108th Indy 500, achieving back to back Indy 500 victories.

Josef Newgarden became the first consecutive winner of the Indy 500 since Helio Castroneves 22 years ago, driving for Team Penske.

Josef Newgarden participated in the 2018 Race of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the 2019 Race of Champions at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico, both times for Team USA.

On February 23,2022, it was announced that Josef Newgarden would be a guest driver in Tony Stewart's Superstar Racing Experience at the Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway, in Josef Newgarden's hometown of Nashville.

On December 5,2022, Josef Newgarden announced that he would be teaming up with fellow Team Penske IndyCar driver Scott McLaughlin and Indy NXT driver Kyffin Simpson would be entering the 2023 24 Hours of Daytona with an LMP2 entry.

Josef Newgarden is considered a complete driver, with strong one lap pace in qualifying and high end racecraft allowing him to start at the front of many races and take dominant race wins.

Josef Newgarden is equally at comfort with all four of the types of tracks the IndyCar series covers, having taken wins at road courses, street courses, short ovals, and superspeedways.

Josef Newgarden has been known to race his teammates harder than other IndyCar drivers, and has been at the center of some of the most infamous finishes in IndyCar history.

Josef Newgarden's parents named him "Josef" to honor his mother's Danish heritage.

Josef Newgarden's parents moved from Miami FL in 1986 with the family photography business.

Josef Newgarden is the youngest of three siblings, having two older sisters.

Josef Newgarden has said in an interview that he is half Danish via his mother, and on his YouTube channel that he holds a Danish passport.

Josef Newgarden credits watching racing on TV at an early age with his father, who was an avid fan of NASCAR, IndyCar and Formula 1, as what got him into the sport.

Josef Newgarden grew up in Hendersonville, Tennessee, and attended Pope John Paul II High School, where he was friends with and a former classmate of NFL Pro Bowl wide receiver Golden Tate.

On October 7,2018, Josef Newgarden announced that he and his longtime girlfriend, Ashley Welch, had gotten engaged while on a trip to Japan.

In 2022, Josef Newgarden's wife gave birth to their first child.

Josef Newgarden has a YouTube channel on which he posts vlogs and behind the scenes content of his IndyCar race weekends.

Josef Newgarden is the driver ambassador for the SeriousFun Children's Network, a charity started by actor and race team owner Paul Newman.

Josef Newgarden is a gamer and was a brand ambassador for the Microsoft title Forza Motorsport 7.

Josef Newgarden's voice is featured in the game and he is featured in Forza content.

Josef Newgarden was featured on several episodes of CMT's Nashville Squares during the fall of 2019.