In a wide-open season filled with parity, how did Newgarden not win the title with five race wins, six podium finishes, and the most laps led this year? The Team Penske driver dominated many of the events on the calendar this season, and even scored a runner-up finish at Laguna Seca where he started in 25th position.
The four-stop strategy in Sunday’s season finale forced him to make aggressive moves throughout the race, which were incredibly entertaining to watch. It nearly paid off too, had it not been for Alex Palou and his rocket ship.
“We tried today, for sure,” Newgarden said. “We gave our best, as we always do. Alex was tough to catch. I think he just was incredible, particularly on the last couple stints. He did a really amazing job. It was going to be hard to get to him. We got all the way to second but he seemed a little out of reach, so tremendous job by them.”
Going through all of that and coming up just a little short certainly has to be frustrating. That is just the way this season went for Newgarden and his team.
“I’m happy we were able to fight back to where we did. It was a tough day, and we knew we had to fight. Ultimately we’ve come up short in this championship. We’ve got to be in a different position next year and fight a lot harder so that we can hopefully be in a much more favorable position coming into this weekend, and I believe we can do that.”
After winning his second IndyCar title in 2019, Newgarden has now finished runner-up in the championship three consecutive seasons. In fact, the last time he finished outside of the top-five in the final standings was the 2015 season when he finished 7th with Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing.
“We have been in the fight the last four or five years. We have maintained our form. Consistency has been up and down at times, some in our control and some out of our control. That’s been the deciding factor and that will always determine the championship.” Unfortunately for Josef, consistency is exactly what they lacked this season.
“It’s been a really tough year. It’s been good in a lot of ways, but it’s also been really negative in a lot of others. I’m excited for a reset, excited to come back next year, and I know we’ve got the team to do the job.”
It was a feast-or-famine type of year for Newgarden. He would either finish up front, or near the back of the field. While there was only one DNF on his resume this season, it was a massive one.
After dominating the first…
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