Josef Newgarden recovers after fall at Iowa to qualify fifth in return on Indy road course

Associated PressJul 29, 2022, 9:00 PM EDT
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INDIANAPOLIS — Josef Newgarden kept the focus simple all week in the recovery from his fall at Iowa Speedway.

He ignored the cell phone, avoided social media and spent 48 hours resting, hopeful it would help him recover from the head injury he suffered last weekend and stay in the IndyCar championship hunt. Now all he needs is another strong finish Saturday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Less than two hours after series officials medically cleared the 31-year-old driver, the two-time IndyCar champ qualified fifth with a fast lap of 1 minute, 10.6968 seconds on the Brickyard’s 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.

STARTING LINEUP: Felix Rosenqvist on pole position

INDYCAR AT INDY ROAD COURSE: INDY ROAD COURSE: How to watch Saturday’s race on NBC, schedules, entry list

“It was going to take an Army to keep me away from here,” Newgarden said. “I knew if we weren’t in this race it was going to be very difficult to stay in this championship fight. I knew we had to be in the race.”

Newgarden’s availability became uncertain after the suspension on the No. 2 Chevrolet apparently broke, sending the race leader spinning hard into the wall at Iowa. Doctors examined and cleared Newgarden at the infield care center, but he later collapsed in his motorhome and struck his head hard.

The Tennessean was then airlifted from the track to a nearby hospital to avoid post-race traffic and additional tests came back negative. On Tuesday, Newgarden informed Team Penske president Tim Cindric he was ready to race.

Newgarden even had some fun with the situation.

He donned a black, padded helmet-like device as he walked gingerly down two steps from the team hauler with reporters and was wearing a microphone for their YouTube show. Newgarden won’t use any additional padding during the race.

Still, series protocols required Newgarden to be medically cleared Thursday for practice and again between Friday morning’s practice and afternoon qualifying session.

Following three qualifying rounds, Newgarden said he didn’t feel lightheaded before passing out, didn’t know the cause, was not officially diagnosed with a concussion and did not suffer typical concussion-like symptoms such as sensitivity to light.

But with Team Penske also in contention for the team title, Cindric couldn’t take any chances.

He chose Santino Ferrucci as a standby driver and the two drivers exchanged some friendly banter Thursday on Twitter. That left just one lingering question: Could Newgarden get the all-clear in time for qualifying?

“It all seems like business as usual,” Cindric said between Friday’s sessions. “Nothing to report. That process is going to take care of itself. Nothing you can do there except hope and have a plan.”

Newgarden didn’t miss a beat, though.

He posted the second-fastest lap in practice, passed the exam and then advanced easily through the first two rounds of qualifications before finishing one spot behind teammate Will Power, the 2014 series champ and 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner.

The only thing preventing him from a better starting position were tires.

“I felt like on new tires we had full pace but on used tires, we lacked some of the pole pace we needed,” Newgarden said. “So I think we’re going to try and clean that up, make sure we have good (tire) degradation for tomorrow.”

Now, the focus for both Penske drivers is closing the gap – and perhaps overtaking – points leader Marcus Ericssson.

The Swedish driver, who won the Indianapolis 500 in his last trip to the Brickyard, will start from the back of the 25-car field after a mechanical problem with Chip Ganassi Racing’s No. 8 Honda brought out a red flag in the first round of qualifications.

Power began the weekend eight points behind Ericsson.

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon, Ericsson’s teammate, came into this weekend tied with Newgarden for third. But Dixon will start from the No. 20 spot.

Newgarden, meanwhile, has a series-high four wins this season but own only one Indy win at the series highest level – in 2020 on the road course. If he claims victory No. 5 on Saturday, it could put him atop the standings and cap a remarkably quick comeback.

“I was very motivated to get back. I don’t think you could give me extra motivation,” Newgarden said. “I’m always as motivated as I need to be and that’s how I felt coming into this weekend – whatever I’ve got to do, I’ll do. I’m just ready to be in the fight.”

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”