Winning the Indy 500 changed Josef Newgarden's perspective on the IndyCar championship
INDIANAPOLIS – By winning the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series Championship, Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing gets to spend the next year as the champion. He will enter every race in 2024 with the title, “Reigning Champion of IndyCar” as he attempts to defend his championship.
But for Josef Newgarden of Team Penske, his victory in the 107th Indianapolis 500 on May 28 gives him a title he will carry with him for the rest of his life.
He will forever be known as, “Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden.”
IndyCar is unique in that one major event overshadows the season championship.
In other major sports, there is one champion.
The Texas Rangers won the World Series in Major League Baseball. The Kansas City Chief won the Super Bowl in the National Football League. The Denver Nuggets won the NBA Finals in pro basketball and the Las Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup in the NHL.
They are all hailed as “champions.”
But in the NTT IndyCar Series, there are two major champions for the year – the season-long champion and the winner of the biggest, most famous, and most historic race on the planet – the Indianapolis 500.
At Team Penske, Newgarden won the IndyCar Series title in 2017 and again in 2019. To him, that was the pinnacle of his profession because it rewarded a driver for his racing ability and accomplishments for an entire season, not on one day.
As for the Indianapolis 500, Newgarden’s efforts were usually met with disappointment and unfulfilled expectations.
That all changed on May 28 when Newgarden became just the third driver in the long history of the race to make the race-winning pass on the final lap when he drove by 2022 winner Marcus Ericsson and into history. Winning in his 12th attempt, Newgarden tied the record for most Indianapolis 500 starts before his first victory in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
The Indianapolis 500 overshadows the IndyCar Series championship because of the honors and traditions that come with the win.
On Sept. 21, 2023, Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing were honored for the season championship with the Astor Cup, a trophy that has plenty of history, but for the most part is unknown to many race fans.
Contrast that to Dec. 15, when Newgarden’s face on the Borg-Warner Trophy was unveiled at the Stutz Museum in downtown Indianapolis.
It was a festive Friday night, just adding to the already festive atmosphere of the holidays.
Newgarden’s sterling silver bas-relief face created by famed sculptor William Behrends of Tryon, North Carolina is now a permanent part of the trophy.
He is now part of history.
From Ray Harroun, the winner of the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, to Louis Meyer, the first three-time winner of the race, to the great Wilbur Shaw, another three-time winner, Bill Vukovich, a back-to-back winner in 1953-54, to A.J. Foyt, the first four-time winner of the race, to the incomparable Mario Andretti, four-time winners Al Unser, Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves – Newgarden’s face is among royalty on the Borg-Warner Trophy.
Even after he won the Indianapolis 500 on Memorial Day weekend, Newgarden quickly shifted his focus on scoring a potential third IndyCar Series title.
“It’s funny because you always get the question, ‘Would you rather win the Indianapolis 500? Or would you rather win the IndyCar championship?’ ” Newgarden said. “I always struggled to answer that. My answer was you want to win both, and I still feel that way.
“But now, having won the Indy 500, I think my perspective has changed.
“I would, hands down, love to win the Indianapolis 500 over a championship because it is so difficult to get it right on that day. You only have one chance a year, and there is so much buildup and so much pressure and commitment that everybody has put in, now that I have actually achieved it, I want to win it more than I have ever wanted to win it.
“I think that is fascinating that when you have never won it, and you win it, you are finally going to be happy and don’t have to win it again. But when you win the race, you will never want to win it more in your life than after you have won it.
“It’s crazy the effect that it has on you.
“I can’t wait to get back here in May. I want to do it again and I want to be better than I was last year. Indianapolis has that kind of effect on you.”
At the Borg-Warner Trophy unveiling in Indianapolis on Dec. 15, NBC Sports asked Newgarden which he rather would win again – another Indy 500 or another IndyCar Championship?
“You can answer that question different ways at different times,” Newgarden told NBC Sports. “It’s still a very tough question to give the answer to. The goal is to try to win both. That is what you are focused on. You aren’t going to try and choose one.
“The significance of the Indianapolis 500 remains true. It’s the most significant thing across the year, and you want to win it, but you also want to win the championship.
“I definitely want to win another Indianapolis 500 after experiencing what it was like this season.”
Newgarden fell short in his quest to win a third NTT IndyCar Series championship as Palou became the first driver since Sebastien Bourdais in 2007 to clinch the title before the season finale. Newgarden faltered at the end of the season and finished fifth in the championship – his lowest since he also finished fifth in 2018 and only the second time, he finished worse than second since 2016.
But Newgarden was already a big winner in 2023 with his career-defining victory in the Indy 500.
“It has made the year a lot easier in so many respects,” Newgarden admitted. “Once the championship was over, it was easy to reflect on the Indy 500. It was such a big year in so many ways because of that singular event and achieving that objective.”
It's the traditions and the fans at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that make the Indianapolis 500 so special.
One of those traditions is the Gordon Pipers band, which performed for the first time at the Hoosier Grand Prix at Indianapolis Raceway Park in June 1962.
Tony Hulman was the owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at that time and was so impressed with the bagpipes, the Gordon Pipers became a fixture at the Indianapolis 500 beginning in 1963.
The Gordon Pipers led Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Doug Boles, BorgWarner global director of marketing and communications Michelle Collins and Newgarden into the Stutz Museum to begin the trophy unveiling.
When Newgarden won the Indy 500 in 2023, he put his own special touch on the victory celebration by stopping at the Yard of Bricks. Instead of climbing the fence, as former teammate and four-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves made famous, Newgarden went under the fence and into the crowd.
“I must say I have dreamed of that moment,” Newgarden reflected. “It’s impossible to not think about what it will be like if you actually win the race. Ever since I started racing here, I thought it would be the coolest thing ever to be able to go into the crowd.
“Helio really set such a standard when he climbed the fence. There is not a person that I have met that is more infectious, more heartfelt, and passionate than Helio Castroneves. Everybody knows about ‘Spiderman’ and the cool tradition that he created. I said I didn’t want to climb the fence; I want to go through the fence. I want to see the crowd and I want to see the people.
“There is nowhere else in the world of sport like the Indianapolis 500. You do not have the emotion, the commitment, the magnitude – the amount of people that are there that day are indescribable. It doesn’t translate through TV, even though it looks pretty impressive on TV, you still don’t get the perspective you have like you do when you are there in reality.
“I also felt that would be the coolest way to win the race. I knew exactly where I wanted to go. As soon as I crossed the line, it was quiet on the radio. I knew where to park. It was a really cool moment for me personally to be able to soak that in and be in the crowd.
“It didn’t go exactly how I thought it would go, though. I thought I would go through the fence and celebrate with everybody, and I would go to the very top of the stands – the very top.
“I didn’t get anywhere close to the top. There were a lot of people, and I got a little bit nervous at one point.
“I got back to the front straight and it was great. The fans here are different. It’s a culture you can’t describe. The Indy 500 is so special to everybody that is from Indiana. It’s understandable when you see it and experience it in person.
“I don’t want to overstate this. I said this at the banquet, and I mean this: There is no bad seat the Indianapolis 500. It doesn’t matter where you are sitting or what your title is, we all make the event what it is today. There are over 300,000 people there and without all of us, the Indianapolis 500 isn’t the greatest spectacle in racing. I have that perspective now and we should all be proud making it is what it is on the day.
“I’m honored to be a part of it. It’s the coolest race in the world.”
Newgarden is usually in control of his emotions, almost robotic at times. But when he won the Indianapolis 500 in his 12th attempt, the tears flowed, especially when he hugged his wife Ashley afterwards.
“You think about the pain, the heartache of all the years you have been here, and it has not worked out,” Newgarden said. “To finally see it 12 years later, it made it all worth it in a lot of ways. It gives you the emotion when you first see it.
Newgarden is the 75th individual winning driver of the Indianapolis 500 dating back to Ray Harroun in 1911. A total 795 drivers have started the 500 - alphabetically Walt Adler (one start 1950) to Paolo "Paul" Zuccarelli (one start 1913).
Newgarden is the 110th face on the Borg-Warner Trophy. All are sterling silver except Tony Hulman, the man who saved the Indianapolis Motor Speedway when he purchased it from Eddie Rickenbacker in November 1945.
“To me, it’s the highest honor you can have in motorsports,” Newgarden said. “Looking at the history and pedigree of this event, it truly has transcended motorsports and the automotive industry what this race has been about from the very beginning.
“It has been surreal for me to be able to win personally. But it’s much more than me. This was a team effort by so many people just to have this career. To be a part of the Indianapolis 500 and be able to qualify for this event is a huge deal.
“To be able to win it, is something I can’t describe. I couldn’t describe it until I was able to win it with our team.
“I lose words because I want to be so respectful to what this event is and what it means to so many people in this community and what everybody has done to be a custodian for the event to make sure this great race is held to the highest standard.
“I think it deserves that because of what it is and the history of it. I lose words at times to speak eloquently enough about what it is, but it means a lot to be to be a part of it and it has been a huge honor to be a champion of the event now.”
Newgarden's sterling silver image was the 34th created by sculptor Behrends, dating back to Arie Luyendyk in 1990.
“The Indianapolis 500 is the greatest race in the world and the Borg-Warner Trophy is the greatest trophy in all of sports,” Behrends said. “To work yearly on this trophy is an incredible honor.
“It's not routine - I take special care and pride in each image - whether it was my first in 1990, Arie Luyendyk or this year's winner Josef Newgarden who drove an incredible and calculated race.
“For every winning driver it's the pinnacle of their career and they deserve my best, that's what I've done for the past 34 years. I'm honored to work with BorgWarner and be part of an Indy 500 tradition that makes all the winners so happy.”
Newgarden’s first Indy 500 win is Team Penske record-extending 19th Indianapolis 500 victory.
This was the 11th year of the formal unveiling of the winning driver's sterling silver image on the Borg-Warner Trophy dating back to Tony Kanaan in 2013.
In 2024, Newgarden will attempt to become the first back-to-back Indianapolis 500 winner since Castroneves in 2001 and 2002. That would also give team owner and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske a record extending 20th Indy 500 win.
“It’s tremendously special,” Newgarden said. “It’s a huge honor just to be a part of all this and be amongst the legends. I never thought that would happen in my career. I didn’t know what a career would even look like. I just liked driving race cars.
“To be here and represent Roger Penske, I would have never dreamed that. I have the best job in the world and one of the best bosses in the world, if not the best. I’m excited to get back to work.
“That’s as simple as I can put it. I’m ready to jump back in and put the work in with everyone else.
Newgarden saw his face unveiled on Dec. 15, celebrated his 33rd birthday on Dec. 22 and Christmas Day on December 25. It’s pretty hard to top that 10-day period of celebrating for Newgarden.
But there is more for Newgarden to celebrate.
In January, Newgarden and Penske will receive their “Baby Borgs” – miniature versions of the famed Borg-Warner Trophy that they get to keep.
“I can’t wait until January,” Newgarden said. “The Baby Borg is one of the coolest trophies you can personally have. It’s the next best thing to having the actual Borg-Warner Trophy. That will be a big day. To be there with Roger Penske and receive them together will be the cherry on top.”
