And what a way to celebrate a Josef themed birthday but to have him win!!!
She was a little bit happy, even more excited than for his first win if that's possible.
So if you decide to have a Josef Newgarden themed birthday party, you'll quickly notice that you can't really find any decorations for your cake. Really.
Not even a die cast #67 car, we might add.
Hint Hint.
(He's won some races now, can someone please make a #67 car already.)
Therefore we made our own.
Printer, paper and popsicle sticks work wonders.
Yes, we seriously had a cake with Josef's head sticking up out of it.
(a bit odd, but Alex loved it)
This is the annual 'Josef' birthday dress. (made with an official Josef t-shirt that we found at Indy this year, and it was sparkly, which made it even better.)
The favorite present this year.
A Josef Newgarden necklace.
(we found a man on Etsy who makes racer charm necklaces at Lone Wolf Kustoms. We requested a Josef necklace and he said he's actually had a few requests for Josef lately.
He made this one and got it to us in just a few days.)
She can keep it in her 'Josef ' Treasures box she got for her 6th birthday.
So if you love Josef Newgarden
or any other Indycar driver (don't tell Alex we wrote that)
and want to have a special themed party just get a little creative.
And get the driver to win on that day to make it even better!
The best part of the Honda Indy Toronto race happened before the drop of the green flag. It was seeing Canadian James Hinchcliffe there in person to say the 'Start your engines' command. He had been cleared by his doctors earlier in the week to make the trip to the race and it was great to see video and pictures of him at the track all weekend.
With Hinch not racing though, it became the first time in the race's nearly 30 year history that a Canadian would not start the race.
The race was started on rain tires, the fourth race this season, and ended with slicks. Will Power started the race off strong, but when a caution came out, it played directly into Josef Newgarden's hands. He had pitted just before the pits were closed. At the end of the day, Josef earned his second Indycar win and became one of three drivers to win two races this season. CFH Racing also earned their first 1-2 finish.
The top 10 Finishers
1. Josef Newgarden - His second career victory in 61 Indycar starts.
2. Luca Filippi - His highest finish in his Indycar career.
3. Helio Castroneves - His third podium in the last 4 races at Toronto.
4. Will Power - Won his 41st career Indycar pole surpassing Rick Mears on the all time list.
5. Sebastien Bourdais - His third Top Five of the season. He is now 6th in season points.
6. Tony Kanaan - Led 3 laps on run to his 193rd Indycar career Top 10.
7. Juan Montoya - Consistency is key. With 9 Top Tens in 10 races he still leads the season championship by 27 points over Will Power.
8. Scott Dixon - Swept Toronto double-header in 2013.
9. Graham Rahal - His third Top 10 in Toronto. 10. Takuma Sato - His second Top 10 in the last two Toronto races.
Top Ten included..
* Both CFH Racing drivers, 3 of the 4 Penske drivers, 2 Ganassi Drivers * 8 Chevys (the Top 8) and 2 Hondas * Drivers from 8 different countries
Other:
2 cautions for 9 laps Fastest lap 105.186
Shout Out to: Rodolfo Gonzalez leading the first laps of his Indycar career! He led 5 laps on fuel strategy driving for Dale Coyne Racing.
Carlos Munoz was running a strong second behind Josef Newgarden much of the mid part of the race before going out on lap 69 with mechanical trouble and ending up 22nd.
We didn't get to watch the start of the race because it was my (Josef themed) birthday party. I had emailed him Friday and told him he better be leading when I turned on the race halfway thru...and HE WAS!!!!
But, my brother and I couldn't watch the last 3 laps because the rain made us nervous and we were worried he might slide.
Josef started 11th, and got a great break when the yellow came out for a crash when he was in the pits. It gave him the lead and he drove really really great and led most of the way to the end!!!
When Indycars arrive at Texas Motor Speedway, you expect fast, side-by-side racing. Lucky for us, that's exactly what we got. The number of passes on track for all the drivers was 1,172.
Though Scott Dixon's showcased his skill at the first oval of the season in Indianapolis, he had no luck when his car overheated near the end of the race. At Texas his skill and luck came together to make him a 37 time Indycar race winner.
The top 10 Finishers
1. Scott Dixon - His second win this season. Could he be starting his midseason run for the championship like in 2013?
2. Tony Kanaan - His highest finish of the season jumps him up to 9th in points.
3. Helio Castroneves - His sixth Top Five finish in the last 8 races at Texas.
4. Juan Montoya - 8 Top Tens in 9 races this season. He still holds a 35 point lead in the championship.
5. Marco Andretti - Highest finishing Honda.
6. Carlos Munoz - Fourth Top 10 this season.
7. Charlie Kimball - Another strong oval run to follow up on his 3rd place at Indy.
8. Ryan Briscoe - A solid run filling in for James Hinchcliffe.
9. James Jakes - Only his second Top 10 of the season. 10. Gabby Chaves - His second Top 10 in a row.
Top Ten included..
* 2 Penskes, 3 Ganassi Drivers, 2 Andretti drivers, 2 Schmidt drivers and one Bryan Herta driver. * 5 Chevys and 5 Hondas * Drivers from 7 different countries
Other:
3 – Positions gained by Marco Andretti in the final 23 laps of the race (eighth to fifth).
3.59 – Average running position of winner Scott Dixon for the 248 laps of racing at Texas Motor Speedway.
9 – Drivers who led at least one lap.
10 – Top-five finishes at Texas by Helio Castroneves, who placed third.
11 – # of positions improved by Ryan Briscoe, the biggest mover of the race
37 – Indy car victories for Scott Dixon, which ranks fifth all time.
99 – Indy car wins for cars owned by Chip Ganassi.
Josef started 14th and finished 22nd. So there's really not a lot to write. The team couldn't get either of the CFH Racing cars right all weekend. Ed Carpenter finished 23rd.
Luckily Josef is still in a good mood and ready to do great in Toronto. And he is still 8th in the Indycar season point standings!
This is one of those posts that Alex does not like to write.
In fact she quiets anyone who even talks about a race that Josef does not do well in.
But we convinced her she has to write the bad with the good.
Josef got a good starting spot after qualifying was rained out and they started based on points. Which was good because he was in the first round of qualifying and didn't do well and would've started around 17th.
He passed two cars at the start and was running third early in the race, but then things went not so well when he pitted to change to slicks after the track started to dry. He followed Scott Dixon out of the pits and the Josef's car spun out and hit the wall when he tried to get up to speed.
The Dual in Detroit kicked off Saturday with the first two indycar races with a wet, dry, and then wet race. It eventually ended under a red flag, with a first time winner, Carlos Munoz. Would Race #2 be any different?
In a sense, yes. It was a downpour right before the race, then a slight drizzle. The first 10-15 laps were run on rain tires, then the gambling began. Just about all the teams had switched to slicks when it started to drizzle again. There was lots of crashing and banging and in the end, Sebastien Bourdais came home with the win on fuel strategy in a timed race
To tell you just how crazy this race was in a nutshell? The highest finishing Penske was 10th and 4 of the top 5 in points didn't finish the race. Teammates Kimball and Dixon got together and Sage Karam got into Jack Hawksworth. Twice.
The Top Ten:
1. Sebastien Bourdais - His first win since Toronto (Race 1) 2014.
2. Takuma Sato
- The highest finish for AJ Foyt racing this year.
3. Graham Rahal
- His fourth Top 5 this season.
4. Tristan Vautier
- A fantastic drive, brought home the best finish for a Dale Coyne Racing car this season.
5. Marco Andretti
- His second Top 5 for the weekend. His 6th Top 10 in 8 races this season.
6. Conor Daly
- A super finish subbing for Hinch.
7. Jack Hawksworth
- Finished a strong 7th for the second day in a row. Obviously likes the rain.
8. Ryan Hunter-Reay
- Still having a tough season. Only his third Top 10 thus far.
9. Gabby Chaves
- The rookie's first Top 10 in his Indycar career.
10. Juan Pablo Montoya - The highest finishing Penske. Two tenth place finishes at Detroit were his second worst finishes all season. (14th at Alabama)
In the top Ten...
- 4 Americans, 2 Frenchmen, 2 Colombians
- 8 Hondas & 2 Chevys
- 1 Rookie, Gabby Chaves
- 8 different teams
- Drivers from 5 different countries
After hitting the wall in practice on Friday and causing a red flag in qualifying (that cost him his two fast laps), it was a crazy race day with lots of rain and Josef being bumped a lot on track. It's good he could finish 8th.
A photo posted by Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) on
JOSEF NEWGARDEN, NO. 67 HARTMAN OIL CHEVROLET, FINISHED 8TH: “It was a good test of our perseverance and ability to fight through. I saw the Hartman Oil guys more times than I wanted to in the pits, but they were always ready and did a great job getting me back out. When you walk away with a top 10 on a crazy day like this, it’s not too bad. It’s difficult to predict what’s going to be happening within those rain segments, but we made the best calls we could at the time. That’s all you can do as it’s a gamble every time. Some guys it worked out for, some guys it didn’t. We obviously want to win, but getting a Top 10 is something we can be happy for today and go try and win a race tomorrow.” -- from the CFH Racing page
It's his fifth Top Ten finish in 7 races this season. He is still 6th in Indycar season points.
