Josef Newgarden Grand Prix of Long Beach 2018

Josef started 6th and finished 7th!
at the Grand Prix of Long Beach.

 

Laps completed:  85

Laps Led: 3

Average Speed:  88.463 mph

Time Back from Winner:   12.2175  Sec

Pit Stops:  3

He had the fastest lap of the race at 104.881 mph

  

The highest that he ran during the race was 1st.

He was 3rd in practice 2
He was 2nd in practice 3
He was 4th in final practice

He previous highest finish at Long Beach was 3rd in 2017

He is currently 2nd in points!

#Defendthe1

Next up the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama 
where Josef won in 2017

and has an average finish of 6.5
and has won 2 of the last 3 races there!

GO JOSEF!!! 
posted by Alexandra (age 10)

Josef Newgarden GP of Indianapolis 2017

Josef started 3rd in his 4th GP of Indianapolis,

but finished 11th
after two penalties for pit speed violations late in the race.

It was his highest finish ever in the Indy GP, but the lowest finish since he started driving for Roger Penske this season.


Josef's comment on the race:
Quote: "I don't know what happened. I think we ran into some sort of glitch and they dinged us two times for speeding on pit road. It was a tough day for us. We had a really fast Hum by Verizon car. We really didn't struggle with much today. We started a little slower than we had hoped, but at the end the car was a rocket. I’m disappointed for our guys because we did everything right and we had great stops, we just had a little glitch there. We had a great racecar and just couldn't capitalize. I think we had a car that could have been a podium car, maybe even a second-place car. We just didn't capitalize today. Congrats to Will though. He was strong all weekend long."



Josef is still 3rd in Indycar season points leading into the Indianapolis 500 on May 28th.
He is looking to improve on his third place finish in last year's 500.

Josef Newgarden wins GP Alabama 2017

Josef won the GP of Alabama!!!!
Again!  
Josef returned to the site of his very first Indycar win, Barber Motorsports Park, and won for the second time in three years!

 

Josef started seventh and ran really strong all day long.  He made some really neat passes during the race including one on Scott Dixon for second place in the closing laps.   When Josef's teammate Will Power had to pit for a cut tire, Josef got the lead.  Scott Dixon was right behind him with twice the amount of Push to Pass seconds left, but Josef still managed to hold him off for the final 12 laps.  It was Josef's 4th win of his Indycar career and his first driving for Roger Penske.

Josef is currently 3rd in the Indycar points standings, just 7 points behind leader Sebastien Bourdais.

 

Up next for Josef the Phoenix Grand Prix

where he finished 6th last year in his first visit there.

 

GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!  GO JOSEF!

 

posted by Alexandra (age 9) 

Josef Indycar update Long Beach 2017

Josef started 8th and finished 3rd
at Indycar's GP of Long Beach

It is his first podium driving for Team Penske and his highest finish ever on the streets of Long Beach.

Josef ran as high as 2nd during the race and was strong all day, but just didn't have enough to try to race for the win.

 

Josef's last podium prior to Long Beach came in September 2016 at Watkins Glen while driving for Ed Carpenter Racing.

 

 

 

Josef is currently 5th in the Indycar points standings, 34 points behind leader Sebastien Bourdais.

 

Up next for Josef, Barber Motorsports Park where he won his first Indycar race in 2015 and finished on the podium in 2016!

 

GO JOSEF!!!!

 

posted by Alexandra (age 9)

 

Josef Newgarden Indycar GP of St. Pete 2017

Josef Newgarden's busy Indycar offseason came to an end in St. Petersburg, Florida. 

His move to a much bigger team than he had at Ed Carpenter Racing and his move from Indianapolis to Charlotte to be closer to the Penske shop had to be quite an adjustment.

Expectations are high for one of Indycar's brightest stars as he begins this new phase of his career with Indycar's super team.

Josef was not in the first three weekend practices, but managed to get the car stronger for qualifying and started in 4th in Row 2 alongside James Hinchcliffe.  Fourth was the highest he would run all day despite having a competitive car.  He did not pit early and when a yellow came out during the pit window he ended up losing a lot of positions.  He ran the rest of the race around tenth place.  He ended the day finishing eighth, his best finish ever at the GP of St. Pete.

Josef started 4th and finished 8th.

 

Newgarden to penske for 2017

Josef Newgarden moved to Team Penske for 2017 
At the end of last Season they announced that Josef Newgarden was going to be moving to Team Penske.
But the change did not stop Josef from being his fun-loving self.
You can read or watch more about Josef in the video and links below.

Click this link to read the article
"Move to Team Penske won't change Newgarden's fun-loving style."
 http://www.indycar.com/News/2017/01/01-27-Newgarden-still-fun
 

Click this link to read the article  
"Josef Newgarden Likes What He Sees at Team Penske."
http://www.teampenske.com/news/index.cfm/i/674/53168/Josef_Newgarden_Likes_What_He_Sees_at_Team_Penske



First day on the job. @Team_Penske pic.twitter.com/2sJYMg1KaH

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) October 10, 2016

I am really Happy that Josef got the ride on Team Penske.

I think he is going to win lots of races!!!

By Alexandra

Age (9)

 

Josef Newgarden Update Toronto

Josef started 8th and finished 22
An early bump by Juan Montoya took off his back bumper pod and then he ran really strong but had a problem with a section of curb that was coming apart.  Josef crashed out on lap 58.

That finish moves him back to 5th in point standings.

On to Mid Ohio!

A new 'Josef' video this week,
Indycar Test Drive Q & A.
 

 

posted by Alex (age 9)

Josef update Toronto

Yaaaaay!

JOSEF WINS!

Again!

(: Two times already this season! :)

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!!!



Josef podium selfies with Filippi and Helio


 

 

Woke up this morning from a crazy dream. https://t.co/fQHoNaqEhE

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) June 15, 2015

And what made his win even better was that his teammate, Luca Filippi finished 2nd!
It was Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing Team's first 1 -2 finish!
 

We're headed back to Indianapolis as one very happy team! The #IndyCar15 app looks great to us right now! pic.twitter.com/QpCzCXzSsk

— CFH Racing (@CFHRIndy) June 15, 2015

 

 

-- post by Alexandra (age 8) Josef's #1 fan --

 

Josef Newgarden Update. Detroit Race 2

 

Josef started 6th and finished 21st

 





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.

 Dual in Detroit race 2



Now Josef is 8th in points.

-- post by Alexandra (age 7) Josef's #1 fan --

 

Josef Update. GP of Indy

Josef's GP of Indy went ugly in the first turn.

Alex does not like to do these posts after he has a bad race, so we will make it brief.

Josef qualified 12th and finished 20th.

Josef got caught up in a first turn crash started by Helio (we still love him though).  All he needed was for a yellow to come out so that he could catch up to the end of the field, but just like last year's GP of Indy, the yellow never came for him and he ended up going a lap down.

Luckily he is still 7th in Indycar season points.

And now moving on to the Indy 500.

Hopefully Ed Carpenter can share some of his secrets on winning the pole with Josef (Ed has won the last two Indy 500 poles).

Good Luck in Indy 500 Qualifying Josef!

Josef Update Inagural GP of Louisiana

 

Josef did good at the

Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana

He started 12 and finished 9th!!!

It is Josef's 15th top ten and was his 53rd Indycar start.

 Here is Josef's on board camera and it is some of Josef testing at Sebring before the season started.


Go Josef!!!!

posted by Alex (age 7) Josef's #1 fan.

 

Josef Update MAVTV 500

Another top ten for Josef this year!

He finished tenth in the last race of the season.

This video is from before Fontana, so it's a little late,
but it is Josef, and this is a Josef post and so Alex insists we include it.

 
He qualified third, which made him the top Honda qualifier in the final four races of the season!
It was also his 4th front row start of the year.

Josef finished out the season with

2 Top 5's
7 Top 10
and he led 20 laps and was in a position to win several races this season!

Can't wait to see how Josef improves next year.
He'll be on the newly formed Carpenter Fisher Hartman Racing team and should be able to improve his Super Speedway results teaming with the oval master Ed Carpenter!


 
Alex is disappointed that the season in over, but we're still doing Josef updates because Alex follows along what he's up to during the whole offseason.
(and re-watches video after video after video after video....well you get the idea,  of Josef)


 

Josef Update: Milwaukee Mile 2014

Yay!!!  No!!!  Yay!!!

 

This is what you heard from Alex during the Milwaukee Indyfest, because Josef had a very up and down race.  But luckily it ended on an 'up' and he finished 5th!!

 

Josef started 5th, stayed in the top 6 for the first stint, dropped back to 12th, up to 2nd on a pit strategy, and with 12 laps had to pit, and dropped back to 12th.  That didn't stop Josef. 
He made his way in 12 laps to finish 5th!

 

IN OTHER 'JOSEF' NEWS...

 

Alex wants to make sure that you don't miss the Forza 5 showdown starring Josef, and Justin Wilson,  They're racing the Forza Motorsport 5  game on xbox to raise funds for Teen Cancer America. 
Fans can win an opportunity to race the drivers by donating to Teen Cancer America through August 23rd.


 

Josef did the ALS ice bucket challenge along with some other drivers.
Josef's video is her favorite although she pointed out that he did use a rather smallish bucket of ice water.

 

 

Josef update at Mid-Ohio

Josef had one of the best races of his Indycar career at Mid Ohio.

He qualified 2nd in wet conditions, then went on to stay up front and raced for the lead all day, Battling with the likes of Scott Dixon and Sebastien Bourdais.

Unfortunately (there seems to always been an 'unfortunately' in our Josef posts....) there was an error in the pits on his last pit stop.  A hose was laying in the middle of his pit box and he couldn't avoid hitting it.  He got a drive through penalty that ruined his day.

He finished 12th.

 

 

 

 

Apparently the race results did not dampen Josef's usual fun self or appetite as he hit the Indiana State Fair with Mikhail Aleshin, Simon Pagenaud, Robin Miller and Dave Furst the next night.

 

AND

 

On his off weekend of August 10th Josef took part in and won the Formula F 45th Anniversary Race at Barber Motorsports Park.

 

 

 

Now if he can continue that winning momentum at the Milwaukee Mile this weekend.

 

Josef Update - Honda Indy Toronto

Double Headers this year have not been kind to Josef.

He has four 20th place finishes out of the 6 races and a 17th and 13th.
Needless to say Alex would like all double header races taken off the schedule for next year.

(she would also like for their to be more races at Iowa speedway)

Josef didn't have a good weekend at Toronto, where he ended up finishing 20th and 13th.
In race 1, Josef got hit from behind and got involved in a six car crash on lap 1. They got the car fixed under a red flag and did not lose a lap. Yeah!
He made his way up to 11th (to the delight of  Alex),
but then spun the car on lap 63 and couldn't finish the race. Wah!

In race 2 the weather was very wet and lots of cars went in for rain tires, but Josef stayed out and led laps 14-20, until he spun in turn eleven and then went in for rain tires.
When the track dried, he stayed on rain tires and was running fifth,
but when a red flag came out and the cars restarted, the rain tires weren't working as well as the other cars on reds, and he dropped down to 13th.




 

Josef Update - Iowa Corn Indy 300

Josef got second in Iowa!

 Alex was so excited and I think it's rubbing off on us. 

 

To see him just zoom through the field on new tires in the last few laps was super cool.

The only problem was that Ryan Hunter Reay (or as Alex refers to him as 'the guy who crashed Josef out of the lead at Long Beach) had new tires too.

  

   (by the look on Josef's face we have to wonder what he and Robin Miller were joking about before the camera started rolling.)

Josef and Simon Pagenaud had a little fun before the race at Iowa too.

(We've watched this video way too many times)

 

 

 

Yes, we got a little behind on our Josef posts but we guarantee it was not for lack of watching and Alex crazily cheering him on.  So we'll go into Josef overload and get caught up this week.  

 

Josef Newgarden at the Pocono 500

We saw Josef at the Pocono Indycar 500! 
Again and again and again.

And it was great because he led 8 laps of the race!!!
Which was terribly exciting for Alex even though we broke it to her that he had to stop for fuel.

Josef finished 8th!...
which isn't fantastic but was great considering the bad luck (and finishes) he's been having recently. 
(You'll note that we never did a Josef update from Houston because it was not good 
and he finished 20th in both races.)

 

Alex was happy, okay, ecstatic, that we got to see and talk to Josef within moments
of arriving in the paddock.  He seriously was walking behind the van
that we were riding in and even though he was in a hurry to get to his car
on pit lane for the practice session he stopped a moment
for the obligatory photo with Alex.
Thanks Josef!
 



Watching Josef get ready to qualify
(She's still trying to forget about his run, the crash was very upsetting for her)
 



That's Josef waving to Alex after we yelled to him as he drove by for driver introductions.

Alex with Josef's dad, Joey Newgarden
(technically he's not Josef, but he is Josef's dad,
and he told her stories of Josef and Josef's rescued kitty, Simba so she really likes him)
Mr. Newgarden, I hope you don't mind we used your picture but Alex really wanted it in the post.

Josef at the raceday autograph session
(we  told Alex that we would not wait in line for his autograph, since we already have it,
so she was content to get his attention and he waved to her)



Josef in the pits
(we had lots more of him in the pits, but we decided to narrow it down)

Josef in the pits talking (or is it dancing) with Simon Pagenaud
 



Josef's crew working on some stuff after the race. 
 Alex thought that they were making dinner. Seriously.
We explained that it's like a garage in the bottom of the hauler, not a kitchen




 

Alex by Josef's pit.....

we spend way too much time peering through fences looking at Josef's pit box

(even when he and his car aren't in it.)

If she wasn't only 7 we'd just leave her there all day and she'd be content.

 

 

Josef's car being pushed back after the race
(isn't it a beautiful shot, with the flag in the background and Josef' banner waving in the wind)

Watching for Josef in his garages after the race.
(We didn't see him, but we did see his crew members, his gear and his car...
way too many times except for Alex.)

And our favorite picture of the Pocono 500...
JOSEF LEADING THE RACE!

Josef Update #7 Detroit & Beyond

Why Detroit and Beyond you might ask....

well because as a Josef fan Detroit Race 1 and Race 2 were not something to remember.

('nough said)

 

BUT

 

Jump ahead a few days and head south to Texas and put Josef in his super shiny 'spacey' Strike car (because Alex says it looks like a spaceship)

and Josef had his BEST EVER Indycar qualifying effort!!!

 

He will start the Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway from P2 alongside Will Power on the front row!!!

 

 

Catch the race on NBCSN Saturday June 7th at 8:00 EST!

 

 

Alex's Josef Update #6 Indy 500

The 'Indy 300' went really well for Josef as he started 8th and ran in the top ten for most of the first 300 miles....
Then things turned ugly.

First Josef came sputtering down pit lane and ran out of gas, and apparently when you run out of gas in an Indycar it's really hard to restart it.   So he sat in the pits for about 10 laps.

He was then in 29th place until a yellow came out on lap 167 for a spin by Dixon and Josef was rear-ended by rookie Martin Plowman as he slowed in Turn 4.   OUCH. 
He was done for the day....and finished 30th.
(and since the '500' was worth double points he dropped to 14th in the Indycar standings).
 
(Don't worry Martin, Alex forgives you since Josef was already way behind....it's not like he was leading like when a certain future Indy 500 winner ran into him)

 

But as upset as Alex was about Josef's finish in the 500 she did have a very nice memory from the weekend to keep her in good spirits.

 

JOSEF HELD ALEX!!!!

  

Oh wait, in case you don't already know about Alex's obsession for Josef, go to our post 'Josef Newgarden and Alex'. (But please be quick, Alex is going to get upset if we don't tell you about Josef picking her up soon)

 

 

Okay then, so Alex saw (and talked to) Josef thru the fence at his pits right before he went out for carb day practice, but she was a little disappointed she couldn't get a hug.   We had to break it to her that she probably wouldn't because he's "kinda busy all weekend" with a little race thing.

 

So you can imagine her excitement when, while waiting for her dad to come down the elevator by the media center, she saw Josef coming down the steps. 

 

He immediately scooped her up and gave her a hug and Alex didn't want us to say this, but Josef said that she had gotten quite a bit heavier.... uh oh, maybe next time Alex will just have to settle for a ground hug.

 

 

THANKS JOSEF FOR MAKING OUR LITTLE SISTER'S INDY 500 WEEKEND SPECIAL!!!

and

We know that first Indycar win is coming really soon!

 

 



Alex's Josef Update #5 GP of Indy

The Grand Prix of Indianapolis was not the best of races for Josef Newgarden. 
so (his #1 fan) Alex was not too happy

& although she did watch the whole race looking for his car each lap, we admit she did get to playing fish school with her goldfish cracker snack as he was stuck back in 17th or so.

 

So To Recap:
After 2 races qualifying in the Firestone Fast Six, Josef Newgarden did not move on from Round 1 qualifying and started the Grand Prix of Indy from the 15th position. 
He moved up to 12th as the race immediately went yellow  but ran into trouble when he made contact with another car on the first restart.  Boo. 

He ended the race in 17th and dropped from 10th to 13th in the Indycar points standings.

 

 

 

Josef's car on Sunday, a bit prior to going out for Opening Day Indy 500 practice.

 

The Happy part, for Alex ,was that she got to see Josef on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. (but that's a whole other post that we'll do later because Alex insists)

 

 

 

More importantly Josef has started a video blog series about the days leading up to the Indy 500.

He answers questions and talks about practice and giveaways (like a Mario bobble head) and ... well it really doesn't matter, Alex is just thrilled she gets to see more Josef everyday on the computer.

 

This is Alex's favorite of his vlogs, Day 2, because he mentions us (The 321 Indycar Kids) and answers one of our questions!

 

 

Click here to see his other video blogs

 (Translation from Alex: Click here to see lots more Josef! and Josef! Yeah!)

 

 

 

Catch Josef in qualifying on

Saturday & Sunday (May 17th & 18th) on ABC.

 

 Can't wait to see him in his 3rd Indianapolis 500! 

Sunday May 25th!

 

 

 

GO JOSEF...GO JOSEF...GO JOSEF