Beyond the Flag
Fansided

Racing: 2017 is the year the future became the present

By Asher Fair

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14: An aerial view of the track including Albert Park Lake during qualifying for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 14, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14: An aerial view of the track including Albert Park Lake during qualifying for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park on March 14, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /
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AVONDALE, AZ – APRIL 29: Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 Team Penske Chevrolet (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
AVONDALE, AZ – APRIL 29: Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 Team Penske Chevrolet (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

IndyCar – Josef Newgarden

Compared to the other two drivers in this article, Josef Newgarden, 26, has been driving in his racing series for the longest. Newgarden is in his sixth season as an IndyCar driver. This season is his first driving for Team Penske in the #2 Chevrolet, which is a huge reason how IndyCar’s future has become its present.

In his first three seasons in IndyCar from 2012 through 2014, Newgarden drove for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. In his rookie season, he failed to finish higher than 11th place and ultimately ended up finishing in 23rd place in the final championship standings. The following season, he racked up four top 5 finishes, including a 2nd place finish at Baltimore, but he was still only able to finish in 14th in the final standings.

In the 2014 season, Newgarden continued his tenure driving for Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing and tied his career-high finish of 2nd place with a 2nd place finish at Iowa. However, he only finished in the top 5 in one other race that season en route to a 13th place finish in the standings.

The following season, Newgarden drove for CFH Racing and earned his first two career IndyCar victories at Barber and Toronto, respectively. He was in the championship hunt until the final race of the season at Sonoma before ultimately finishing in 7th place in the final standings.

Last season, Newgarden had his best career result in the final standings with a 4th place finish despite the fact that he was only able to win one race at Iowa. He only finished behind three drivers in the standings, and all three of those drivers were Team Penske drivers. This past offseason, he ended up signing with Team Penske.

This season, Newgarden has truly emerged as one of IndyCar’s top drivers. His success this season has given us a good indication of where his ceiling may be…at the very lowest. He is the current points leader with just one race remaining this season at Sonoma, and he has a better chance than any other driver to win the 2017 championship.

Newgarden is in a position to potentially win the championship thanks to the fact that he has collected four of his seven career victories this season alone in his first season driving for Team Penske. In addition to those four wins, he has four other podium finishes, giving him podium finishes in nearly half (7 of 16) races so far this season. And he has done all of this despite the fact that he is only 26 years old.

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