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IndyCar: Josef Newgarden to drive #1 Team Penske Chevrolet in 2018

ByAsher Fair|
SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 hum by Verizon Chevrolet, stands on the podium after winning the Verizon IndyCar championship following the Verizon IndyCar Series GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway on September 17, 2017 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)
SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 hum by Verizon Chevrolet, stands on the podium after winning the Verizon IndyCar championship following the Verizon IndyCar Series GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma at Sonoma Raceway on September 17, 2017 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)

In celebration of his 2017 IndyCar championship win, Josef Newgarden will drive the #1 Team Penske Chevrolet in the 2018 season.

Josef Newgarden, 26, is set to switch car numbers for the 2018 IndyCar season after winning this past season’s championship in his first season as a Team Penske driver. He drove the #2 Chevrolet for the team this past season, but he is set to drive the #1 Chevrolet next season.

Simon Pagenaud was the driver of the #1 Chevrolet this past season after he won the 2016 championship. In his first season with Team Penske, the 2015 season, he drove the #22 Chevrolet, which is likely the car he will drive again in the 2018 season.

Will Power will likely to continue driving the #12 Chevrolet, so the #2 will likely not be used in the 2018 season on a full-time basis. The iconic #3 Team Penske Chevrolet likely won’t be used either, as the team is cutting back from four cars to three, and Helio Castroneves, who had driven the #3 car since the 2000 season, is the driver that will no longer be driving full-time in the sport. However, these numbers  is still subject to change.

Here is how Team Penske announced that Newgarden would indeed be driving the #1 Chevrolet next season.

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Newgarden’s switch to the #1 car marks the fourth time in the last six seasons that the defending IndyCar champion has elected to use the #1 the year after they won the championship. Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2012 champion, used the #1 in 2013, Will Power, the 2014 champion, used the #1 in 2015, and as referenced above, Simon Pagenaud, the 2016 champion, used the #1 this past season.

The only two seasons that did not feature the defending champion driving the #1 car since 2013 were the 2014 and the 2016 seasons. Scott Dixon won both the 2013 and 2015 IndyCar championships, and he elected to continue driving the #9 car in the seasons after he won those two titles, his third and fourth career titles.

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Will Josef Newgarden need to switch back to #2 in the 2019 season, or will he once again win the IndyCar championship to maintain his spot as the driver of the #1 Team Penske Chevrolet? Aside of Newgarden, which driver has the best chance to be driving the #1 car in 2019? The 2018 IndyCar season does not start for over four months yet, but it’s never too early to start making predictions.