IndyCar: Josef Newgarden poised to repeat as champion in 2018

By Asher Fair | Dec 9, 2017

SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 17: Josef Newgarden, driver of the #2 hum by Verizon Chevrolet, celebrates with the Astor Cup 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) /

Having just won the 2017 IndyCar championship, the first of his career, Josef Newgarden is poised to repeat as champion in the 2018 season.

Josef Newgarden came into the 2017 IndyCar season, his first season driving for Team Penske, as the best driver who was not already a Team Penske driver. His IndyCar career began in the 2012 season when he finished in 23rd place in the championship standings, and he went on to improve that position every season. He finished in 14th in 2013, 13th in 2014, 7th in 2015 and 4th in 2016.

In the 2016 season when he drove for Ed Carpenter Racing, Newgarden finished behind three drivers in the final standings in 4th place, and all three of those drivers were Team Penske drivers. So when it was announced that he would be driving for Team Penske in the 2017 season as the replacement for Juan Pablo Montoya, the only Team Penske driver who did not finish ahead of him in the 2016 standings, there were plenty of high expectations for him.

However, there were plenty of doubts as well. At age 30, Simon Pagenaud was arguably the best non-Team Penske driver, as he finished in the top five in the championship standings in each of his first three seasons as a full-time driver in the sport driving for Sam Schmidt’s team.

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Yet when Pagenaud came to Team Penske in 2015, he failed to adjust right away. He failed to win a single race throughout the entire season and ended up finishing way back in 11th place in the championship standings in what was and still his worst career season in the sport by far. However, in 2016, he dominated the entire season, winning a career-high five races en route to winning his first career title.

So when the 26-year-old Newgarden made the switch from Ed Carpenter Racing to Team Penske as the driver who was deemed the best non-Team Penske driver at the time, he was expected to have the potential to win championships, much like Pagenaud. But after what happened with Pagenaud, he was also not expected to win right away.

And there were times when he struggled. At the Grand Prix of Indianapolis, he was penalized twice for pit road speeding violations. At the Indianapolis 500, he was involved in a late wreck. At Texas, he wrecked himself making an extremely aggressive rookie-type move. At Watkins Glen, he made a mistake exiting the pits and hit the wall.

Yet Newgarden, unlike Pagenaud in his first season as a Team Penske driver, still managed to win the championship after a four-win season, so all those struggles really mean is that while he is already a champion, he has plenty of room to improve moving forward, which should put a scare into the rest of the field and should make him the favorite to win another title in the 2018 season.

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Even with the new universal aero kits, Josef Newgarden is in a position to walk away with his second career IndyCar championship and thus his second in a row. With his adaptation to Team Penske happening so quickly and there still being plenty of room for him to make improvements, he may even be better in the 2018 season than he was this past season. The 2018 season begins on Sunday, March 11th with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.