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IndyCar: Is Josef Newgarden vs. Alexander Rossi a long-term rivalry?

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 08: Josef Newgarden of the United States, driver of the #2 Fitzgerald USA Team Penske Chevrolet, and Alexander Rossi of the United States, driver of the #27 GESS/Capstone Honda, race during the NTT IndyCar Series DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 08, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TEXAS - JUNE 08: Josef Newgarden of the United States, driver of the #2 Fitzgerald USA Team Penske Chevrolet, and Alexander Rossi of the United States, driver of the #27 GESS/Capstone Honda, race during the NTT IndyCar Series DXC Technology 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 08, 2019 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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Does the rivalry between Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi have the potential to become a long-term rivalry in IndyCar?

Just past the halfway mark of the 17-race 2019 IndyCar season, two American drivers sit atop the championship standings, with Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi sitting in first and second place with 367 and 342 points, respectively.

For several seasons, there have been certain head-to-head driver matchups that have been perceived as having the potential to blossom into long-term rivalries in IndyCar among two of the best drivers in the series, but none of them have come to fruition.

Could the brewing rivalry between Newgarden and Rossi be any different?

All things considered, it is safe to say that the series current top two drivers have yet to peak, which could mean only one thing:

Yes.

Newgarden is in his eighth season of competition in IndyCar, and the 2018 season was the first season that resulted in him finishing lower in the championship standings than he did in the previous season.

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But he had a legitimate excuse: you can’t finish in 0th place.

The 28-year-old Hendersonville, Tennessee native won the 2017 championship in his first season driving for Team Penske with a series-high win total of four, and while he tied the series-high win total of three in the 2018 season, he could only manage a fifth place finish in the standings.

As for Rossi, he is on a similar path. The 27-year-old Nevada City, California native is in his fourth season of competition in IndyCar, and he has yet to finish lower in the championship standings than he did in the previous season. Last season, he finished in a career-high second place in the standings behind five-time champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing.

Through the first nine races of the 2019 season, Newgarden and Rossi have combined to earn four victories and nine top two finishes. Newgarden has earned three victories and recorded two runner-up finishes while Rossi has earned one victory and recorded three runner-up finishes.

These two drivers have finished in first and second place in three individual races so far this season, with Newgarden winning two of these three races and Rossi winning the other one.

As for Newgarden, he’s not going anywhere in the near future. If he stays in IndyCar, he stays with Team Penske.

End of story.

Sure, he is the only driver to drive for Team Penske in any of the last seven seasons who has not won at least one Indianapolis 500 driving for the team, but not even 18-time Indy 500 champion team owner Roger Penske is going to put that above his overall skillset and ax him for it. He’d be a lunatic to even consider it.

As for Rossi, rumors have recently emerged that he may be on his way to Team Penske, perhaps even as early as next season, to become one of Newgarden’s teammates, perhaps as a replacement for Will Power or even as a fourth driver.

Some claims, albeit completely unsubstantiated claims, even suggest that a deal is already done, so take these rumors with a grain of salt.

Andretti Autosport like Rossi, Rossi likes Andretti Autosport, and perhaps most importantly from a financial standpoint, Honda like Rossi and Rossi likes Honda. Most importantly from any standpoint, Andretti Autosport give him everything he needs to do two things: win Indy 500s and win championships. He already accomplished the former in his rookie season back in 2016, and his average finishing position at Indianapolis Motor Speedway is beyond insane at only 3.75.

In the slight chance that these two drivers do become teammates, they could still become rivals. Nevertheless, a fierce rivalry between them with where they are at right now would be epic and certainly could last for many, many years.

They are two young drivers who have combined to win 15 races since the start of the 2017 season and whose ceilings we may not even have gotten a glimpse of yet, and they are driving for the sport’s top two teams, with one driving for a Chevrolet team and another driving for Honda team.

On top of that, they are battling not only for IndyCar championships but for the status as best American driver in the sport. This statement alone has not been able to be said for who knows how long, much less with everything else discussed above built into it.

IndyCar needs a high-level rivalry to last for several seasons, and Josef Newgarden vs. Alexander Rossi is just what the doctor ordered.

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Does the currently brewing rivalry between Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi have what it takes to turn into a long-term rivalry that will remain strong in IndyCar for several seasons down the road, perhaps even for the better part of the coming decade? All signs point to the answer to that question being yes.