IndyCar: Josef Newgarden handled heartbreak like a true champion

Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden showed that he is a champion off the race track as well following Sunday’s heartbreak at Road America.

2018 Road America IndyCar race winner Josef Newgarden of Team Penske took the pole position for Sunday’s REV Group Grand Prix at the track, and he was the dominant driver throughout the event.

Despite an unusually large amount of caution flag periods during the race, he was able to fend off the drivers with whom he was battling for position, restart after restart. On several occasions, he managed to build up a sizable gap over the second place driver.

Newgarden led 32 of the first 53 laps of this 55-lap race around the 14-turn, 4.048-mile (6.515-kilometer) natural terrain road course in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin behind the wheel of his #2 Chevrolet, only not leading during pit sequences when various drivers went on different pit strategies to try to gain an advantage.

Through 53 laps, he was not passed by a driver who was on his pit strategy.

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However, on the lap 54 restart following the caution caused by a single-car incident involving the #18 Honda of Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan’s Ed Jones, things went from an almost certain first victory of the 2021 season to a complete disaster.

He was quickly overtaken by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou for the race lead. He was then overtaken for second place, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, etc.

Newgarden was ultimately forced to settle for 21st place and scored just nine points to go along with the one point he had scored for securing the pole position, the one point he had scored for leading at least one lap, and the two points he had scored for leading the most laps.

The 30-year-old Hendersonville, Tennessee native was unable to hang onto what appeared to be a sure win — or even a sure top 20 finish — as a result of a gearbox issue that prevented him from shifting up following the restart.

And this had a massive impact on the championship standings, one which could very affect the outcome of the title battle when the season concludes in late September on the streets of Long Beach, California.

Instead of scoring 50 points for the win (54 total), Newgarden scored just 13.

Meanwhile, Palou, who retook the lead of the championship standings over Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward, scored 51 points instead of the 41 he would have scored with a second place finish (he did lead a few laps earlier in the race due to pitting later than Newgarden). He leads the standings by 28 points over O’Ward, who finished the race in ninth, in second.

Newgarden sits in fourth place in the standings, 88 points behind Palou. Without the mechanical issue (and assuming he would have hung on to win), he would be sitting in third, just 37 points behind Palou and 17 behind O’Ward.

Take a look at the actual standings.

Rank – Driver: Points (Behind)
1 – Alex Palou – 349 (0)
2 – Pato O’Ward – 321 (-28)
3 – Scott Dixon – 296 (-53)
4 – Josef Newgarden – 261 (-88)

Now take a look at how the standings would look if not for the issue, assuming Palou, O’Ward and Dixon all would have finished one position behind where they actually finished.

Rank – Driver: Points (Behind)
1 – Alex Palou – 339 (0)
2 – Pato O’Ward – 319 (-20)
3 – Josef Newgarden – 302 (-37)
4 – Scott Dixon – 294 (-45)

However, Newgarden’s heartbreaking defeat did not prevent him from spending time with a young fan after the race, a young fan who had planned on watching him celebrate what would have been his second Road America win in victory lane.

Just take a look below at how a true champion handled this heartbreak, even with the wound still fresh.

Suffice it to say that there are quite a few drivers, irrespective of the racing series, who would not have handled this situation nearly as well as Newgarden did, especially given how huge this could be in the championship battle once everything is settled.

Newgarden proved that he is not only a two-time champion on the race track, but a champion away from the track as well.

The 10th race on the 16-race 2021 IndyCar schedule is the Honda Indy 200, which is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 4.