INDYCAR: Newgarden Targeting Edmonton Rebound

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Newgarden Targeting Edmonton Rebound

Josef Newgarden had a podium in sight at Toronto, but despite losing out on his best-ever IndyCar finish, the American rookie is staying positive.

Marshall Pruett | Posted July 11, 2012

Newgarden's reaction to the incident with Simon Pagenaud that cost him a shot at the podium was a surprise--far more mature than one would expect from a 21-year-old rookie. (Photo: LAT)

His team owner’s emotional outburst in the closing stages of the Honda Indy Toronto said everything you needed to know about how the weekend ended for Josef Newgarden and the Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team.

After starting off last weekend’s IZOD IndyCar Series event by losing Friday’s running to a self-inflicted engine installation error (the team’s Honda engine was installed with the engine-to-fuel pump drive misaligned) the No. 67 car went into qualifying on Saturday well behind the curve.

Qualifying a lowly 22nd on the 25-car grid, Newgarden and the SFHR team used what they’d learned during the brief 15-minute session, came up with a setup to try during Sunday morning’s 30-minute warmup session, and registered the seventh-fastest time.

If finding the right setup in such a short amount of time wasn’t impressive enough, Newgarden’s performance in the race was possibly his finest of the year. Already up to 15th by Lap 16, the Tennessean was sixth by Lap 28, fourth by Lap 74 of the 85-lap contest, and on his way to a possible podium.

What came next had Fisher pounding the timing stand and venting her frustration with a choice selection of adult words.

Newgarden asks for his car to be re-fired in Turn 3. He'd lose a lap as a result of the stall and delay. (Photo: LAT)

After his first attempt to pass fellow rookie Simon Pagenaud into Turn 3 on Lap 78 was defended by the Frenchman, Newgarden learned his lesson and got an even better run on his Honda stablemate at the same corner on Lap 79.

Diving for the inside of the corner, Newgarden found Pagenaud reacting to his move at the same time, which clearly caught him off guard. Rather than focus on his planned out-braking attempt, Newgarden’s attention shifted to Pagenaud’s car veering sharply towards him.

“That’s exactly what happened,” he told SPEED.com. “I don’t see it as Simon pulled a really harsh blocking move. If that was the case, we’d have both crashed. It just ended up messing me up. I definitely think he squeezed me more than was necessary, and that’s probably what led to Beaux’s decision. When it did happen, I ended up miscalculating the brakes, so that’s my fault.”

He then locked his brakes, slid across the corner and nosed into the tires. Dreams of finishing third would soon turn into a 13th-place result for Newgarden and SFHR, while Pagenaud would finish one spot ahead in 12th.

Race Director Beaux Barfield would assess a 30-second penalty to Pagenaud after the race for what took place, but Newgarden didn’t feel the moves made by Pagenaud deserved such heavy condemnation immediately after the event.

“I think it was a little more than necessary from Simon, but I don’t think people should jump all over him for it," he said. "I don’t think it was horrible. There’s definitely been worse blocks. My reaction when it happened was: 'Damn, that wasn’t very friendly. It wasn't: ‘You just ruined my race.’ It was: ‘Man, you could have just helped me a little and we both would have come out of there fighting for the podium,’ you know? I like Simon a lot, and he’s been a good friend to me. He’s a great driver, too. Just a little bit of courtesy…”

Losing out on a podium clearly frustrated everyone involved with SFHR, but Newgarden was more interested in highlighting the team’s talent and resolve during a tough weekend.

“If you look at our weekend as a whole we had our backs against the wall,” he said. “I’m really proud of the entire team because they unloaded a fast car. It took us an extra day to get dialed in, but we got down to business pretty quickly. I really thought I’d be able to OK without it, but Toronto’s tough to get down with all the different surfaces to build that confidence, so the best part had to wait until the race.”

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