Josef Newgarden won’t discuss Penske’s problems ahead of Indy 500

On Thursday, Josef Newgarden faced a packed media center on the fourth floor of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. This was after the technical breach that was found on his car, No. 2, and on Will Power’s car, No. 12, during the Fast 12 session last Sunday. As a result, he will start the Indy 500 from 32nd place, one spot ahead of his teammate.

However, Newgarden made it clear from the outset that he had no intention of discussing the modified attenuators controversy, and he kept his word.

“Well, I think we got a lot of people sitting here today, it looks like,” he began. “I don’t want to disappoint or offend anybody. I’m here to talk about the race. I’m here with my team. I’m ready to go racing. I love this race. My goodness, I’ve been enjoying being here this whole time. I look forward to it every year, as we all do. Ready to go to work with our group. Proud of everything that we have done up to this point. Ready to go racing. So that’s what I got to say.”

The Nashville native declared that he was trying to stay in good spirits and was eager to jump into his No. 2 Dallara-Chevrolet on Sunday to compete in a sold-out race.

“Right now I’m trying to remain – what’s the way to put this – trying to remain happy. This is the Indy 500. I just said it at the very beginning, too. I look forward to this time of year every season”.

“I can’t wait. We’re going to have a sold-out crowd here for the Indianapolis 500, as it should be. To see all the people that show up and make this what it is, I look forward to that. That’s how I feel right now. I’m ready to go racing. I know I have a good car. I’m ready to work with my team and hopefully put on a good show. There’s no guarantees, but I’m ready to rock”.

Focusing on what he can control

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

On Wednesday, Roger Penske announced the departure of three key figures from his IndyCar team: president Tim Cindric and managing director Ron Ruzewski, who have both spent over two decades with the organization, as well as general manager Kyle Moyer, who has spent the last 11 years with the team. Cindric also served as Newgarden’s chief race strategist.

Despite these changes occurring just hours before the most important race of the IndyCar season, Newgarden said he wants to focus on the things he can control.

“Well, it’s the same challenge as always. I think you have to focus on what you can control. That’s the difficult part about this job. It’s the difficult part about the Indianapolis 500 is how do you stay focused on what is in your control.

“That can look very differently every year. There can be different stressors that push you. If you can just get yourself to a place where you are focused at the task at hand, you know what’s in front of you, you know what you’re in control of, you’re truly just focused on, that then I think you said yourself up mentally to have the best day possible.

“That’s what we’re doing. We’ve got to just, like I said, get the car right for Sunday. Even tomorrow in a lot of ways does not matter. It’s a last check. But Sunday is what matters. If we just focus on what we need to do for that place, I think we’ll be in a good place.”

Newgarden started the Month of May looking for an unprecedented third consecutive win in the Indianapolis 500. His 32nd place start seems to have hurt his chances, as no one has ever won this race from so far back on the grid.

However, when asked if he could still win on Sunday, Newgarden was confident: “Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.”

“There’s no bad seat in this house. I like saying that, too. I love listening to where people sit and hearing their stories. There’s just no bad seat at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. I think that goes for the starting grid, too”, added mentioned Rick Mears’ phrase of ‘you can win this race from any seat in the house’.

“I like the challenge coming from 32nd. I don’t know what the day looks like, it’s so hard to predict. We do have a great car. It just seems to be getting better every year. I’m trying to protect that right now. It’s one of these things where every day changes a little bit at the Speedway. You have to stay on top of it. Sunday is really going to be the day that counts. We have to make sure we’re in the right place for that day. If we can do that, we should be in a good spot”.

Newgarden said that he doesn’t have a clear plan of action for the race at the moment, but he is confident in his car and Team Penske.

“I don’t have a plan at the moment. I don’t want to set anything in stone as far as markers or milestones throughout the race. I think we just got to go. I know this. If we can get the car where it needs to be on Sunday, which is where it’s been pretty much every day that we’ve been here so far, Indy is this mysterious place. Like every day, every condition is a little different.

“I know if we have the car we’ve had this entire month, we’re going to be completely in the fight. I don’t know what that is going to look like. It’s so hard to predict. I’m pretty open-minded on how this day is going to go. We have the tools and the people to battle to the front, which is what we plan to do.”