As Yogi Berra once famously said, “It ain’t over til it’s over.”
With five races remaining in the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series, the championship battle is anything but over.
While Alex Palou entered the doubleheader weekend at Iowa Speedway with a 117-point lead in the overall standings, his lead shrunk to 80 points once the dust settled.
Josef Newgarden swept both races of the Hy-Vee IndyCar race weekend, jumping to second in the standings and within reach of winning his third IndyCar Series championship.
A come-from-behind title would only add to a phenomenal 2023 season so far for the Team Penske driver. Newgarden finally secured his elusive Indy 500 win in May and has swept all the oval races contested so far this year.
Newgarden has five races to catch up to Palou, but it won’t be easy. Newgarden has only scored one podium on the road courses this season. Only one oval round remains this season, at World Wide Technology Raceway on August 26 (where Newgarden has won the last three races).
“I don't think we have the consistency that we want as a team,” Newgarden said of his season so far. “When you look at every track type, we're probably bouncing up and down a little bit too much.
“There's no doubt that the ovals, particularly the race package, have been very strong for us. It's hard to complain about our race cars on ovals these days. They're very, very good.
“It's a complex schedule on the way out. We've got to do street course, road course, oval, back to two road courses, and yeah, it is a question mark. We definitely have to elevate our game on where we've been the first half of the year. There's no doubt.
“I think that Alex (Palou) and his crew, they're in a really good spot. They've had what appears to be a pretty consistent program. We've got to elevate to their level and just execute.
“You just never know what's going to happen. I think if we can be excellent on the back half of the schedule, then anything is possible.”
Palou will be a tough driver to beat in the coming rounds. While neither driver has won at Nashville, Palou is the most recent winner at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He’s also won before in the final two races of the season at Portland (2021) and Laguna Seca (2022) - both tracks Newgarden has yet to record a victory.
But Palou is well aware that a second championship is not guaranteed.
“I'm glad we have those points in the bag, but I'm not comfortable, honestly,” Palou said. “I will be comfortable if we won the championship already. We know in IndyCar with the big swing you can make in only one weekend just by winning and having a bad race, yeah, you can never give up.”
For now, the question remains if Newgarden will be able to continue to eat into Palou’s point lead. He was able to shrink the gap at Iowa, but there’s still plenty of work to do.
“I would have liked it to reach 50 or 60,” Newgarden said of the gap between him and Palou. “That sounds better, but that's not where we're at, and I think we did a pretty good job given what was in our control this weekend.
“I mean, it's hard not to give kudos to Alex. I think he just did a great job. Clearly, we seem to have the upper hand this weekend, and he had a great day today (finishing third). You know, he maximized what he could, and I think that speaks to what he brings to his program. He maximizes his results. He minimized a loss today. You know, it could have be more, and he just made sure it wasn't.
“He is a tremendous competitor. Did a great job. I wish we gained more, but I'm not going to be dissatisfied with where we brought it to.”
The NTT IndyCar Series now heads to Newgarden’s hometown of Nashville for the Music City Grand Prix on August 6.
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