Reliving Josef Newgarden’s First Championship Winning Season

First Win Of The Season 

Newgarden’s first win of 2017 came early in the season at the 2017 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama Barber Motorsports Park. Barber was looking promising for Penske with the top three spots on the grid being occupied by Power, Castroneves, and Pagenaud. Newgarden on the other hand started from seventh on the grid. 

The race was off to a chaotic start after Ryan Hunter-Reay and James Hinchcliffe made contact while coming out of turn three. Newgarden managed to avoid the crash and moved up to P5. A caution was thrown and a few laps after the restart on lap 6 Newgarden made up some ground and overtook Pagenaud.

After the first round of pit stops under the green flag, Newgarden moved up to P2 thanks to a quick stop and slowly closed the gap to Power before he pulled away and created a two-second gap between him and Newgarden. 

Right before the opening for the final pit stops, a second caution of the race came out and almost the entire field pitted. The race resumed with 22 laps to go. During the restarts, Power got a puncture in one of his rear tires which led to him pitting again. Newgarden then took the race lead and held off Scott Dixon to take home the victory. 

Winning In Toronto 

Similarly to the race start at Barber, racing through the Streets of Toronto was no easy feat for the drivers with another chaotic race start. In an attempt to avoid making contact with Graham Rahal, Scott Dixon ended up making contact with Will Power. This sent Power into the wall and resulted in a last-place finish for Power. 

The incident caused a caution and once it was lifted Newgarden was in P3. The top five stayed the same until Hinchcliffe was overtaken by Spencer Pigot for fifth place. During the first round of pit stops another caution was thrown out which greatly benefited Newgarden who moved into the lead once the previous race leaders went into the pits. 

When most drivers went in for their second pit stops Newgarden continued to extend his lead with Alexander Rossi trailing behind him. The running order stayed the same until Newgarden led the top five into the pits. Once Pagenaud pitted on lap 57 Newgarden regained the lead of the race. 

The top five of the race once again remained the same until lap 81 when Ryan Hunter-Reay ran wide at turn seven which allowed Pagenaud to gain position. Newgarden continued to hold off the rest of the top five and finished the race 1.87 seconds ahead of Rossi to take home his second win of the season. 

Qualifying On Pole 

Newgarden qualified on pole once in 2017 and it happened at the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma. At the time, this was only Newgarden’s second time getting pole position. He set a lap time of one minute and 15.5202 seconds at Sonoma Raceway. The track itself is 2.385 miles with 12 turns. 

Qualifying on the pole was critical for Josef Newgarden and the championship battle that weekend. Sonoma served as the final race of the 2017 season. Gaining that extra point extended his lead over Scott Dixon to four points ahead of the race. The final race of the season also meant that double race points were up for grabs. 

Newgarden landing pole also marked the 11th time a Penske driver started from the front of the grid as well as the 256th time in Penske team history that a driver started from pole. 

Securing The Title 

Despite starting on the pole, Newgarden finished the race in P4 while Pagenaud got the win. This was Pagenaud’s second consecutive Sonoma win. 

The championship title battle was well and alive between Pagenaud and Newgarden. Pagenaud needed the win to increase any chance he had at winning the title that year. His win, however, wasn’t enough to overcome the gap Newgarden created with his success throughout the season. 

Team Penske as a whole had great tire management throughout as well as efficient pit stops to keep their drivers from falling too far down the grid. Pagenaud took an early lead and spent the race successfully fighting off Penske teammate Will Power and Chip Ganassi Driver Scott Dixon. 

Newgarden finished the season with a total of 642 points to secure his first title. Pagenaud came second in the standings with 629. The season ended on a high for Penske with a race win, and Josef Newgarden’s championship win all at once.