- Josef Newgarden hails from Tennessee, not far from where the Big Machine Music City Grad Prix IndyCar race will take place this weekend.
- Newgarden has won four races so far this year, including the Indy 500, putting him within 80 points of series leader Alex Palou.
- With five races to go in the season including this weekend’s Nashville race, Newgarden has the best shot of denying the Palou a second championship.
Scott Dixon can’t say it. Neither can Will Power, Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward, Graham Rahal, and most every other IndyCar driver.
We’re talking about drivers who compete in “home” races, namely, IndyCar events in their own hometowns.
But Josef Newgarden can say it—and he’s proud to do so.
Newgarden was born and raised in nearby Hendersonville, Tennessee, a quick 20-mile suburban burnout from Nashville, which hosts this weekend’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix IndyCar race on the challenging temporary street course layout through downtown Nashville.
After winning the Indianapolis 500 this past May following 11 previous tries, Newgarden has another race to check off his bucket list, namely, this Sunday’s race in Music City. He’s finished 1oth and sixth in the first two events in country music’s capital.
Newgarden hopes the third time is the charm that allows him to win on his home turf.
And given what he’s done of late, Newgarden comes into this weekend as the hottest driver going in IndyCar. He won both ends of the doubleheader weekend at Iowa Speedway two weeks ago and moved from third to second in the standings, closing Palou’s lead from 117 to 80 points.
Extrapolate that a bit more and in the last seven races, Newgarden has three wins, a runner-up (Road America) and a fifth-place finish (Toronto).
To say the least, Newgarden is more than ready to hopefully further cut into Palou’s lead. The latter driver is, in a sense, almost overdue for a bad race—and Newgarden is hoping that Nashville is the place where Palou fails and Newgarden excels.
“The thing that stands out is the amount of synergies that are here,” Newgarden said. “When you look across the board with IndyCar and the city of Nashville, they just pair together so well. For me, it’s a beautiful thing to see.
“I was born and raised here. I dreamed of becoming an IndyCar driver ever since I was a kid. To see so many years later a city street race for IndyCar, now the finale for IndyCar (Nashville will become the final race of the season for the series starting in 2024) in Nashville, is really just I think such a fitting way for this group to come together.”
While so much attention has been focused on Palou and his domination this season, the 32-year-old Newgarden has been no shirk himself.
Like Palou, Newgarden has also won one-third of the 12 races to date—namely, four wins (Texas, Indy 500 and both ends of the Iowa doubleheader).
And this weekend could be the most pivotal event of the season for Newgarden.
Josef Newgarden (left), Alex Palou (center), and Romain Grosjean at Long Beach last year.
If he could further cut into Palou’s lead—maybe reduce it from 80 points to, say, 60 points or even lower—we will have a legitimate championship battle heading into the season’s final four races (Indy road course next weekend, St. Louis, Portland, and the season finale at Laguna Seca).
That’s why Newgarden is super pumped up for this weekend’s event.
“I think as a driver, to speak on everybody’s behalf, we all love coming to Nashville and racing this event,” Newgarden said. “It is a big bucket list item for anybody that is in motorsports.
“Nashville to me is the best of the best at music and entertainment, sports. I think with IndyCar, you have the best of the best of sports and entertainment in the motorsports realm. It’s really a great pairing.
“(I’m) proud to be from here. Proud to live back here with my family (he moved back to the Nashville area more than two years ago). I think we’re going to put on a really good show for the season finale (starting next season). It’s going to be chaotic which is going to be great for the fans.
“You’re going to hope for a tight championship finale (this season). For us it’s stressful, but the fans are the winners in this thing. It’s going to be a great show.”
Follow Autoweek contributor Jerry Bonkowski on Twitter @JerryBonkowski
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