Josef Newgarden wasn't at peak physical condition when he raced last week at Indianapolis, that much he admits.
But sitting out would have crippled his championship chances, so earning the medical clearance to compete following his post-race collapse at Iowa was Newgarden's only choice. He finished fifth to maintain his hold on third place in the IndyCar standings.
“I wasn't 100% but I felt good, I felt normal in a lot of respects, but I'm trying to get myself even better,” Newgarden said. “We needed to be in the race, and I was happy to be there.”
Next up is his home race, the second Music City Grand Prix through the downtown streets of Nashville. Newgarden was an ambassador for last year's inaugural race and the commitments admittedly stretched him thin ahead of his deflating 10th-place finish.
That won't be good enough Sunday for Newgarden's quest for a third IndyCar title. So he slimmed down his obligations ahead of this year's race and used several days this week to reset following his Iowa disruption.
Newgarden won the first race of the Iowa doubleheader last month to take the IndyCar points lead, but crashed hard the next day while leading in pursuit of the weekend sweep. The incident dropped him to third in the standings and then came a medical scare: Newgarden was cleared in the care center but then lost consciousness in the motorhome lot and hit his head.
It's believed he suffered a concussion when his head hit the pavement. That required deliberate care to ensure Newgarden would be cleared to race the road course at Indianapolis last Saturday. When that race ended, he felt “just tired.”
“I was fatigued from the intense week,” he said. “It wasn't so much that I was dealing with symptoms, I just wasn't 100% energy. I feel like this week, I've had more time to rest, and I'll be more myself this weekend.”
Newgarden is in a tight title fight with six drivers separated by 52 points with four races remaining. His Team Penske teammate Will Power cycled into the lead for the third time this season after Indianapolis; Newgarden, with an IndyCar-high four wins this season, is 32 points behind his teammate.
Newgarden is passionate about IndyCar in Nashville and last year packed his schedule with pre-race appearances to promote the event debut. This year he cut back to only his fourth annual ping-pong tournament for charity. About a dozen of his fellow competitors played in the Thursday afternoon tournament. Newgarden's team advanced to the final but lost.
He said the charity tournament was a priority. Newgarden, via an IndyCar bonus program, already earned a $1 million prize this season and $500,000 was split between two charities of his choice. The tournament also benefitted the two charities, Wags and Walks of Nashville and the SeriousFun Children’s Network.
Newgarden's support has helped Wags and Walks — where Newgarden and his wife adopted one of their dogs — break ground on its first facility that will double the amount of pets it helps save each year. Both founder Kathryn Dhall and Clea Newman, who runs the SeriousFun Children's Network that was started by her father, the late actor Paul Newman, attended the tournament.
Josef Newgarden waits in the pits before a IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Saturday, July 30, 2022, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
