Josef Newgarden is unfazed about starting near the back of the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500.
The Tennessee native’s #2 Team Penske Chevrolet is sandwiched in the middle of Row 8, rolling off 23rd in the field of 33. It was a relatively surprising setback, especially compared to teammates David Malukas and Scott McLaughlin, who will start third and ninth, respectively.
“That's what she had,” said Newgarden, 35. “That's what she had on Sunday (in qualifying). It's a different story going into the race now. I feel really good about where we're at.
“I wish we could have been -- it's got nothing to do with the race, I just hate losing out the points. That's the toughest thing to me is it's 12 points up for grabs that we just let wash away. Other than that, I think the race car is in a good spot.”
Being a two-time Indy 500 winner undoubtedly helps Newgarden’s confidence, but he can also reflect on his charge from 32nd and was 10th by Lap 60. He got up to sixth before a mechanical issue ended his day after 135 laps.
Newgarden has a chance to join the three-timers club alongside the likes of Dario Franchitti, Louis Meyer, Mauri Rose, Johnny Rutherford, Wilber Shaw, and Bobby Unser.
This year will be Newgarden’s 15th start in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” and that amount of experience is especially helpful when it comes to knowing who you are racing against while navigating traffic. It’s also helpful to have experience starting alongside , with Ryan Hunter-Reay, the 2014 Indy 500 winner, making his 18th start in IndyCar’s crown jewel from 22nd in a one-off entry with Arrow McLaren.
“Yeah, it's tough,” Newgarden said. “The nice thing is you have to have a good kind of book in place. What I mean is you kind of compile your notes on everybody in the field, and you sort of at least get a couple passes by hopefully most cars during practice, and you sort of know what you're working with.
“It's nice when you're racing people that you feel like you can race a certain way and you can trust. It's almost impossible to help each other work through the field. We're going to run our own races. It's just nice to be next to some people that you trust is probably the only thing about it.
“Certainly when it comes down to the end, it's every man for himself. We're all trying to win this race. It would be fun if it's Ryan (Hunter-Reay) and me and we can have a shootout, but we're both going to be going for it. That's the way it is. You're going to try and win the race as best you can.”
