Tenth in the championship Eight races to go. Six are ovals. An imposing deficit of 143 points to Alex Palou atop the drivers’ standings.
Josef Newgarden’s title hopes are remote at best, but the NTT IndyCar Series’ master of ovals is in his element this weekend with the Hy-Vee Doubleheader, where he’s expected to use the pair of races to draw closer to Palou. So where does the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner place his approach to Iowa and the rest of the events on the calendar in his quest to win this third title? Is it an all-out attack?
“We’re surrendered to fate in a lot of ways,” the Team Penske driver told RACER. “It’s been a really hard year. Indy was amazing; everything about it was incredible for the team. And then when you look at the championship, it’s been the opposite. It’s been worse than feast or famine. This one’s been a super roller coaster. Super highs and lows. So, we are where we are. The last two events in particular were really tough. Laguna ended up being a bust, and then Mid-Ohio turned into a bust. So that’s a lot of why we’re 143 back. That’s really bad. So I’m not going to say we can’t win the championship. Anything’s possible, and I always believe that.”