"If you’re not aggressive back, you get run over": When Josef Newgarden gave Romain Grosjean a hard-hitting 'IndyCar welcome'

IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden and Romain Grosjean were involved in contact in the final laps of the 2022 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at the Nashville Street Circuit. The Team Penske driver defended himself after the race, giving the Frenchman a hard-hitting welcome to the IndyCar series.

The 2022 Music City Grand Prix was an eventful race where 13 of the 26 entrants retired from the race. The Nashville Street Circuit is a tight and twisty course, and drivers going two wide into the corners and divebombing, led to multiple crashes.

Romain Grosjean started the race in P2 and was in P5 when he crashed out of the race. The green flag dropped with five laps to go as Josef Newgarden made a Hail Mary divebomb from P8 and overtook three cars. However, Grosjean didn't see the Team Penske driver coming and turned into him as they exited the corner.

47th Indycar Acura Grand Prix Of Long Beach - Source: Getty

After crashing into the barrier, the Frenchman detailed his frustration on the radio. Josef Newgarden spoke with the media after the race and defended himself, saying,

“Well, I was alongside him fully, if not a little bit ahead. I haven’t seen it from the outside, but [I was] certainly not trying to [hit him]. I’m already ahead of him at that point. Welcome to IndyCar; it gets tight. You know, he’s been on the worst end of that. I don’t know what to tell him. You know, good thing I was ahead. That’s the biggest thing. You don’t want to be ahead of this guy on this type of moment.”

Newgarden then explained the tough racing conditions which led to half of the grid retiring from the race.

“It’s street course racing. Let me tell you what. I [nearly] got taken out six times myself, you know; probably need to have some discussion with some of the younger guys, but they’re just aggressive. And if you’re not aggressive back, then you get run over, so that’s IndyCar racing. You gotta learn that pretty quick. I don’t like it, but that’s the game that we’re in," he added.

Josef Newgarden finished the race in P7 whereas his teammate Scott McLaughlin finished P2, missing out on the win by half a car length.

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Josef Newgarden signed with LeBron James' agency

Josef Newgarden announced his signing with Klutch Sports Group, a sports agency founded and owned by LeBron James' agent, Rich Paul. In the process, the Team Penske driver became the first Motorsport signing made by the Klutch Sports Group and they revealed the same through a post on Instagram. The caption of the post read,

“Welcome to our first professional racing client, 2x IndyCar racing champion Josef Newgarden!”

Klutch Sports Group handles a multitude of clients from NBA and MLB including the likes of LeBron James, Zach LaVine and Odell Beckham Jr. Newgarden signed a contract extension with Team Penske last year, which ends after the 2026 season. Any further negotiations will be taken care of by Klutch Sports Group.