"I stop everything that I’m doing": Josef Newgarden reveals what he does every time Keanu Reeves starrer The Matrix airs

Two-time IndyCar Series champion and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden recently shared his admiration for one of the most popular science-fiction films ever made. He posted on X sharing that whenever Keanu Reeves-starrer The Matrix is airing, he stops everything he's doing at once and watches the movie.

When The Matrix first came out in March 1999, it made history not only for its glorious action sequences, featuring the now famous bullet-time shots but also for its elaborate and complicated plot about AI taking over the world. The original Matrix Trilogy which came out between 1999 and 2003 has established itself as one of the most popular sci-fi movies ever made.

Even after two decades, the plot of the movie is still captivating and it's no wonder that Newgarden is fond of the Matrix movies. The 34-year-old Team Penske driver was possibly watching one of the films from the original trilogy when he posted about his fondness for the movie on X:

"Whenever The Matrix is on, I stop everything that I’m doing and watch that," he wrote.

Josef Newgarden, much like The Matrix movies, is on the verge of making history himself in the NTT IndyCar series. The Penske driver won back-to-back Indy 500 races in the last two years and could make history in 2025 if he wins it for a third consecutive time.

Only five of the 20 drivers in IndyCar history who have won the Indy 500 twice in their career have won it back-to-back. No one has ever won the Greatest Spectacle in Racing thrice in a row, with Helio Castroneves coming the closest to achieving the feat when he finished runner-up in 2003 after winning it in 2001 and 2002.

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Astemo to continue its partnership with Penske and Josef Newgarden

The No. 2 Chevrolet of Josef Newgarden will continue to be sponsored by Hitachi Astemo in the 2025 season as part of a long-standing partnership with Team Penske. The company, a major supplier in the automotive industry, has been involved with Penske for 14 years and provides fuel-system components for all Chevrolet-powered IndyCar engines.

Astemo has played a role in Chevrolet’s dominance in the series, helping the manufacturer secure its ninth IndyCar Manufacturing Championship since returning to the sport in 2012.

Speaking about the continued partnership between Team Penske and Astemo, the team's President Tim Cindric (father of NASCAR Cup Series Penske driver Austin Cindric) said (via IndyCar):

"Winning is all about teamwork. Josef Newgarden and this No. 2 Hitachi Astemo Chevrolet team are proven winners, yet we still have plenty to prove going into the 2025 season."

Team Penske looks set to have another strong season in 2025 with Will Power and Josef Newgarden leading the timing sheets in the final two days of practice at the Sebring International Raceway ahead of the season-opening race in St. Petersburg.

Power topped the timing sheet with a lap time of 52.254 seconds in his No. 12 Chevrolet, while Newgarden was comfortably placed in second with a lap time of 52.319 seconds in his No. 2 Chevrolet.