“It is such a craft”: Josef Newgarden shares his take on oval racing in IndyCar

Team Penske driver Josef Newgarden was featured in a reel uploaded by Race Service’s Instagram account on January 31, 2025. The Indy 500 winner detailed his experience of racing on an oval for the first time and highlighted how racing on oval tracks takes a different approach.

Race Service is an automotive cultural hub and a creative agency that shot promos with Josef Newgarden in 2024. The Team Penske driver sat down with the hosts, Rod Chong and Andrew Cramb, for an interview when he was asked about his first time around an oval in an IndyCar. The 34-year-old replied:

“Oh, so cool. I wish oval racing could be conveyed better to people on the outside. It is, like, such a craft. This thing is skating half the time, especially in qualifying. I'm telling you, the car feels like it's floating, you know, it's not like. Oh, it's loaded up, and you can feel it really, like, digging in. It doesn't feel like that.

“I think I'm floating where I'm gonna miss the wall, you know, and you're like, guiding this missile. It's so cool. And I remember the first time I drove there. I'm like, this is nuts,” he added.

Unlike the road or permanent circuits, the superspeedway is all about the top speed. Therefore, the teams use the lowest downforce aerodynamic configuration, which gives the car a higher top speed and floating feeling in the corners that Newgarden detailed.

Josef Newgarden won the 2023 Indy 500 by overtaking Marcus Ericsson on the final lap and defending his lead down the main straight. The Team Penske driver repeated this feat in 2024 and became the first driver in over two decades to win back-to-back Indy 500.

“If it’s meant to be it’s meant to be”: Josef Newgarden on the possibility of accomplishing a three-peat at the Indy 500

Josef Newgarden will take to the 2025 Indy 500 race as the defending champion and with the opportunity to accomplish the feat that no one has ever achieved, i.e. a three-peat at the Indy 500. The American had to wait over a decade before getting his first win at the Indy 500, as he made his IndyCar debut in 2022.

AUTO: DEC 04 INDY 500 Winner Josef Newgarden Borg Warner Trophy Ceremony - Source: Getty

Speaking about the possibility of winning the 2025 Indy 500 and accomplishing the three-peat, Newgarden said, via IndyCar:

“I’m not shy to talk about (the possibility) because there is a chance to win it three years in a row. Talking about it isn’t going to change (anything) in what we do – we’re there to win. We know the process we have to go (through). I think Helio (Castroneves) said it perfectly: If it’s meant to be it’s meant to be, and I think that’s how it is.”

The 2025 Indy 500 will be the 109th running of the greatest spectacle in racing and will be held on May 25.