"My dad was a superhero" - Josef Newgarden lovingly thanks his father for boosting his racing career

Race car drivers heavily rely on their guardians in the early phases of their careers, and Josef Newgarden is no different. The 34-year-old expressed his gratitude towards his father, Joey Newgarden, and claimed him to be his superhero.

Newgarden is one of the fan favorites in IndyCar. He has won two titles and has been performing at a high level since making his debut in 2012.

However, the Team Penske driver had begun racing at a fairly late age of 13. He then moved to Britain a few years later but returned home to America just two years later.

Despite this, his father stood alongside him and oversaw his success in the series where he earned the most fame. Moreover, reflecting on his initial struggles and the support he received from his father, Josef Newgarden said (via Race Service on YouTube):

"Yeah, the motivation was always very high. I believed in what we were doing. I got to say I had an unfair advantage too, my dad was you know just kind of a superhero in my life. I had an unfair Edge over other people, if I didn't have my dad, I don't think I could have become a race car driver. You know I was working hard at what we were doing, but he was working just as hard if not harder than me to figure out solutions." (19:57 onwards).

Newgarden has won 31 races in his career, with 18 of them coming around Ovals or Speedways.

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Josef Newgarden stoked with his ventures at oval racing: "The car feels like it's floating"

Josef Newgarden at the NASCAR Cup Series Ally 400 - Source: Getty

With his love for racing at the ovals imminent due to his statistics, Josef Newgarden has been reckoned as the pioneer of racing around such tracks on the current grid. Reflecting on this, the 34-year-old revealed the intricacies of racing around the ovals (via Race Service):

"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," Newgarden said.

The Team Penske driver won two races last season and subsequently was only able to salvage an eighth-place standing in the drivers' table, but his year was saved from being accredited as a disaster due to his victory at the Indy 500.

Newgarden has the opportunity to complete a three-peat at the Indy 500. Thus, a lot of eyes would be lined upon him at this year's Indianapolis Grand Prix.