INDIANAPOLIS — You could have argued that before Josef Newgarden’s last-lap Indianapolis 500 triumph May 28, the IndyCar veteran wanted — no, needed — to win the Greatest Spectacle in Racing more than anyone in the paddock.
He’ll tell you, however, his desire to win the Indy 500 has only increased.
“The high from winning is euphoric, and it’s just on another level compared to anything you’ll experience in motorsports – and it really motivates you,” said Newgarden, who helped unveil his face as the newest addition to the Borg-Warner Trophy Friday evening at the Stutz Museum in Indianapolis. “It motivates you to want to be the best and to do it again. For me, that probably hit different.
“It’s this hardship, where you put your heart and soul into an event across an entire month, a year – let alone 12 years – and never realizing the result you’re seeking; there’s so much sacrifice along that route. So it’s a huge relief for everyone. Now, having finally won it, I’ve never wanted to win it more, and I think that’s fascinating.”
The typically reserved, self-admitted introvert unleashed his emotions in a way a nearly-packed Indianapolis Motor Speedway crowd had not seen in the moments after his pass on defending champ Marcus Ericsson with just half a lap to go. Following a plan 12 years in the making, Newgarden parked his No. 2 Team Penske Chevy on the Yard of Bricks and sprinted for a relatively unknown gate in the fence.
His former Penske teammate Helio Castroneves had made his name by climbing the fence after each of his four victories in order to connect with the front stretch fans. Newgarden wanted to be squarely in their midst.
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“I’d dreamed of that moment. It’s impossible not to think about what it would be like to actually win the race,” he said Friday. “There’s nowhere else in the world in sports like the Indy 500. You don’t have the emotion, commitment, magnitude or amount of people there that day. It’s just indescribable.
“I just always felt that would be the coolest way to win the race, even though it didn’t go exactly how I thought it would.”
In his head, the over-zealous Newgarden thought he’d sprint all the way to the top of the lower grandstands as part of his ‘victory lap.’ In reality – as a cool video IMS officials aired Friday showed from stitched together footage of fans’ social media pages – he barely got a couple rows up.
“The fans here are just different. The culture? You can’t describe the Indy 500,” he continued. “It’s so special.”
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And that’s why, Newgarden explained, he’s had a perspective change since that day in May.
To what’s often an annual question to drivers right around each 500, Newgarden had never previously given a straight answer: Would you rather win a 500 or a championship?
Even after having won two titles in three years from 2017-19, and still without that elusive 500 win until this May, Newgarden’s answer would always be a copout: “You want to win both.”
The passion, pageantry and history around the biggest win of his racing career to date, Newgarden said, has now provided a straight answer he’s confident will never change.
“I would hands down love to win an Indy 500 over a championship,” he admitted Friday. “It’s so difficult to get it right that single day and only have that one chance every year. It’s such a buildup, so much pressure, so much commitment that everyone puts in.
“After winning it, it’s crazy the effect it has on you. I can’t wait to get back there in May. I want to do it again, and I want to make it better than it was this past year. The 500 is definitely the crown jewel. It has the history and prestige, even moreso than the championship. It really is the most significant win on the year, and you feel that.”
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