FAIRLAWN, Va. — Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden might’ve been a fish out of water at the Superstar Racing Experience event on Thursday night, but he was content with being outside his comfort zone.
“I would love to win, but whether I win or I’m at the back, I think it’s just good experience,” Newgarden noted prior to the green flag.
With his recent sweep of the NTT IndyCar Series’ doubleheader weekend at the seven-eighths-mile Iowa Speedway oval, the Tennessee native was hoping there might be a few techniques he could apply to the SRX event at the .416-mile Pulaski County Motorsports Park track.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t exactly the case when Newgarden arrived in Virginia.
“I wish there were more similarities to what I did last weekend, I’d be more comfortable and confident. But this is like a 180 from what I’m used to,” Newgarden said. “I’m not used to a stock car, I’m not used to these tires, so I really don’t know much.”
It’s been over a year since the 32-year-old’s first — and only — start in the SRX series, when he finished seventh in the July feature at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway.
Considering the time he’s spent away from the 700-horsepower machines and his lack of familiarity with stock car racing as a whole, Thursday night felt like much like the first-time again.
Last weekend’s NTT IndyCar Series winner Josef Newgarden wishes there were more similarities between Iowa Speedway (IndyCar’s last race) and Pulaski County Motorsports Park (tonight’s SRX race).
— SPEED SPORT (@SPEEDSPORT) July 28, 2023
“This is a complete 180.” 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/onQysYIbDz
After four practice laps, Newgarden still didn’t have much of a direction heading into the heat races. After starting from the front row, he placed seventh in the first heat and 12th in the second heat.
It appeared the 29-time IndyCar Series winner was getting into a groove toward the latter stages of the 100-lap feature, as he began climbing through the field. However, his night ended on lap 90, when Paul Tracy attempted to make a pass on him on the frontstretch and shoved Newgarden into the outside wall.
The ensuing wreck also collected Marco Andretti, Ken Schrader and Hailie Deegan.
Despite the disappointing finish, Newgarden was clear his appearance at SRX wasn’t just about winning.
“It feels like low stress to me,” Newgarden said. “It’s a really diverse cast of drivers — there’s drivers from all over the place, different types of series — and we’re all here to entertain people, even entertain ourselves, if you will.”
Newgarden’s start at Pulaski County was his only scheduled SRX race this season.
He recently tied A.J. Foyt and Al Unser’s record for the most consecutive NTT IndyCar Series races won (5) on an oval.