“I sit back and watch and absolutely admire what he’s doing,” he said. As a former driver, that’s the destination. “Limited track time, obviously, with practice. We took a little bit of a guess on our car. Racing Insider Jim Ayello previews the IndyCar season finale at Sonoma. “It's really about how you're working the tires. A caution waved on lap 191 after Felix Rosenqvist (Chip Ganassi Racing) crashed in turn two from second place, which opened the door for Newgarden to cycle up to the third, a position he held for the remainder of the race. He started at Mark Dismore’s go-kart track in New Castle, then moved to Europe to hone his craft. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Joey Logano, left, shares a laugh with IndyCar Series champion Josef Newgarden, right, while Team Penske President Tim Cindric, center, answers a question during a press conference on Friday at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Newgarden was good, Dismore remembers, but if he was blown away by the future IndyCar superstar on the track, he can’t remember it. This is where Fisher really began to pay attention. The Newgardens spent a lot of time with Dismore, including frequent dinners at his home. After the race, Fisher had a conference call with her husband and Hartman, and they had all seen it. Practicing baseball. BIRMIGHAM, Alabama - Joey Newgarden stood patiently Monday afternoon near the paddock at Barber Motorsports Park. Dismore has seen thousands of drivers pass through his track. “But really it’s just neat to see this kid, having been part of his growing up, succeed. Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello. “He’s smart enough to do that. I struggled with tires mightily right from the beginning of each stint. Greg Griffo / The Star (Photo: Greg Griffo/IndyStar). “It’s so cool watching him drive for Penske. A link has been sent to your friend's email address. “I think at least from our side it was a little bit of everything,” said Newgarden. That's all part of the game. Thirteen years later, after somewhat reluctantly taking his 13-year-old to his first go-kart track, Joey Newgarden can’t help but choke up thinking about how far his son has come. Josef Newgarden may have exploded to the top of the IndyCar standings but it's been a long time coming. “We were all like, ‘Oh my god,’ we have to talk to him.’”. Josef Newgarden has won 11 races and two IndyCar Series championships (2017 and 2019) in just three years with Team Penske and he plans to continue building on his already impressive career in 2020. So if 13-year-old Josef — always fascinated by “anything motorized” — wanted to race a little in his spare time, so be it. “Honestly, we did everything we could to fight to stay up front. In the sponsor-dominated world racing lives in, Dismore said, talent on track is only half the equation. We're going to work with it and figure out what's best for it.”, Like us on Facebook to see similar stories, Trump signs Savanna's Act to address missing, murdered Native Americans, The best drive-thru restaurants in the USA. Felt like we got a certain read on where we were. And you think about all the people who helped along the way. There were so many other teams, and, of course, his parents, and Dis (Dismore). Practicing basketball. Newgarden admitted the setup direction was among the variables, which wasn’t aided by the lone 80-minute practice session earlier in the day that halted the team's opportunity to battle for the win. ... Newgarden’s pace dropped and he fell as low as 10th at one point. © 2020 www.indystar.com. “Absolutely,” Fisher says with confidence. Though an avid motor sports fan, Newgarden knew very well the dangers and obstacles his only son would have to overcome. It didn't come out as a winning guess. Some have played a role his whole life, while others have only recently left their mark, but each has reason to feel proud of the young phenom as he climbs to the summit of his sport. Josef Newgarden Begins IndyCar Title Defense with Podium Finish at Texas. “Josef is as far off the scale away from that as you can get. We were not in the right operating range. We'll be working hard to come back and make sure we understand why that was. That’s a long time for a young guy to be that serious about competition, but you look at where he is and what he’s done, I just, you can’t help but think, holy cow.”, Mark Dismore,left, and teammate Scott Hackenson,right, during the driver introductions before the Indy Legends Charity Vintage Pro/Am race at the SVRA Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational Saturday, June 18, 2016, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Josef was destined for other things. If Dismore didn’t know for sure Newgarden was destined for superstardom on track, he was positive he’d be a superstar off of it. The other half is the relationships you build off the track. Team Penske IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden (2) and Dreyer & Reinbolt Racing Indy Car driver Sage Karam (24) during practice for the Indianapolis 500 Tuesday, May 16, 2017, afternoon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But Saturday, Newgarden was the one asking a question – the biggest of his life. You always try to drive for Roger. You could tell he was so happy, that he had a ball, had fun. With that, I think you get tire temperature shifts by yourself and in traffic. We'll be hunting for a win soon. That was never part of the plan. He’s smart enough and has the abilities go down whichever avenue he chooses.”. Race insider Jim Ayello previews IndyCar finale at Sonoma, plus what's ahead in 2018. “He just burst through the field passing cars everywhere, but he didn’t win.”. We want more than that. “It’s been an awesome thing to see,” Dismore said of watching Newgarden’s transformation from a 13-year-old kid with no driving experience to the Verizon IndyCar Series points leader heading into the finale. “I mean, he was smiling. Josef Newgarden was among them. By Joey Barnes. I think that's where we struggled personally on the 1 car tonight. I mean, they were just a cut above. Open-wheel racer who joined the IndyCar Series in 2012. He began his IndyCar Series career racing for driver-turned-owner Sarah Fisher. He was the 2006 Junior Yamaha champion and Junior TAG World champion. However, while running among the top five and clawing back into the fight for a podium, he short-pitted on his final stop, going just 30 laps while most opted for the full length of the mandated limit of 35 laps.