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| Josef Newgarden started slow in 2014 but ended strong. |
Newgarden started 2014 with a ninth place finish at St. Petersburg after starting last on the grid in 22nd. He had a career day going at Long Beach where it appeared he was going to be in serious contention for his first career victory. He was able to get out ahead of Ryan Hunter-Reay, James Hinchcliffe and Will Power on a pit cycle and was in position to claim the lead once everyone had made their stops but Hunter-Reay attempted a bold pass on the inside of turn four and ruined his day as well as Newgarden's and about a half a dozen other drivers. Newgarden would recover at Barber with an eighth place finish after starting fourth.
His month of May wasn't spectacular but it had it's moments. He was average in the Grand Prix of Indianapolis finishing 17th. In Indianapolis 500 qualifying, he ended up eighth on both day one and day two, his second career top ten start in his third appearance for the famed event. During the race he started well but ran out of fuel coming into the pit lane and like Tony Kanaan lost many laps due to it. The dagger to the heart that ended his day was Martin Plowman running into the back of Newgarden when he slowed for the caution that Scott Dixon brought out.
His struggles carried over to Detroit where accidents in each day, one on his own, the other caused by Will Power. Texas was a step in the right direction but could have been better after he started second but slides back to 11th, one lap down. Houston capped off a rough stretch of races with a mechanical failure in race one and a brakes issue in race two gave him a pair of 20th place finishes heading into the second half of 2014.
Needing to make his own luck, Newgarden turned an average day at Pocono into a top ten with an eighth place finish. After deciding to stretch fuel mileage and despite starting dead last, Newgarden found himself leading with thirteen to go but had to stop with six to go. At Iowa, he once again had to make his own luck. While the leaders Kanaan, Dixon, Ed Carpenter, Hélio Castroneves and Power stayed out on the final caution, Newgarden took tires, as did Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal and all three finished much better than they would have had Juan Pablo Montoya and Carpenter not gotten together. Hunter-Reay beat Newgarden out of the pit lane and held off Newgarden by just over a half second after the two blew by the Target Ganassi duo as Newgarden was able to pick up his second career podium and first on an oval.
He was on the verge of a top ten in race one at Toronto but locked up the tires heading into turn three and blew the corner. When he tried to get back into the race, he smacked the barrier, adding insult to injury. He was running in the top five in race two but was a sitting duck on wet tires and came home 13th. At Mid-Ohio, Newgarden had another career day. He started second and was on the back of pole-sitter Sébastien Bourdais all day. He was in contention until a sloppy pit stop caused a penalty for running over the air hose and dropped them to 12th in the final results while Scott Dixon performed a masterpiece, stretched fuel to win from 22nd on the grid and Bourdais finished second.
At Milwaukee, Newgarden had to pit late for fuel but on fresh tires was able to go from 12th to fifth after making up a lap on his own under green flag conditions. He started second for the third time in 2014 at Sonoma but fell to sixth in final results which could have been a few positions worse had Will Power not spun on his own. He qualified third for Fontana and ran well all night in the season finale before slipping to tenth.
Josef Newgarden's 2014 Statistics
Championship Positions: 13th (406 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 1
Top Fives: 2
Top Tens: 7
Laps Led: 14
Poles: 0
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 5
Average Start: 10.588 (10th)
Average Finish: 13.722 (18th)
Josef Newgarden ended 2014 strong as he and SFHR head to new terrain after merging with Ed Carpenter Racing. Being a Chevrolet team may benefit the American as the American manufacture ended 2014 winning the final six races. He has been making strides but the clock is ticking.
He has made 51 starts in his IndyCar career. Only 25 drivers have won their first career race after making their 51st start. Of those 25, eight only won once in their career (note: Takuma Sato is one of those drivers and is still active) and those 25 combine for 87 career victories. The average amount of victories for a driver to take more that 52 starts to get their first career victory is 6.69. Only one of those drivers reached double-digit career victories (Jimmy Vasser won ten races after taking 56 starts to get his first). And possibly most importantly only three of those 25 drivers are Indianapolis 500 winners (Eddie Cheever, Arie Luyendyk and Buddy Lazier).
Merging with Ed Carpenter Racing puts the pressure on Newgarden to win after Carpenter and Mike Conway combined for three victories in 2014. There is no reason why Newgarden shouldn't get a victory in 2015. The resources are there and it appears he will have two competent teammates to help him out. After getting by for three years as the likable driver on the little team pinching pennies to get by, it is time to be more stern on him. It is time for him to get into victory lane.
