IndyCar – Newgarden Wins Championship

Penske Triumphs

Penske’s Simon Pagenaud won the GoPro Grand Prix of Sonoma, while Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden finished second to wrap up the 2017 championship. The team’s pre-race strategy session called for Pagenaud to run a four-stop strategy and played his part perfectly to notch a 1.09 second margin over teammate Newgarden who cruised across the line in second to win the overall IndyCar Championship.

“I don’t…know what to say,” said Newgarden, who made his 100th career start today and became the first American champion in the Verizon IndyCar Series since Ryan Hunter-Reay in 2012. “It was all year and it took a lot to make it happen. Thank you to my teammates. They were giving me a lot of help to make sure we got this done. It’s a huge team effort at Team Penske.”

“I’ve had so many great drivers, and as I said, I don’t have a favorite,” team owner Roger Penske said. “I can’t compare (Newgarden) to anyone exactly. He’s an American, which is special in this sport because many of the other drivers have come from overseas and different parts of the world. To see Josef kind of take this route and be at the top right now is pretty exciting.”

Penske’s Will Power finished P3 to give Team Penske a podium sweep.

Sonoma Highlights