Nashville-native Josef Newgarden is looking for a comeback season in 2026, after suffering his lowest championship finish since joining the NTT IndyCar series last campaign.
Following his only race win of the season at the series finale at his home track in Nashville, the 35-year old Team Penske veteran is looking for a hard reset ahead of the new season.
Speaking to Pit Debrief and other media outlets during the IndyCar content days in late January, Newgarden spoke on what Team Penske needs to do in the new season to come back from a lackluster 2025.
Coming back from a low season
Josef Newgarden finished a 2025 season plagued by mistakes, crashes and technical issues, 12th in the championship standings. The finish marks his career’s lowest since joining the NTT IndyCar series in 2012.
Newgarden heavily focused on consistency while speaking to the media, as Team Penske’s focus for the 2026 season. Will Power was their lead driver in 2025, but he could only manage P9 in points.
“To be more consistent. For us, we just can’t have as many bad results as we had.
“So we’ve just got to focus on being more consistent. It’s kind of simple to say that, but that’s just what it will come down to.
“If we don’t want to finish 12th in the standings, we’ve got to finish more races.“
Josef Newgarden on changes within Penske
“Yeah, I think the way we debrief. Probably communication flow. A lot of mundane things.
“A lot of process-driven things, I think, will be different. Almost refreshed, if you will.
“It will just be a new workflow. That’s probably the best way to put it, there will be a workflow that will be slightly different, a different cadence on race weekend.
“Hopefully it will be a good, positive change.”
A new era at Team Penske?
Team Penske is on track to have a comeback season in 2026. However, when asked about changes within the team and whether a new era was beginning for Team Penske, Newgarden said it was business as usual for the 2026 IndyCar season.
Newgarden also spoke cautiously, noting that testing in February is when the team would start to see things coming together and identify what they would need to work on.
“I want to tell you, yeah, it feels all different. It feels similar in a lot of ways.
“When I go to the shop, obviously, we’re going to have some changes. Feels like business as usual in a lot of respects. I’m excited. It’s that time of year where the cadence is starting to pick up.
“We’re going to at least finally get some tests here. February is always fun for that. You just don’t really know anything until you actually get on track with everybody.
“Then you start putting some pieces together and saying all right, this is that, and this is what we still kind of need to work on.
“Yeah, it feels just business as usual. Nothing really that new.”
Josef Newgarden is looking to “avoid the potholes” in 2026
Newgarden is heading into his 15th season in IndyCar, and the last few seasons have not been what the veteran driver would have wanted.
With operational changes happening in the off-season for the North Carolina-stationed team, the two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion is aiming to avoid the pitfalls that befell him in 2025.
“I just have like a pothole detector.
“Instead of not seeing where they are, I’m totally going to find them this year. That’s my strategy.
“If I can just avoid them without falling into the crevices, I think we’re going to be better off.
“I’m almost 90% positive if we fall in less potholes we’re going to be better. That’s my strategy right now.”
