Following last weekend’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, there’s no doubt that Josef Newgarden and car owner Sarah Fisher were feeling some frustration.
Newgarden finished pit stops as the leader, coming out directly in front of Ryan Hunter-Reay on cold tires. Hunter-Reay went for the pass and contact happened, resulting in both of their days ending.
As everybody continues to reflect back to the event, the one question remains – what if? Perhaps Newgarden would’ve won, or perhaps at least finished on the podium. Either finish would’ve marked a highlight for the Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing team, just as the win for Ed Carpenter Racing was a highlight.
The strength of Newgarden, Takuma Sato’s success and the success of Mike Conway with the win show that single-car organizations can compete with the multi-car organizations like Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport. While seeing Newgarden contending for the win may have been a surprise with that said, it shouldn’t be.
Newgarden has been getting stronger as he continues to put more laps under his belt at Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing. The young driver even put himself in position to win a couple times last year, including a second place finisher at Baltimore. Added together with a couple other top-fives, Newgarden is starting to come to his own as a driver.
Consistently at the front will be a question based on the past, however perhaps the bugs are worked out and he can be a top 10, top five contender each week. However, even being at the front for some of the races puts Newgarden in position and sometimes that’s all that matters with what can happen.
As Newgarden continues to get stronger with each lap behind the wheel, don’t be surprised if the young driver finds victory lane this year. Any of the street courses could lead Newgarden to victory with how he tackles them, and perhaps strategy could fall right in his lap and lead him to victory.
