Josef Newgarden admitted that he needs to be more consistent to fight for his third IndyCar title. Despite having three wins in 2022, more than anyone else, Penske driver is only third
Josef Newgarden is the only Indy 2022 driver with multiple wins, but he does not hold the season lead. After his victory at Road America last weekend, the Penske driver is third in the standings, 32 points behind leader Marcus Ericsson of Ganassi.
In the post-victory press conference, Newgarden talked about the inconsistent season he is living. With the exception of his triumphs, the American was in the top-10 only once, at the Detroit GP, when he started from the pole-position and finished fourth.
"It's been a little bit of ups and downs for us. I think we had the potential for four or five wins, we got three. The other ones we didn't win, we were way behind. We need to improve our consistency. It's a little abnormal for us, I feel like we're consistent, so I'm not going to lose sleep to understand what happens. Sometimes it gets into these little micro-trends where we don't have the consistency that we needed," he commented.
Champion in 2017 and 2019, Newgarden has accumulated runner-up finishes in 2020 and 2021. For the second half of the season, the American aims for more wins and more frequent appearances among the first to discount the advantage of leader Ericsson.
"We need to win a few more races before the year is over the way the first half of the season has gone. But definitely more than wins, consistency will dictate the rule this year. We need to stay good until the finish, I feel positive about our group. There is no negative comment about what happens, nothing to complain about. We have a strong team, everyone is in a good position, great partnership with Chevrolet and everyone else," he concluded.
Indy returns on July 3 with the Mid-Ohio GP at Lexington. It will be the ninth of 17 races in the 2022 season.