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0 Most racing drivers begin their careers in go-karts, but not Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden, whose story is unlike any other.
His safety-conscious parents were reluctant to let their teenager get behind the wheel five years before being legally allowed to drive a road car.
In 2001, the 11-year-old and his mother made a trip to a local mall that set the wheels in motion for an illustrious career in motorsport.
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“It’s a real story,” he recalled on the Speed Street podcast.
“You know, it’s not normal. I was like 11 years old and used to get my haircut at this barber shop in town and there was a skateboard shop next to it.
“They started selling motorised scooters. I kept getting shot down on go-karts. I had been begging my parents since I was a kid to drive go-karts – wouldn’t do it, so I said ‘Well can I get this motorised scooter? Throw me a bone here’.
“They finally bought me this motorised scooter and then I looked online I’m like ‘Can I race these things? Can I soup these up?’ And I learned how to modify these scooters and make them even better.
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“Then I learned there was a sanctioned international scooter cross association league that you could race these. It’s a real thing, it was a real thing,” he laughed.
“We would show up to parking lots and race these on the West Coast and I was like, ‘I’m gonna be the greatest scooter racer in the world’ and that got a little bit silly after 12 months.”
Finally, after a year of racing on two wheels, Newgarden’s parents reluctantly agreed to get him in a go-kart.
“I think my dad was like ‘Okay let’s try and go do something legitimate’,” Newgarden explained.
“But I was all for it,” he said of the scooter racing.
“I didn’t know any better when I was 11 years old. I was going to race whatever you gave me.”
More than 20 years after he began scooter racing, Newgarden was drowning himself in milk after winning the Indianapolis 500.
Newgarden progressed his way up the motor racing ladder from go-karts into open-wheel single-seaters, leaving the United States in 2009 for the United Kingdom.
There, he set about taking the first steps towards Formula 1 and reached the third-tier GP3 Series (now Formula 3) where he spent one season with Carlin.
It was a largely unsuccessful sojourn but put him in good stead for when he returned home in 2011.
His debut Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) campaign brought immediate success, taking the title with five race wins and 10 podium finishes in 14 races.
In 2012, he stepped up to IndyCar where he’s raced ever since. Joining Team Penske in 2017 brought him his first IndyCar title and two years later he clinched the crown again.
Newgarden is now one of the sport’s most highly regarded drivers in what is an ultra-competitive field.
He’s up against the likes of six-time champion Scott Dixon, dual title winners Will Power and Alex Palou, and several more high-profile drivers like Romain Grosjean, Marcus Ericsson, and Alexander Rossi.
Newgarden won the season opener on the streets of St Petersburg ahead of McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and another Team Penske star Scott McLaughlin.
It marked the 30th race win of his IndyCar career.
“What motivates me are the greats, there’s no doubt about it,” said Newgarden.
“When I do something, I’m all in and I want to be the best at it. I mean competition is so essential to me as a person. I’ve just got to be competing at everything I do in life.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to be wired that way because I’m a perfectionist at the same time – and it’s a bit of a curse. You can’t do everything perfectly even though you’re trying.
“I say all that because you know what motivates me is trying to be the very best of the best in IndyCar.
“I know what the records are, I know it’s 67 wins, I know it’s seven championships, I know it’s four Indy 500. I know what those numbers are and I would like to be at that level if not more.
“That’s why I keep doing it. I think you’ve got to have big goals and you’ve got to try and strive to be the best. It’s what motivates me every year so that’s that’s where I’m at. That’s what I look towards when I look for motivation.”
The IndyCar Series resumes on March 25 with the $1 Million Challenge at The Thermal Club.
