IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden reveals reason for Mid-Ohio PENALTIES

IndyCar

Newgarden reveals reason for PENALTIES at Mid-Ohio

Rhys Thomas

Tuesday 9 July 2024 04:00

Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden has lifted the lid on the cause of his flurry of late-race penalties at the IndyCar Mid-Ohio event.

Newgarden only managed to qualify 18th for the first race of the series' hybrid era, and then fell to 25th and a lap down by the end of the 80 laps.

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Though the two-time champion's pace was poor throughout the weekend, it was a number of serious penalties which relegated him almost to the very back of the field.

After an off-track excursion, a lap 63 pit-stop saw Newgarden receive a slew of punishments which ultimately consigned the American to a disappointing finish.

Pato O'Ward won the Mid-Ohio IndyCar race

Josef Newgarden explains his penalties

Bizarrely, the 33-year-old took another punishment for speeding in the pit lane whilst serving a drive through penalty for his previous offence.

What seems like an amateur mistake has been explained by Newgarden as an error on the part of the technology.

"Another tough weekend for the books," he wrote on social media.

Another tough weekend for the books. We came across some sort of software glitch on the last pit stop that resulted in a bunch of speeding penalties. Aside from the tough result, it was positive to have the Sherif in town moonlighting, and we had our main man Chad back in action… pic.twitter.com/JEH3nXqD7n
— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) July 7, 2024

"We came across some sort of software glitch on the last pit stop that resulted in a bunch of speeding penalties.

"Aside from the tough result, it was positive to have the Sherif in town moonlighting, and we had our main man Chad back in action today rocking his stops ice cold!!! I love this 2 Team - keep your heads up!"

The result leaves Newgarden ninth in the standings. He has not finished below seventh since his days with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing between 2012-2014.

Mercedes IndyCar Indy 500 Pato O'Ward Josef Newgarden