"I don't know I deserved it": When Josef Newgarden admitted his team carried him to a dramatic IndyCar win

Team Penske star Josef Newgarden won the 2018 Phoenix Grand Prix held at the Phoenix International Raceway. It was the first win of the season for Newgarden, and the Penske driver hailed his team for carrying him to the victory.

Newgarden entered the 2018 IndyCar championship as the reigning world champion after winning his first title in 2017. The Team Penske driver finished the first race in P7 at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix and was still in search of a strong result to kickstart his title defense.

The strong result came in the second race of the season in Phoenix, where Newgarden won the race after starting in P7. The Penske driver ran with the lead pack for most of the race before a crucial strategic decision towards the end of the race won him the Phoenix Grand Prix.

The Phoenix International Raceway is a small oval, coming in at just 1.0 mile long, which makes it incredibly tricky to overtake. Newgarden hailed his team's strategic decision as he overtook multiple cars after the first pitstop, and made the crucial pitstop under caution at the end of the race.

AUTO: APR 07 IndyCar Series - Phoenix Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Josef Newgarden came out after the race and spoke highly of his team’s strategy, suggesting that the team deserved the victory. He said (via IndyStar):

“It was a team win tonight. I don't know that I deserved to win the race tonight, but I think the team did. They did a really good job on strategy. Pit stops were unbelievable. I think I gained like five or six positions on just the first stop, which was awesome. They did a great job.”

Josef Newgarden went on to win a couple more races during the 2018 IndyCar season, but only managed to finish fifth in the championship.

The “risky” final pass that gave Josef Newgarden the 2018 Phoenix Grand Prix victory

Josef Newgarden led the race under the caution caused by Ed Jones’ crash on Lap 229. However, Team Penske decided to pit the reigning champion for a set of new tires. At the restart with eight laps to go, Newgarden was P4 with the three drivers in front of him being on older tires.

Newgarden swiftly passed Alexander Rossi and James Hinchcliffe on the restart lap and followed the race leader, Robert Wickens. The Team Penske driver made a risky move going into Turn 1 as Newgarden took the high line to overtake Wickens. Speaking about the move, he said:

“The last pass was risky. I didn't know how that was going to go. … When I was sizing him up, I was like, ‘Man, this is the only way this is going to work out.’ I didn't know if it was going to work, but it was good.”

Newgarden carved out a multiple-second lead in the last four laps to comfortably win the Phoenix Grand Prix