"It's absolutely crazy" - When Josef Newgarden opened up on achieving his childhood dream

Josef Newgarden, the two-time Indy 500 winner, is one of the top drivers in IndyCar. He has been competing in the sport since 2012, and back in 2021, he took the time to talk about achieving his childhood dream.

IndyCar is the pinnacle when it comes to the highest class of open-wheel racing in America. In line with this, Newgarden admitted in 2021 that he had achieved his childhood dream by competing in it. He said (via The Athletic):

"Oh, definitely, hands down. I've had an incredible opportunity in life. I've just been given such great opportunities and tried to relish them. I look at it sometimes, and I go, "This is crazy." It's absolutely crazy when I talk to people about it. I don't know how it worked out. But I'm one of those lucky people where I was in the right place and the timing was good, and I capitalized on the timing"

Newgarden has competed in over 210 IndyCar races. Moreover, he has so far managed to amass 31 wins, 58 podiums, and 18 pole positions. The 34-year-old is also a two-time IndyCar champion.

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Josef Newgarden unveiled 2025 Indy 500 ticket

While Josef Newgarden talked about achieving his dream of driving in IndyCar back in 2021, quite recently, he unveiled the ticket for the 2025 Indy 500. He is coming into this year's event on the back of two consecutive victories (2023 and 2024).

In line with this and next month's event, Newgarden had the following to say at the Indianapolis International Airport in March (via Autoweek):

"It’s very cool to be here in the Indianapolis International Airport. Indiana and Tennessee are my two homes, so the fact we have the Indianapolis 500 in Indiana and the [NTT IndyCar Series] championship finale in Tennessee is a great parallel. To top it all off is seeing this beautiful ticket from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indy 500. It’s an incredible-looking ticket."

In the ongoing 2025 IndyCar season, Newgarden currently finds himself in 10th place in the drivers' standings with only 58 points (1 top-five and 1 top-10). Keeping this in view, the upcoming events (May 4 - Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix and May 10 - SONSIO Grand Prix) and the Indy 500 (May 25) hold tremendous significance for him.

If he is to reach the north end of the drivers' standings, then the upcoming three races are immensely important. Moreover, he is currently the third-best driver on Team Penske. Scott McLaughlin and Will Power are in eighth and ninth place, respectively.

The ongoing Indy 500 open test could help Newgarden in once again putting on a stellar drive in next month's 200-lap Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix.