WATCH: Josef Newgarden and David Letterman banter over conflicting Indy 500 wishes ft. Graham Rahal

Team Penske star Josef Newgarden and Rahal Letterman Lanigan co-owner David Letterman featured in a recent FOX event ahead of the 2025 Indy 500 and got into a discussion over who would win this year’s race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The conflicting wishes from the two made for a hilarious banter.

Josef Newgarden will appear at this year’s Indy 500 as a back-to-back winner and will be aiming for the mythical three-peat, which has never been accomplished. David Letterman, on the other hand, will be hoping for one of his drivers to win the greatest spectacle in racing.

FOX Sports official accounts on X uploaded the clip of the two discussing the 109th Indy 500 winner on May 13, 2025.

“I would like to see the following happen. I've made friends with Josef, I have a lot of respect for Josef and the team and everything he has accomplished. We have our own team. Graham Rahal, I would like to see Graham win. And this would be fun. I think you've done some of this yourself,” said David Letterman.

"Lap 199 coming between three and four, Graham is right behind you. He fakes to the outside, coming out of four drops of the inside and takes the chequered flag, so you almost win three in a row, and Graham gets to win his first one,” added the RLL owner.

“I don't think that's how it's going to go down. Well, hey, P2 is not so bad. You can finish second in the race,” added Newgarden.

Newgarden won his first Indy 500 in 2023 after beating Marcus Ericsson to the finish line. The Team Penske driver waited for over a decade for his first win at the iconic race, but won his second race the very next year.

Graham Rahal, on the other hand, hasn’t won the Indy 500 yet despite being a veteran of the sport. Rahal has participated in 17 Indy 500 races with his best finish coming in 2011, where he started P30 and finished P3.

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Josef Newgarden’s ‘Indy 500 and Championship’ goal for the 2025 IndyCar season

Josef Newgarden and Team Penske will be eyeing the three-peat at the Indy 500, as it’s never been done before, and the opportunity to even be in the position comes rarely. Helio Castroneves was the last IndyCar driver to win back-to-back Indy 500s in the early 2000s

However, Josef Newgarden doesn’t only want to win the Indy 500 this year, but also the IndyCar championship. Speaking about the same, he said,

“Winning the Indianapolis 500 again and then following it up with a championship. That's kind of been the hardest thing to do for most individuals as of late.”

“I want us to figure out how to win that Indy 500 again but more importantly if we win it again I want to figure out how we win the championship on top of it,” he added.

Alex Palou is currently leading the IndyCar championship with 248 points, whereas Josef Newgarden is P12 in the championship with only 96 points to his name.