Will Power reveals Josef Newgarden's Long Beach belt issue forced immediate change in Team Penske car

Josef Newgarden suffered a costly belt issue at the Long Beach Grand Prix, which threw him out of contention for a potential Top 5 and straight to dead last. Ahead of this weekend's IndyCar race in Alabama, his Team Penske teammate, Will Power, has given an update on the situation.

In the media pen at Barber, Power revealed how Team Penske brought an immediate change to the belt buckles on its cars. The team ran with the new configuration for the first time at the Indy 500 open test last week, and the Alabama Indy GP this weekend will be the first time they run it in a race.

"We actually are running different buckles now that are much harder to hit on the (corner)... starting pretty much straight away, even Indy (500) test," Power said about the changes, via FrontStretch.

Josef Newgarden's belt coming loose midway through the Long Beach race was initially thought to be a mistake on Team Penske's part. Will Power had suffered a similar issue at the 2024 IndyCar season finale, which forced him out of championship contention against Alex Palou.

However, upon a deeper investigation by the team, it was found that Newgarden's belt came loose because he hit the buckle hard while turning in the Turn 11 hairpin. The two-time Indy 500 winner had to pit twice to correct the issue. He finished last in P27 and was lapped twice by the race leaders.

Contrastingly, Power had a phenomenal race. He started in P13 and gained eight positions to finish in the Top 5, with teammate Scott McLaughlin behind him in P6.

Josef Newgarden's No. 2 squad hopes to realize two years' worth of effort with a win at Barber

Josef Newgarden at Indy 500 Open Testing - Indianapolis - Source: Getty

Josef Newgarden has a good track record in IndyCar at Barber Motorsports Park. Between 2015 and 2018, the Team Penske driver won the race thrice and stood on the podium with a P3 finish once. However, after 2019, he has yet to record a Top 10 finish at the tricky circuit.

Ahead of the 2025 Alabama Indy Grand Prix, Newgarden spoke about what another win at this track would mean to him.

"We've been working super hard on our setup for Barber over the last couple of years, looking to get back to producing the results we were used to early in my Team Penske career. This team is certainly capable of it. It's one of my favorite tracks on the schedule, and it's nice to race close to home.

"Birmingham and Nashville are fairly close together. We just want to put a good result on the board - hopefully a win - and continue to gather momentum as we head into the month of May," he said, via Speedway Digest.

Josef Newgarden needs all the momentum he can gather heading into the 109th Indy 500, where he'll be eyeing a third consecutive victory to rewrite IndyCar history. The Team Penske car has been quick around Barber, with teammate Scott McLaughlin winning the last two races in 2023 and 2024.

In practice session one on Friday, Power was the quicker Penske driver with a time of 1:07.7869, and fourth-quickest overall. Newgarden and McLaughlin's lap times were good enough for P6 and P8.