When Josef Newgarden revealed “a very scary” IndyCar safety situation

Racing in general has always carried inherent risk, and Josef Newgarden has had his fair share of safety scares since his venture into IndyCar racing. The 34-year-old once opened up about a harrowing safety incident that occurred during his formative years in the open-wheel racing series.

The Nashville native, in a 2019 interview with Jeff Gluck, detailed a scary incident that occurred during the 2013 St. Petersburg Grand Prix. The Team Penske driver found himself grappling with a subtly unusual situation when his seatbelt came undone. Recounting the moment, he stated:

“The biggest thing that happens is belts that come undone. That’s a very scary situation. I’ve had that happen once in my career — thankfully only once. It was at a road course, too. I think at an oval you’d be even more timid if your belt came loose or unbuckled.”

Detailing how the events unfolded, Josef Newgarden explained:

“What happened to me was I had my left-side harness, my shoulder strap, unbuckled. And I was like, I don’t know what to do in this situation. So I just kept on driving. And then fortunately, I’m pretty sure we had an exhaust failure — like I caught on fire — and I had to come into the pits and I retired the race, thankfully. So, like, it coincided with this terrible safety issue. But that’s the one I hear about a lot.”

Josef Newgarden would go on to a similar scare during the 2025 Long Beach Grand Prix of California. This time, his seatbelt issue was resolved following a lengthy pit stop, which largely cost him the possibility of recording an impressive result during the race. On the racing front, the Penske driver has continued to endure a torrid start to the current season and will now shift his focus to getting his season back on track following a decent P10 finish at the Children’s Grand Prix of Alabama.

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Josef Newgarden reacts after the Grand Prix of Alabama

Josef Newgarden during the INDYCAR Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix - Source: Getty

Josef Newgarden shared his thoughts on social media following his outing at the Children’s Grand Prix of Alabama.

The 34-year-old, who qualified in ninth, could only manage a 10th-place finish in the final race at the Barber Motorsports Park. Sharing his reaction on Instagram after the race, Newgarden wrote:

“Great work by the 2 Crew this weekend. Taking the positive of a top-10 result to claw back some momentum. I’m beyond excited to go racing again this weekend at the birthplace of speed for @indycar racing. See you back on track in a couple days.”

Through the four races of the IndyCar season so far, Josef Newgarden has qualified on the front row only once — at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix. Since then, he has struggled in qualifying, starting 17th and 15th at the Thermal Club Grand Prix and the Long Beach Grand Prix of California, respectively. His performance at Barber was his best since the opening weekend of the season.

Josef Newgarden will hope for a better outing at the upcoming Sonsio Grand Prix — a race where he could only manage a 17th-place finish during the 2024 edition.