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Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden has expressed his interest in NASCAR after Team Penske swept the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600. Over the Memorial Day weekend, Newgarden won IndyCar's most prestigious race, while Ryan Blaney emerged victorious in NASCAR's crown jewel event.
In his 12th Indy 500 start, Josef Newgarden won the sport's most iconic event adding to Team Penske's tally of victories at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The team owned by Roger Penske now has 19 victories at the Brickyard.
"The Captain's" NASCAR team is also a front-running force with Joey Logano winning the Cup Series championship last season. Newgarden expressed his interest to drive for the team in an interview with Fox Sports:
"I would love to do a Cup race. I have tremendous respect for the NASCAR side. I really like the camaraderie we're seeing in motorsports now — it’s fantastic that Kyle Larson is going to come over and run the 500 (next year). He's a tremendous race-car driver..."
He added:
"No one from the pure IndyCar side has done the double (of the 500 and the 600) since Tony (Stewart). I would love to be in that position. Maybe I've got to do a couple more things for RP (Roger Penske) to sign off on that. But if I had the opportunity, I'd be all for it. I'm a huge NASCAR fan and would love to join the group."
The two-time IndyCar champion had previously commented that he would love to swap rides with Ryan Blaney for a road course race. He would also consider a short oval race while stating interest for the race under the lights at Bristol Motor Speedway.
A Cup race start is possible for Josef Newgarden in the near future if Roger Penske gives his stamp of approval.
Josef Newgarden delighted to see Ryan Blaney break his winless streak in NASCAR
Josef Newgarden follows NASCAR closely and cheers for fellow Team Penske driver Ryan Blaney. The #12 Ford driver broke his 59-race winless streak at the Charlotte Motor Speedway having not won a race since the fall of 2021.
Newgarden reflected on Blaney's win as he said:
"I've been kind of heartbroken for Ryan over what’s this [winless] drought been 58-60 races? (59). Everyone just kept harping on this number that was growing, and you could see it with Ryan that it was really starting to weigh on him."
He added:
"And he'd been so close the last 59 races — he had been close multiple times. And I've been cheering him on this year and was really hoping that he could just break through and get another win so he didn't have to answer the questions."
Ryan Blaney won his eighth Cup Series race last weekend at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
