Team Penske announced on Saturday that it has extended its contract with star driver Josef Newgarden beyond the end of this season.
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The extension was billed as a long-term contract, and continues their time together out past what has already been an eight-year relationship.
The recent Indy 500 winner explained that Team Penske and Chevrolet have made a home for him in the series, and he believes there’s a higher ceiling of performance yet to come.
“Very much feels like home here to me,” said Newgarden. “This is my eighth year with the team. They’ve provided me with every opportunity that I could have ever dreamed of.
“I’ve enjoyed my time here immensely, immensely. There’s nothing that’s ever been missing. Very thankful to our partnerships across the board. Chevrolet has powered every single one of my victories that I’ve ever had, whether that was pre-Penske or during the entire time.
“Not somewhere else I want to go. I have loved working with Chevrolet, having them support me my entire career.
“I think for me what I look at, which is most gratifying, is the potential still has not been reached. There’s a higher ceiling here that we haven’t maxed out yet. That makes me excited for the future.”
There were multiple people present for the announcement, including representatives from Team Penske, Chevrolet, and Astemo.
The breadth of people involved in the contract extension announcement shows just how important Newgarden is to the organization at large.
“These things don’t just happen overnight, as Josef can tell you” said Bud Denker, executive vice president Team Penske.
“I’ll tell you, there was never any doubt between Josef and between ourselves that we would get this done.
“I think the fact that coming off the Indy 500, coming off another win, that kind of momentum, then coming into Detroit, which is for us a very, very important race for our company and for Roger [Penske], his hometown as well, I think it made great sense to tie it all together.” During the entire conference, there was no mention of the team’s cheating scandal and subsequent team suspensions that took place earlier this year.
The timing of the announcement was surely meant to help put that unpleasantness in the past, even if other members of the paddock were not fully satisfied with the outcome.
Newgarden has earned two championships and two Indy 500 wins with Team Penske to date, and currently sits seventh in the points despite the disqualification from the opening round in St. Petersburg.
