JOSEF NEWGARDEN: “I’m excited. Like I said, this is like a little bit of candy at the end of the week after a championship. But it’s been great. It’s been a wonderful year. Just to touch back on it, I’ve had about an hour of prep this morning. I’ve never seen this track. I got a little bit of a taste on a desktop computer this morning just to try and figure out where the heck I was going and get my gears sorted out in my head. But it has really been such a cool week and to cap this off with our cool partners at Shell Pennzoil is just fantastic. When I think about the year, Tim talked about it – the Indy 500. It was very cool to have them on my car at the 500 and we finished top-five. We didn’t win the race, but that 4th place there was such a big points boost for our championship. And was such a big part of us winning the title so today is really about coming full circle and be able to celebrate together.”
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: “I have no idea what the difference will be in lap times. In my opinion, it is just cool to have two premier racing championship cars here this weekend to showcase that. I’m a big fan of what these guys do. And I think there are a lot of guys who are fans of what we do. We all just enjoy racing overall. I don’t know if someone will even have a clock on this. I’m more excited to see the track. It’s probably a little bumpy for our cars.”
AFTER TAKING EXHIBITION LAPS AROUND ROVAL:
JOSEF NEWGARDEN: “Honestly this was a lot of fun. This was a really cool opportunity that Pennzoil provided for us. It’s been great to showcase that. They were a big part of these championships. Joey last year, and me this year. So to get to drive my Chevrolet IndyCar out here today was kind of a treat for me. This is kind of like my gift!
“The track felt pretty good. I was really interested in that. We are a different series, and we have a different tire make. Normally, on a single weekend where you have different series running together, you have to clean the track up every time your series goes out, so I was kind of cleaning the track myself and it was getting better each lap. But what I love is the NASCAR guys are interested in us and we are interested in them. You can tell we are all just racers. I love their cars, and I love theirs. The only thing that would have made me more excited is if I could have gotten into one of their cars today.
“Would I love a doubleheader weekend? If you are asking me personally - absolutely. I would love that opportunity one day. I think it would be cool for the fans – without a doubt. Why would you not want to have that double-double on a weekend. They are both great championships, and I respect these guys so much. I love keeping in touch with what they are doing. So to be able to be a little closer to them and vice versa for us, I think it would be a win-win for all of us."
— Press release courtesy of Chevy
