This is part 10 in a 12-part series previewing every team set to compete in the 2019 IndyCar season. I will be previewing two teams per week on Push2Pass leading up to the season opener in St. Petersburg on March 10. Today’s team: Penske
When you race for Team Penske, you’re expected to win.
This mantra has been repeated by drivers and analysts over the years as Roger Penske has built one of the most successful racing teams in America. Whether it has been IndyCar, Nascar or endurance racing, success has followed whenever the Team Penske name has been on the car.
The team can boast names like Mark Donahue, Tom Sneva, Mario Andretti, Rick Mears, Bobby Unser, Al Unser and Danny Sullivan among its drivers in the 1970s and 1980s. Emerson Fittipaldi and Al Unser Jr. came in later years, while the current crop of Helio Castroneves, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and Josef Newgarden are some of the top drivers in the sport.
Penske has a record of 17 Indy 500 wins and has won over 200 IndyCar races and 15 national championships throughout the USAC, CART series, Indy Racing League and now IndyCar series. They’ve enjoyed incredible success in the series since Donahue won the team’s first race at Pocono in 1971, followed by the Indy 500 the following year.
With three full-time drivers who have all won a series championship within the last five years, 2019 will be a weekly battle to decide who can be the team’s no. 1 driver.
The Drivers
Josef Newgarden (#2)
Career: 117 starts, 10 wins, 6 poles, 22 podiums, 61 top-10 finishes
2018: Avg. Qualifying 5.2 (2nd), Avg. Finish 7.1 (3rd), 5th overall
Newgarden had a fantastic start last year in an attempt to defend his first series championship in 2018, winning at Phoenix and Alabama to take a lead in the championship standings after four races. However, the only time he finished on a podium again was his win at Road America. He did manage to finish within the top-10 at his final eight races and doubled his career number of poles by tying Will Power with four last season. Newgarden managed to qualify within the top-four in his last nine-straight races, which made his poor finishing results more surprising.
He was one of seven former-Indy Lights champions to race in multiple races in IndyCar last year, and he will now be entering his eighth year in IndyCar. He only found his way onto two podiums in his first three years with Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing, but he picked up his first two wins the following season with CFH Racing. The following year would be his first and last with Ed Carpenter Racing, as Roger Penske brought him in to replace Juan Pablo Montaya after Newgarden finished on four podiums and led the most laps ever at an IndyCar race during his Iowa win to finish fourth in the championship standings.
Newgarden out-qualified his teammates at six races last season and had the best finishing position of the Penske trio at five races. His four wins and series championship in his first year with Team Penske in 2017 was an incredible transition, but he will need to prove in 2019 that he’s not just a one-season wonder.
Will Power (#12)
Career: 204 starts, 35 wins, 54 poles, 70 podiums, 132 top-10 finishes
2018: Avg. Qualifying 2.8 (1st), Avg. Finish 9.5 (7th), 3rd overall
Power was the best qualifier and finisher for the team, outqualifying and finishing ahead of his two teammates in over half of the races in 2018. The year was especially memorable because Power finally took home his first Indy 500 win after starting third on the grid. He had qualified within the top-10 on his previous nine attempts, and he finished as a runner-up in 2015.
It’s easy to make the case that Power is one of the top qualifiers of all-time, amassing 54 poles since his champ car debut in 2005. Power qualified on the front row of the grid for nine races last year, and he never qualified worse than seventh in 2018. He now only trails Mario Andretti’s 67 career poles for the most ever in IndyCar. This always gives him an advantage at any track by being able to get out front early and avoid clashes from the rest of the pack.
He has finished no worse than fifth in the championship standings since his first full-season effort with Penske in 2010, finishing as a series runner-up four times and winning his lone title in 2014.
Simon Pagenaud (#22)
Career: 135 starts, 11 wins, 10 poles, 28 podiums, 95 top-10 finishes
2018: Avg. Qualifying 8.0 (7th), Avg. Finish 8.6 (4th), 6th overall
Pagenaud first participated in the series back in 2007 in Champ Char before it merged with the Indy Racing League to form modern-day IndyCar. It wasn’t until 2011 that he returned to the series full-time, but only a year later he gave the Schmidt Peterson team their best finish of all-time at third place in the championship. He followed that two-win season up with two more wins in 2014 before making the leap to Team Penske for 2015.
He struggled in his first year with the team by only appearing on two podiums and finishing 11th in the standings. He stormed back in 2016 by finishing within the top-two in the opening five races, winning five races total on the season to defeat his teammates Helio Castroneves and Power by over 100 points for the individual title. His season-ending win at Sonoma in 2017 allowed him to come in second place to Newgarden, raising high expectations for a battle between the two in 2018.
Pagenaud had a more difficult year than Newgarden in 2018, only finishing on two podiums and not winning a race for the first year since 2015. He only qualified better than Power and Newgarden at two races and finished ahead of them at three. For a team that’s meant to have pretty even competition between all full-time drivers, 2018 would prove to be a disappointing one for Penske as Pagenaud only managed to finish sixth in the standings.
Outlook for 2019
The team will continue to lead the Chevy-powered teams and contend for race wins on every weekend. Newgarden needs to return to his winning ways, and his improved qualifying is a good start on that path. Power has to make sure he doesn’t get involved in some of the incidents and bad luck that have cost him serious points at multiple tracks, which explains his seventh place average finishing position despite being third in the standings. Pagenaud will need to get the win monkey off his back early in the season if he wants a chance to return to his dominant form of 2016.
Castroneves will be back to contest both Indianapolis races again in 2019, and his hunger to tie the all-time greats of A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser at four Indy 500 wins can’t be overlooked. He finished second behind Takuma Sato in their thrilling battle in 2017, and last season he crashed while within striking distance of the race lead. You could hear him pleading on the radio with Penske for another chance this season, so this may be his final chance to reach the magical fourth win. Newgarden and Pagenaud are still without wins at the Indy 500 and have best finishes of third and sixth, respectively. Power will be trying to win back-to-back at Indy for the first time since Castroneves pulled it off in 2001-02. Needless to say, all four drivers will be under intense pressure and circumstances once May 26 arrives for the 103rd running of the Indy 500.
The Verdict
While all three full-time drivers should finish with multiple race wins this season, I still don’t think any will come out on top as the series champion. The Penske trio will finish with Newgarden third, Power fourth and Pagenaud fifth in the final standings, probably separated by only a few points. While I don’t think Castronves will pick up his elusive fourth win he’s been searching for throughout the last nine seasons at Indy, I think 2019 will be the year Newgarden finally comes out on top at the Indy 500. Five of the last six winners have been first-time winners, and Penske should be ready to win their second-straight Indy 500 as a team to match Andretti’s performance in 2015-16.
Next week- Preview #11: Juncos
Push2Pass 