Indy 500: Josef Newgarden's three-peat attempt undone by fuel pump woes
Josef Newgarden entered Sunday with a chance at two different firsts in the Indianapolis 500 - trying to score the race's first three-peat and claim a victory from the deepest starting position in the event's history.
Rolling off 32nd after his No. 2 Team Penske team was penalized for an inspection failure in qualifying, winning seemed to be an impossible task. But for a time, Newgarden looked like he might just have a chance to rise into contention.
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Unfortunately for the two-time IndyCar champion, it wasn't meant to be. A fuel pump issue left Newgarden as one of more than 350,000 spectators at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the race entered its closing stages.
'It's tough to not have a shot here at the end,' Newgarden said of his run. 'I felt really good, was trying to be methodical today.'
Newgarden spent the bulk of Sunday's race keeping his head down and marching forward. Aided by an attrition-filled race, the Tennessean steadily marched forward and found himself inside of the top-10 in the second half of the race. He still had ground to make up, but with the final third of the race to run, the two-time defending race winner found himself on the periphery with a chance to contend for the win.
But just as the opportunity to compete began to appear, mechanical misfortune reared its ugly head. Newgarden was forced to pit road for an unscheduled stop without fuel pressure on lap 135. Initially he was upset to be losing a lap, but the fuel pump issue ultimately left Newgarden out of the race in 25th.
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Newgarden was happy to have had another chance to contest the Greatest Spectacle in Racing at day's end, but he was left to wonder what could have been.
'I'm still immensely grateful to run at Indianapolis,' Newgarden said. 'That's how I felt going into it today. I love the race the most. I love the opportunity to be on the grid. So as tough as it is to take, I still feel thankful to have been out here today.
'I just wish we'd had a chance to fight for it, you know? We didn't even get to see what we had there. We were just slowly working forward. Thank you to our partners, our whole team. Everybody puts so much into this. It's a big team. It's just a shame to not be there in the fight.'
Photos from Indianapolis 500 - Race
Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Race start
Race start
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Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
General view
General view
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Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Indy 500 grid
Indy 500 grid
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Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
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Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
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Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
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Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
General view
General view
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Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Marco Andretti, Andretti Global
Marco Andretti, Andretti Global
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Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
IndyCar and IMS President Doug Boles
IndyCar and IMS President Doug Boles
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Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Will Power, Team Penske, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
Will Power, Team Penske, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
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Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren
Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren
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Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
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Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Borg-Warner Trophy
Borg-Warner Trophy
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Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing
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Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
IndyCar and IMS President Doug Boles
IndyCar and IMS President Doug Boles
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Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
The field of 33 Honda and Chevrolet drivers
The field of 33 Honda and Chevrolet drivers
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Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske
Justin Casterline / Getty Images
Justin Casterline / Getty Images
Borg-Warner trophy
Borg-Warner trophy
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Devlin Defrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Devlin Defrancesco, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren
Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
General view
General view
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
General view
General view
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Borg-Warner triphy
Borg-Warner triphy
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Marco Andretti, Andretti Global
Marco Andretti, Andretti Global
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
James Gilbert / Getty Images
James Gilbert / Getty Images
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren
Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Kyle Larson, Arrow McLaren, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
Josef Newgarden, Team Penske
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
Geoff Miller / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Geoff Miller / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing
Geoff Miller / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Geoff Miller / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing
Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Brett Farmer / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren
Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing
Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global
Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing
Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Colton Herta, Andretti Global, Callum Ilott, Prema Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
Brandon Badraoui / Motorsport Images via Getty Images
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