AUSTIN, TX – Josef Newgarden said on Saturday morning that he didn’t necessarily think that he had to have a hot start to the season to win his second career NTT IndyCar Series championship. He cited on how Scott Dixon typically starts his years off quiet and even that he himself didn’t have the strongest starts to his championship campaign in 2017 either.

But, here Newgarden is with two straight top five finishes to start the 2019 year off with as he won the season opener on the streets of St. Pete two weeks ago and backed that up with a second place finish in his No. 2 Chevrolet in Sunday’s IndyCar Classic.

The Tennessee native said after a disappointing seventh place qualifying effort on Saturday afternoon that the six cars in front may have won day but they’re not winning the war.

He was right.

Newgarden, pitted early on Lap 9 and that decision proved to be a possible championship winning move. If Newgarden is in the title hunt again in the fall, point back to this decision.

COTA is an abrasive track surface. The quicker you can pit for new tires, the better you’re served. But, you do have to be cognizant that the new tires will wear quickly too.

Newgarden, was P7 heading into the opening pit sequence as he didn’t make any on track passes to improve his position. They pit 3-4 laps before his main rivals for the race win and it proved to be the right one.

By Lap 15, the end of the first pit sequence, Newgarden was up to fourth. He’d remain there until getting another lucky break when he and a majority of the others hit pit lane on Lap 43. After they’d pit, Felix Rosenqvist was spun by James Hinchcliffe in Turn 19 bringing out the first caution of the day.

The top three at that time, had yet to pit, which meant by time the third pit sequence ended, Newgarden would now be second.

He’d earn his second straight top two finish on the year and hold a 18 point advantage over Colton Herta. Also, he heads to a track to where he’s won the last two years and three of the past four overall.