INDYCAR - Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey
Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey
Monterey, CA – September 6, 2026
JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 Astemo CHEVROLET
Start: 20th, Finish: 15th, Points: 8th (-208)
RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Astemo Chevrolet team ended the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with a 15th-place finish in Sunday's Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. After showing promising speed throughout the practice sessions preceding Saturday's qualifying rounds, Newgarden was only able to slot into the 20th starting position. He and race strategist Jonathan Diuguid elected to start the 95-lap event on the red Firestone alternate tire while employing a four pit stop strategy, and Newgarden radioed early in the first stint that he was dealing with understeer. Despite the handling condition, Newgarden was able to move through the field using his pit strategy and eventually cracked the top 10 on Lap 32. Newgarden made his fourth and final pit stop of the day slightly outside his fuel window, hoping for a caution that would vault his Astemo Chevy further up the scoring pylon. Unfortunately, the race ran caution free to the end and Newgarden came home in the 15th position. The 2026 season saw the Nashville native lead Team Penske with two victories at Phoenix and World Wide Technology Raceway, respectively, and his 34 wins place him tied for ninth on the all-time series win list.
NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: “The Astemo Chevy had really good pace today. Starting in the back we decided to go with a four-stop strategy and just didn’t get a yellow when we needed it. Just can’t say enough about the effort of this team this year. Obviously, we had some things to deal with after Indy and they just continued to give me everything I needed. Happy to get some time to reset and start getting ready to come back stronger in 2027. Thank you to Astemo, Chevy, Shell, Snap-on, XPEL, PPG and everyone that allows us to do this."
