Newgarden immediately out of Mid-Ohio after "weird" lock-up spin
Newgarden has retired from the Indy 200 Mid-Ohio race after a lock up spin straight after the green flag was waived.
Josef Newgarden failed to complete a single lap at the Indy 200 Mid-Ohio race after he spun off the track into the first corner of the race and became stuck in the gravel trap.
Accelerating as the race went green, Newgarden seemed to lock his rear tires and turned left across the track before spinning into the gravel trap opposite Turn 4.
On his radio, Newgarden said: “I don’t even know what happened. I locked the rears immediately when I braked. It’s weird.”
Stepping out the car and walking off the track with his head low, Newgarden seemed to initially think he was hit from behind but has been left confused on what caused his rear tires to lock so dramatically.
Speaking to FS1, Newgarden said: [It’s] tough to not be out there. Hopefully we can fix the car, I don't think there's a lot of damage. I'd like to get back out, but you know, obviously we're sort of out of this thing.
“It's a shame having a fast PPG car, support from Team Chevy and just wanting to be in the mix.”
Despite the best efforts from Penske, Newgarden didn’t rejoin the grid.
The incident meant that Graham Rahal also ended up in the gravel trap as he become entangled within it but he managed to get back to the pits and rejoin the race.
Asked about his recent string of bad luck and how he plans to bounce back, he was very simple in his response and said: “You just go to the next one".
Will Power also retired early after an engine fire ruled him out of the race. However, he had a messy start to race beyond that after he hit Scott McLaughlin and took damage to his underwing.
Taking an early pitstop in the Caution brought out by the Newgarden spin, he came back out in 25th and ultimately already ruled out of any fighting position.
McLaughlin seemed to escape unscathed and was left as the only running Penske car.
Mid-Ohio has been another arrow in the bow of Penske’s bad form over the 2025 season.
None of the Penske drivers made it into the Top Twelve once again and all seemed very frustrated following qualifying.
This is also the first time in Newgarden’s career that he has had three finishes 25th or worse.
