New tub, no problem for Newgarden and Team Penske

Team Penske president Tim Cindric was effusive with praise for Josef Newgarden’s pit crew who built a fresh car for him to use in Sunday’s Road America race after the recent Indianapolis 500 winner experienced a heavy crash in qualifying that did extensive damage to the No. 2 Chevrolet.

“Number one, we’re just glad he wasn’t hurt,” Cindric told RACER of the spin and crash at the high-speed circuit that flattened a lot of the right side of the car. “When you look at that, it was a big, big hit. I think the tub is okay, but you weren’t going to be able to race it the way it was, so obviously a replacement tub, replacement rear end, and actually putting the Indy-winning engine back in the car was needed. That’s the engine that’s next up to continue to mileage.”

Newgarden rewarded the team’s effort by going fastest in the pre-race warmup session.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve replaced a tub,” Cindric added. “We’ve done a few rear ends, but to actually replace an entire car, you know, from basically nothing to where we are, and to you put a new livery on the car, to do all that, and to be out of here by 10 o’clock at night, I think that’s a big undertaking by the team that shows you that we’re well prepared.

“You know, we can continue to be better on that front, but I think go out today and not have any problems at all with the car is a testament to our group that’s working on it.”