Team Penske racer involved in late-race crash, apparently passed out after the race near team hauler.
Penske Entertainment/Joe SkibinskiMore than hour after crashing out of Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 at Iowa Speedway, Josef Newgarden reportedly fainted near his Team Penske hauler, hit his head and was transported via helicopter to a Des Moines area hospital for further examination, according to various media reports from the track.
Newgarden was leading Sunday’s race and appeared headed to a weekend sweep—having won Saturday’s race—when he crashed on Lap 236 of the 300-lap event.
Some alarming news from Iowa, where reporters have tweeted Josef Newgarden passed out and hit his head on the ground. https://t.co/Jfkm5G8wMg
— Jeff Gluck (@jeff_gluck) July 24, 2022
It appeared that a part of the rear suspension on Newgarden’s car failed, sending it spinning and hitting hard into the outside retaining wall on the driver’s side of the car.
It’s unclear whether his feinting was related to the impact of the crash but he appeared lucid and fine when interviewed by NBC/USA after exiting the infield medical center roughly 15 minutes after the wreck.
“It definitely rocked me,” Newgarden said after leaving the infield medical center. “I got a little bit shaken from it, but I’m OK. We have great safety in IndyCar, and the car held up good. So it wasn’t that bad, but it’s never nice to hit the wall at flat-chat. We’ll pick up the pieces and go on.”
Newgarden won Saturday’s first half of the IndyCar doubleheader and finished 24th Sunday. O’Ward won Sunday’s race after finishing second on Saturday.
Update on @josefnewgardenfr Dr. Geoffrey Billows: Newgarden is awake and alert but being airlifted to downtown Des Moines after falling outside his hauler and suffering a head abrasion. Dr. Billows says Newgarden was awake and alert and communicating. He checked out fine earlier. pic.twitter.com/RrZzyGURdo
— Nate Ryan (@nateryan) July 24, 2022
Keyword: Josef Newgarden Air-Lifted to Des Moines-area Hospital Following Iowa IndyCar Race