Newgarden Just 3rd American to Drive Full-Time for Penske for 16 years

Is Roger Anti-American or were the majority of American drivers over the past 16 years just not good enough?

The news everyone knew was coming was confirmed on Wednesday morning when Team Penske confirmed that Josef Newgarden would indeed replace Juan Pablo Montoya in the No. 2 Chevrolet for the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season. It was a move that was destined to happen. The storied team needed to get younger, and a talented 25-year old American was a free agent waiting in the wings.

Newgarden, has progressively gotten better and better each year, as he went from points finishes of 23rd in 2012 to 14th in 2013, then to 13th in 2014 to seventh in 2015. He vaulted to fourth this past season. He also won his first two Verizon IndyCar Series races in 2015 with CFH Racing and instantly became the driver that everyone was hoping he'd become.

This year, he signed a one-year deal to stay with the team, as he led 283 of the 300 laps at Iowa and was stellar all season long despite being injured at Texas. His last two years though got everyone thinking, "what would Josef be like in a Penske or Ganassi car"?

Now we will find out.

IndyCar fans have long been looking for the next young American phenom. The good looking, fast, young kid with a ton of marketing potential with that championship ability has eluded the series for a while. But, Newgarden was the guy tabbed to be the next great American open wheel driver a couple of year ago. Yes, the series has Marco Andretti and Graham Rahal, but they drive for their respective family teams. The American driving for the top teams at Penske and/or Ganassi hasn't happened in a while.

Nothing against the other teams, but the series is dominated by Penske and Ganassi and has been for over a decade. Their drivers are the top of the top with the top of the top equipment. They're a threat to win on every given track. So, a guy that made a small team like Ed Carpenter Racing a threat on a weekly basis is now racing for that same dominating Penske team.

Since Sam Hornish Jr. won the championship with Penske in 2006, the titles outside of Ryan Hunter-Reay with Andretti Autosport in 2012, have been with Penske or Ganassi and non Americans driving those cars. Again, nothing against those drivers, as they are arguably the best drivers in the world today, and quite possibly among the all-time greats, but they won titles with the top teams and weren't the so-called "American hero."

For some reason though, Hunter-Reay was never marketed right and it was a shame. But, Newgarden has the personality to be in the spotlight and now that he's with Penske, he has a chance to shine.

13 of the first 14 full-time Penske drivers were Americans, as guys like Mark Donohue, Gary Bettenhausen, Gordon Johncock, Tom Sneva, Rick Mears, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser and Al Unser, Danny Sullivan and Kevin Cogan drove for the "Captain" from 1968 into the 90s. David Hobbs in 1971 was the lone exception until Emerson Fittipaldi was signed by the team in 1990.

Then came Paul Tracy, Helio Castroneves, Gil De Ferran, Gonzalo Rodriguez (man he could have been good), Will Power, Simon Pagneaud and Montoya. The only Americans signed full-time in that time frame of the last 26 years was Al Unser Jr. and Hornish, both of which won titles and Indy 500s at Penske.

It kind of flip flopped. Penske went for a foreign driver instead of the American's like he did in his first three decades, and it's his right to do so because they were just as dominant now as ever before, but everyone wanted to see one of these young American's get a chance with them.

Now comes Newgarden. The kid with the talent as good as anyone on this list and the charisma rivaling any of them, has joined Penske. He has potential to be listed up there as the greats like Mario, all three Unsers, Fittipaldi, Tracy, De Ferran, Castroneves, etc. Being only 25, and seeing how Castroneves will be entering year 17 with the team next season, imagine where Newgarden can be 15-17 years from now if he stays with this team that long.

By time he's Castroneves' age, he'd of had 16 years under his belt with Penske. For a driver that has finishes of ninth and third in the last two Indy 500's with ECR, and has qualified in the top three rows of the race in four of his five tries, there's no reason to think he can't be a household name if he continues to improve on his talent.

That's how big of a hire this was for Penske and IndyCar. Eric Smith/Race Review Online