The IndyCar race in St. Louis, which Josef Newgarden won on Sunday, was far from straightforward. There were 17 lead changes among six drivers, but the final lead change on lap 221 of 260 apparently would never have happened because Newgarden never realized that he had lost the lead, as he revealed post-race.

For the unversed, the Team Penske driver led the field to green on a lap 212 restart, with Christian Rasmussen in second. Rasmussen took the race lead on lap 215 with a move on the inside, only for Newgarden to retake the lead on lap 219. One lap later, Rasmussen struck again to take the lead, only to lose it another lap later on lap 221.

Surprisingly, in the post-race press conference, Josef Newgarden revealed that he had no clue he was fighting Christian Rasmussen for the win. He thought the ECR driver was a lapped car, and so he initially let him by.

"So I got a little confused. I thought Christian was a lapped car," said Newgarden. "I didn't realize that was Rossi (Rasmussen's ECR teammate) that was a lapped car. It's my fault. I was going to let him go. He doesn't matter, I'll just follow on him. I don't really want to be behind him. I still didn't know he was on the lead lap."

Until the end of the race, Newgarden had no clue that Rasmussen was fighting him for the win. It was when the ECR driver showed up at the podium celebration that Newgarden realized.

"That is why when he came up to the podium, I am like, 'What are you doing here? How did you get here? You were a lap down.' I think he got a little offended by that. I'm so glad that I repassed him. He's kind of in the way, so... Yeah, that's really the truth. I thought he was the lapped car, and Rossi was the one that I was going to fight if he was in the mix with Marcus."

Newgarden admitted that he would "get made fun of" in Team Penske's post-race debrief for nearly losing a win because of a misunderstanding.

Josef Newgarden Rises In Two IndyCar All-Time Lists With St. Louis Win

Josef Newgarden's win at the WWT Raceway was not only his second win of the 2026 IndyCar season, but also his sixth at the 1.25-mile short oval.

Moreover, it was his 34th IndyCar victory, which equaled him with Al Unser Jr. for ninth on the all-time win list. With another win, the 35th, he will be tied with Unser Jr.'s uncle, Bobby Unser.

Newgarden led 53 laps of the 260-lap Bommarito Automotive Group 500, taking his career tally of laps led to 4580. In doing so, he surpassed four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti for ninth on the list of laps led.

When asked post-race about what it felt like being among such legends of the sport, the two-time Indy 500 winner replied:

"I got to be honest. My reaction is more, I enjoy working with the individuals around me, I really do. That's no disrespect to the win list. You're not going to find someone that is more competitive than me. I very much know the stats anything you want to look at in IndyCar."

Emphasizing how his focus remains on showing up to each race weekend and contending for victories with his No. 2 Penske squad, he added:

"I enjoy my time with my team, I really do. I like working with the team. So when I think about victories or I think about the amount of time I've been in the sport, that's what I really lean on now. I like showing up to the track and try to do a great job. We did that tonight. It's fun to go racing."

With his second win of the season after Phoenix, Josef Newgarden moved up to sixth in the championship standings.

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Written by

Yash Kotak

Edited by

Yash Kotak