INDYCAR: Newgarden aims to race Road America

Josef Newgarden is hoping to return to the cockpit this weekend at Road America and he'll likely find out if he's cleared after meeting with his surgeon on Tuesday. 

"Working on a top-secret mission but I don't plan to be in the NBCSN booth this weekend," Newgarden said in a text message on Monday, referring to the suggestion he could be joining Paul Tracy, Townsend Bell and Leigh Diffey this Sunday on television instead of driving in IndyCar's return to the scenic road course in Wisconsin.

The popular 25-year-old racer suffered a fractured right clavicle and broken bone in his right hand in his spectacular crash at Texas Motor Speedway on June 12. Dr. Kevin Scheid operated on Newgarden, putting a plate and some screws in his shoulder.

It's the same kind of injury that Mario Andretti incurred at Michigan in 1985.

"I raced at Pocono [two weeks] after I got hurt and I talked to Josef about it the other day and I think it's doable," said Andretti, who missed the next race – Road America, ironically – and was replaced by Alan Jones. 

"I used some special foam from wrestling mats to help cushion my shoulder and it was painful but bearable."

Andretti caught a break in that the next race he coudl run was an oval after MIS, while Newgarden must deal with Elkhart Lake's fast, winding, 4-mile circuit.

"It was easier for me because I went to another oval and only had to turn left, but most of Road America's high-G corners are right-handers, so that's good for Josef," the 1969 Indy 500 winner continued.

"It's a tough call and a personal thing but I think it's doable. The bottom line is that I dealt with it. If you can deal with the pain, go for it. Josef sounds like a guy who wants to go for it."

Car owner Ed Carpenter, who tested J.R Hildebrand in Newgarden's Chevy last week in a test at Road America, couldn't be reached for comment.

It's believed Newgarden might need some kind of a brace for his right hand, which suffered a hairline fracture on the top of it and was badly swollen afterward.