Nasr on standby for Team Penske as Newgarden continues to recover from foot injury

Team Penske has readied Porsche Penske Motorsports IMSA GTP champion Felipe Nasr once again as a potential stand-in for Josef Newgarden as the IndyCar Series returns to road racing this weekend at Road America.

The ex-Formula 1 driver, who’s done multiple IndyCar tests since 2019, was activated by the team for the Detroit Grand Prix after Newgarden suffered a significant foot injury during a crash at the Indianapolis 500. A gutsy performance by Newgarden, who charged from last to 10th, left the Brazilian on the sidelines, but he’s been brought back as an alternate for Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevy at the XPEL Grand Prix if the American is unable to race.

“Being called up as the first option again, it’s a really big honor for me,” Nasr told RACER. “At the same time, I have a lot of respect for Josef and he's trying the best he can to recover from that Indy 500 crash that he had. The team has called me up twice now and having done a bunch of testing for them in the past, I feel ready to help if I can be a positive help to them.

“It’s so natural to jump back in a single-seater, feel the G forces again, the high-speed cornering, the braking potential. All this stuff for me is phenomenal to feel, so I'm just ready, whatever the situation turns out (to be).”

Newgarden won the last race held two weeks ago on the World Wide Technology Raceway oval, but with the heavy forces in long braking zones and the deft footwork required to fly around the fast Road America circuit, Penske chose to prepare Nasr as a fallback plan if the need arises in the No. 2 entry.

“I was in the sim two days ago and got time to get used to the systems, the hybrid, the regen, and also just to feel the attitude of the car, some setup changes, which was all very much appreciated, because it's always good to refresh my mind,” said Nasr, who’s mastered Porsche’s hybrid 963 GTP car in IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

“The IndyCar is fast and fun; the tires, they have a lot of grip, and then all the other meetings that they had, from pre-event meeting to now at the track, I've been part of them all, so it's really just being ready for the task. That's all I've been doing. I’ve showed up, and I always wanted to have a proper shot at IndyCar. If that happens, being close to Team Penske, it would be amazing, but I’m just here on standby for my team. Whatever they need me to do, I’ll do.”