IndyCar’s Josef Newgarden NASCAR Pace Car Driver At Bristol Chase Race

Josef Newgarden’s Connection To Bristol

For Newgarden, the honor fulfills a racing wish he made public years before becoming a back-to-back Indianapolis 500 champion.

“I want to do Bristol. I want to do the Bristol Night Race,” Newgarden said in 2019 when asked which race topped his personal bucket list. “There’s more, but that’s No. 1. If I get to choose, it’d be the Bristol Night Race. What makes it so great is that there’s nothing like Bristol.”

Newgarden’s connection to Bristol began long before his championship career. He grew up attending races at the track with his father, experiences that helped spark his love of racing, and he will return for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race with his dad.

The children’s book Josef’s BIG Dream: An INDY 500 Story includes a Bristol-inspired nod showing young Josef and his father watching open-wheel cars race inside a colosseum-like stadium.

Josef Newgarden’s Impressive IndyCar Career

Newgarden is one of the most accomplished IndyCar Series racers of his generation. He won IndyCar Series championships in 2017 and 2019 and captured consecutive Indianapolis 500 victories in 2023 and 2024, becoming only the sixth driver to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in back-to-back years. He competes in the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet and has earned 34 career IndyCar victories, including two during the team’s 60th anniversary season in 2026 at Phoenix Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway, respectively.

Newgarden injured his left foot in a hard crash against the Turn 4 wall at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the 110^th Indianapolis 500 on May 24. Despite that, he was able to compete in every race, often with a walking boot and crutches.

He endured to finish sixth in the final NTT IndyCar Series Championship, 147 points behind five-time champion Alex Palou.

Josef Newgarden’s Team Penske Milestone Moment At Bristol

His appearance at Bristol will create another crossover moment during Team Penske’s milestone season, bringing one of the organization’s most decorated IndyCar drivers to a track where its NASCAR Cup Series teams have competed for decades.

Newgarden’s role also creates a personal connection to the night’s celebration of Kyle Busch. Bristol’s concrete oval was listed as Busch’s favorite track to race, while Newgarden was listed as his favorite IndyCar driver.

The official Chevrolet pace car will carry a special decal honoring Busch, bringing two of his racing favorites together as Bristol celebrates the legacy of its all-time winningest driver across NASCAR’s three national series.

The Stars Come Out For The Bristol Night Race

The Bass Pro Shops Night Race on September 19 will feature a star-studded entertainment lineup, including Academy Award-winning actor and producer Brad Pitt as a Grand Marshal and Newgarden as the celebrity pace car driver leading the NASCAR Cup Series field to green.

Saturday’s festivities also will include appearances by WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair, a pre-race concert by Brian Kelley, Bristol’s signature driver introductions featuring music personally selected by the competitors, a children’s choir performing the national anthem, and Lee Greenwood singing “God Bless the USA” as a bald eagle soars above the stadium, followed by a dramatic flyover featuring two U.S. Air Force C-130s.

Fans also will receive yellow “Rowdy Towels” and unite for an emotional Lap 18 tribute honoring Kyle Busch and his unmatched success at Bristol — another powerful, only-at-Bristol moment before the NASCAR Cup Series’ biggest stars battle under the lights in one of NASCAR’s most iconic sporting events.

And an IndyCar Series star, Josef Newgarden, will play an important role by leading the field to great in one of NASCAR’s most anticipated races of the season.