Josef Newgarden
After leading the race with less than 20 laps to go, Hendersonville's own Josef Newgarden finished third Sunday in the 100th Indianapolis 500.
Rookie Alexander Rossi won the race, after conserving fuel and cutting it so close that his car had to be towed to Victory Lane.
Newgarden and Carlos Muñoz were dueling in the final laps, trading the lead every two laps or so until both had to pit for fuel.
"It was a tough day," Newgarden told ESPN after the race. "I think we were trying to trim out toward the end to see if we could win the thing. I think we had a shot."
Asked about the decision to try to conserve fuel or risk it to go for the win, he said, "It's Indy, you gotta go for it."
The Hendersonville native appears on the cover of this week's Scene, profiled by Craig Havighurst.
Born at Vanderbilt Hospital and raised in Hendersonville on Predators games and Christmas at the Ryman, Josef Newgarden has emerged as one of the most accomplished and promising American race car drivers of his generation. He committed to the demanding and dangerous career 10 years ago at age 15. He finished high school online while winning races in Europe. He was crowned champion of the series that feeds into the top-tier IndyCar league, where he's now in his fifth season. Last year, he netted his first two wins at this level, the first right here at Barber, at the Grand Prix of Alabama.
After he finished ninth at the Brickyard last year, this year's third place finish is his best ever at American auto racing's most famous track.
