2-time Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden launches Newgarden family foundation

NASHVILLE,  Tenn. – Three IndyCar drivers already turned some laps in Nashville ahead of Sunday’s Music City Grand Prix, but the real winners from this race weren’t the ones standing on the podium.

Two-time Indy 500 and IndyCar Series Champion Josef Newgarden returned to his racing roots to launch the Newgarden Family Foundation. 

“It’s a warmup. I thought, ‘Why not?'” said Newgarden. “‘Why don’t we do the real thing?’ Karting seemed easy.”

Newgarden partnered with Speedway Children’s Charities and Nashville Superspeedway to host Karting for a Cause at K1 Speed in Nashville.

“Karting is easy for me, it’s kind of plug-and-play, so these are fun events to kind of bring people out to,” Newgarden explained. “It’s really about raising money for charity, that’s really what it’s all about. So, to make it a little fun, easy incentive for people to come to, like driving go-karts, it seemed like a win-win.”

The money raised will go to several initiatives that Speedway Children’s Charities and the Newgarden Family Foundation focus on. Right now, those include efforts by SCC to distribute millions of dollars annually to organizations around the country supporting children’s education, welfare, and medical needs.

The Newgarden Family Foundation currently partners with two non-profits. They are Wags and Walks, a Nashville-based organization that works to reduce euthanasia in animal shelters and find rescue dogs their forever homes, and Serious Fun Children’s Network, which offers dozens of camps and programs to children with medical challenges. 

“We want to expand it and figure out how to make it bigger and improve our reach, if you will,” said Newgarden. “The foundation is going to set a really good tone for us, and give us that base where we can build the thing out, and hopefully, get more money into the charities’ hands that we care about.”

Andretti Global’s Colton Herta and Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Conor Daly joined Newgarden for the fun, holding nothing back on the go-kart track. 

“Josef, being a local boy, happy to support him here,” said Daly. “Josef and I grew up go-karting together, so we’ve done this for many years, but yeah, it’s cool to support a great cause. The energy feels great. We’ve got trophies here for the race, so it’s all-around awesome.”

While the racing was intense, with Daly finishing on top, Newgarden in second, and Herta in third, it wasn’t a win on the track that Newgarden was focused on.

“I get more competitive on how much money can we raise, in a good way. We want to give as much money as possible to the charities that we care about. That’s the reason why we’re putting this on, so a night like tonight, that’s more where my competitive instinct kicks in, not so much on the karting track, funny enough. It’s just, how can we do more? How can we grow this thing and make it even bigger?”

He hopes his work helps children in more ways than one, not only making an impact on them but inspiring them as well.

“It takes people to do anything,” he said. “You’ve got to be an excellent teammate. I always tell young kids that. If you’re going to work on any skillset, it’s being a great teammate and utilizing the people around you in a positive way, and being a positive experience for the people around you.”