IndyCar’s Josef Newgarden Airlifted to Local Hospital for ‘Further Evaluation’

IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden was airlifted to a Des Moines hospital after collapsing in the bus lot following his exit from Sunday’s race at Iowa Speedway. IndyCar medical chief Dr. Geoffrey Billows said Newgarden was “awake and talking” after falling and suffering an abrasion on his head.

Newgarden held the lead for 148 laps on Sunday but crashed on the 237th lap. He was evaluated and cleared at the track’s medical center and was fit enough to give a post-crash interview with NBC expressing disappointment in the result.

“That’s the thing that makes it confusing: he crashed, and he was evaluated here after the crash and he was fine,” Billows said. “We actually went and talked with him afterwards, and then apparently after we talked to him he exited this hall and either passed out or fell and hit his head. Out of the abundance of caution, we wanted to make sure he didn’t have any kind of head injury.”

IndyCar held two races at the track this weekend, with Newgarden winning on Saturday. He finished 24th out of 26 cars following Sunday’s crash. He’s currently tied for third in the IndyCar Series points race.