Josef Newgarden still on crutches since Indianapolis 500 crash

IndyCar driver Josef Newgarden, a Hendersonville native, showed up on July 9 using crutches and wearing a walking boot on his left foot for the guitar trophy unveiling of the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix.

The Team Penske driver is the defending champion of the Music City Grand Prix, which is scheduled for July 19 at Nashville Superspeedway. The race will air on Fox Sports after the World Cup final, which begins at 2 p.m. CST.

Newgarden has remained tight-lipped since injuring his foot during a crash in the 2026 Indianapolis 500 on May 24.

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“I’m keeping the foot stuff close to (the vest) right now,” Newgarden said at the event at Gibson Guitar Garage. “But everything’s been good. I mean we’ve had a great team that’s just been going forward every day. That’s kind of the most important thing: whatever obstacles we have, we just keep moving forward. You’re going to have that in racing in a lot of different ways. I just feel like we’re in a really good place right now.”

Since the injury, Newgarden finished 10th at the Grand Prix of Detroit on May 31, won the Grand Prix of Illinois on June 7, finished 22nd at the Grand Prix of Road America, and finished ninth at the Grand Prix of Mid-Ohio on July 5.

“Everything’s been good; having a great car underneath me is the best thing,” Newgarden said when asked about dealing with the injury. “When the car’s fast, everything else looks good, and so if we can put a fast car on the track we’re going to be alright.”

Before the injury, the two-time IndyCar Series champion won the second race of the season at Phoenix on March 7. He is currently sixth in the IndyCar Series points standings with 270. Alex Palou is at the top of the standings with 404 points.

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Josef Newgarden still on crutches since Indianapolis 500 crash