LOS ANGELES – Josef Newgarden left California this morning feeling honored, if not victorious.
Although the reigning Verizon IndyCar Series champion didn’t win the 2018 ESPY Award for Best Driver, he remained proud of the recognition for the work he and Team Penske put in last year to win the INDYCAR title. NASCAR driver Martin Truex took home the Best Driver award. Also nominated were Formula’s One’s Lewis Hamilton and NHRA’s Brittany Force, the sister-in-law of Verizon IndyCar Series driver Graham Rahal.
“Just being nominated is a big deal,” Newgarden said. “All the guys that worked to put that championship together really deserve the nomination. It’s for them.”
He congratulated Truex, who was announced as the winner Wednesday night during the live ABC broadcast.
“Martin’s also a fantastic champion, so congratulations to him. He’s a very deserving ESPY winner,” said Newgarden. “He’s a driver I really like to watch. I’m a big fan.”
Newgarden and his girlfriend, Ashley Welch, were on the go in LA for two days leading up to the event. They were tired late Wednesday night as they departed an ESPYS afterparty at the outdoor lounge Le Jardin.
“I feel whipped,” Newgarden admitted. “It was a long day, but a lot of fun.”
Newgarden and Welch walked the pre-ESPYS red carpet, posing for photos and answering reporters’ questions Wednesday afternoon before attending the show at the Microsoft Theater in downtown LA.
“Seeing all of the awards and also the tributes were really cool,” said Newgarden. “The recognition for some of the foundations and charities that are out there that have developed through sports was really special.”
The live ESPYS show was hosted by a funny, self-deprecating Danica Patrick, the groundbreaking racer who completed her career in May at the 102nd Indianapolis 500. Patrick also starred in a pre-taped parody of the movie “I, Tonya” that was shown on the ESPYS broadcast. In a preview of “Me, Danica,” Patrick played herself – in a character strikingly similar to infamous figure skater Tonya Harding – and her mother, Mama D.
The skit played off the “I, Tonya” story of Harding and her connection to the 1994 attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan prior to the Winter Olympics. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, dating Patrick in real life, portrayed himself as Patrick’s boyfriend in the parody, in a role reminiscent of Jeff Gillooly, Harding’s ex-husband and suspected mastermind of the attack on Kerrigan.
Three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves made a cameo appearance in the spoof as the object of a pre-Indy 500 attack on his race car. Castroneves drew huge laughs when he cried out, “Why? Why? Why?!” after his car was damaged.
Watch the full skit here: