Newgarden may be just getting started

With his runner-up finish at Sunday’s season finale at Sonoma Raceway, Josef Newgarden iced his breakout season with Team Penske with a championship. Though he “hated” finishing behind teammate Simon Pagenaud, the odds seem high that in the near future, he can make up for the disappointment by sealing his next championship with a win in the finale.

THE BEST IS YET TO COME

Before the race at Pocono, NBC Sports Network analyst Townsend Bell made a promise that has stuck with me for weeks. After seeing Newgarden win backto-back races at the Toronto street course and Mid- Ohio Sports Car Course, he declared the 26-year-old was about to unleash a “fire and fury the likes of which IndyCar has never seen.”

Before the season was over and he was crowned champion, Newgarden would win another race, podium at two others and deliver his signature move of his season — the bold and unapologetic pass of teammate Simon Pagenaud at Gateway Motorsports Park.

Bell was right on the mark with his forecast, but the scary part about it — at least for the rest of the drivers in the paddock — was I don’t think he was talking about just the 2017 season.

In a recent interview with a Canadian newspaper, 30-year-old driver James Hinchcliffe said that he believed most IndyCar drivers hit their peak around his age.

“It takes a certain number of years in this sport to reach that level of experience, maturity, speed, that sort of perfect combination of everything,” Hinchcliffe told the The Globe and Mail. “It seems to be that 30-35 range is when you’re at your peak. Unless you’re (four-time series champion) Scott Dixon, then you were born at your peak, and you’ve been at your peak your entire life and you’ll probably die at your peak. But most of us don’t have that opportunity.”

But maybe Newgarden does. In his first six years driving an Indy car, Dixon won seven races, 19 podiums and one season championship.

After six years in IndyCar, Newgarden has matched the legendary Dixon win for win, podium for podium and championship for championship.

It’s enough to make you wonder if 10 years from now, people will be talking about Newgarden the way Hinchcliffe and so many others talk about Dixon.

Newgarden repeatedly has said he believes he’s only getting better. If true — and I believe it is — the 2017 championship might only be the opening salvo of Newgarden’s assault on IndyCar record books.

ADIOS, HELIO?

The moment he started thanking media members for their years of service to the sport was the moment I became convinced Helio Castroneves wouldn’t be back in an Indy car next March in St. Petersburg, Fla. In every way other than actually saying the words, Castroneves seemed to confirm he was moving to Penske’s sports car program and saying adios to full-time IndyCar racing.

“The only thing I can say is, sometimes you’ve got to dance according to the music,” said Castroneves, who promised that no matter what, he’d be back in May for the Indianapolis 500.

“But at this point, I feel sad that the season is over. I’m not going to deny I love this series. I love open wheel. I love this environment. I’ve done this for my entire life, basically. Half of my life at the least. But I really treasure this organization, as well. And at this point, sometimes you’ve gotta balance what you think is best for the future. At this moment I just love this team. I love these guys. I’m on board. Whatever they decide.”

Castroneves should and will walk away from the sport he loves with his trademark, ear-to-ear smile. Though he never found his way to a season title, Castroneves finished in the top five for the sixth straight year and the 14th time in 20 seasons. Beyond that, the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion has been a fantastic ambassador for the sport and will always be one of the most beloved drivers of his era.

SIMON PAGENAUD, 2.0

Sunday deservedly was Newgarden’s day, but lost in the shuffle was the brilliance of Pagenaud. While the 2016 champion needed the unflappable Newgarden to slip in order to defend his crown, he did what he was supposed to do: He won the race by delivering what he believes was the signature performance of his season. He also was the only driver in the series to finish every lap this season — all 2,331.

But more important than all of that was that I think we saw a preview of Pagenaud 2.0.

After Newgarden made his controversial pass to go around him for the win at Gateway, something changed within the Frenchman. He said he didn’t sleep that night, instead thinking about what happened. It haunted him. It still haunts him. He knows that if he hadn’t let Newgarden pass, he could have been celebrating back-to-back championships.

“I’m going to study the new car, I’m going to study every race and I’m going to do some work on myself to try to improve again, to find more,” a determined Pagenaud said. “Right now, I want a championship more than I did ( before 2016).”

Ayello writes for The Indianapolis Star, part of the USA TODAY Network.