Josef Newgarden will receive a new race engineer for 2023, his third in as many seasons he chases a third IndyCar crown.
After Gavin Ward’s departure at the end of 2021, Penske hired Eric Leitchle, who Newgarden was able to win five races with in 2022 which was more than any other driver on the way to second championship.
The RACER confirmed that Luke Mason, who worked as Carlin’s performance engineer from 2018 and race strategist in 2021 before joining Penske as Newgarden’s performance engineer in 2022, will replace Leitchle ahead of the 2023 season, with the latter moving onto other R&D projects within IndyCar.
Recruiting from within is usually never a bad thing, and hopefully with the two having worked together last season, albeit Mason in a slightly different role, will give them a head start ahead of their 2023 title push.