by Robin Miller/LAT

"Roger is not going to hire anybody that's not ready to win a championship, But the past couple years Josef's shown he can do the job and now he's got the experience and the right mindset."

Timing is everything for a race driver. It wasn't right for Roger Penske and Josef Newgarden five years ago but today it looks like a perfect fit for The Captain, the kid and IndyCar's future.

When Newgarden interviewed with Tim Cindric, Rick Mears and R.P. in the fall of 2011 he was a wired 20-year-old undoubtedly a bit overwhelmed about his surroundings and why he was at Team Penske.
"Rick Gorne brought Josef to us after his Indy Lights championship and we've never hired anybody out of Indy Lights," said Cindric (pictured), the president of Team Penske the past 16 years who wasn't around yet when R.P. snatched up Paul Tracy after only one CART start in 1991.
"Roger is not going to hire anybody that's not ready to win a championship and Josef wasn't ready. But the past couple years he's shown he can do the job and now he's got the experience and the right mindset."

And one of the best rides in all of motorsports.
"To put it simply, it feels amazing and it's an amazing honor," said Newgarden (below), who will replace Juan Montoya in the team's No. 2. "As a relatively young guy in the sport, it's an amazing opportunity."
In hiring an American full-time for the first time in a decade (Sam Hornish Jr.) for an IndyCar seat, Cindric and Penske instantly made the team younger and more popular since Newgarden has a rapidly-growing fan base because of his personality and his abilities.
"It's been 10 years since Sam but that's not the reason we hired Josef," continued Cindric. "Obviously, it's a bonus for sure but we wanted somebody we could build on for the future. We've been keeping our eye on him."
Which has been easy to do since Newgarden has been running up front the past two years with ECR and Sarah Fisher's defunct team. He won three times and led the most laps (combined) of any driver in the Verizon IndyCar series in 2015 and 2016. He also showed some 1960s moxie by not missing a start and playing hurt after his massive accident at Texas last June.
"It's no different than when we signed Simon," said Cindric, referring to 2016 IndyCar champ Simon Pagenaud. "You have to decide if you're going to make a place for somebody like that or you're going to race against him for a while. So we figured he was better off being on our side than the other side."
The other side was one of the better stories in the paddock, from the growing pains and promise with Sarah and Wink Hartman on a one-car effort from 2012-'14 to Josef's breakout season in 2015 with Ed Carpenter and Fisher/Hartman joining forces.
Along with Graham Rahal the past two seasons, Newgarden upset the balance of power and challenged Ganassi and Penske at any track. Together with engineer Jeremy Milless, the gregarious kid from Tennessee became a bad ass and showed he deserved a chance with the best teams in the business.

But it wasn't as easy a decision as people might think. "It's a lot harder than people realize," exclaimed Newgarden at the Sonoma finale.
For starters, ECR was built around Josef and it had a great chemistry. He was the focal point and it was a relaxed, good-natured atmosphere. And I'm told his financial offer from Carpenter may have been better than The Captain's.
Now he's one of four spokes in the Big Wheel and it's a button-down, white shirt, black pants world at Team Penske – which always expects to win.
"But you don't turn down Roger Penske," said Ryan Hunter-Reay a few weeks ago before breaking into a grin since he did that very thing a few years ago to stay with Michael Andretti.
I've gone from non-stop tub thumping to get Penske and Cindric to hire Newgarden to changing my mind and wishing he'd stay at ECR because the team that finished 1-2-3 in the championship just got even stronger. But, to think about this American kid climbing through the ranks and having the best of everything with a chance to win Indy and championships, it's a great opportunity to get IndyCar more exposure and more fans.
It's the right time.