Circumstances outside Josef Newgarden's control spoiled the potential of winning three Indianapolis 500 Borg-Warner Trophies in a row Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Climbing the leaderboard from his last-row 32nd-starting spot — the penalty for his Team Penske No. 2 team for illegally modifying the attenuator during qualifying weekend — Newgarden was on the move, up to fifth, positioned to strike over the final run.

He had the race car, the track position and strategy to pounce when the time came. Then while making a regularly scheduled green-flag pit stop on lap 133, it all went downhill when Newgarden's car suddenly had fuel pickup issues. Newgarden could only make one lap before he brought his ailing race machine back down pit road. 

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His crew tried getting him back out on track, but once he fell multiple laps down and once the severity of the issue had been diagnosed, Newgarden's day was over. He could only complete 135 laps in his 25th-place finish.

"It's tough, you know, to not have a shot here at the end," Newgarden said. "I felt really good and was trying to be methodical today. It's a team sport, it takes everything to win here."

Started 32nd. Made it up to fifth on our strategy before having a problem with the fuel pressure. The car was unbelievable. The team was unbeatable. Feels so frustrating to not even have the opportunity to know “what if”…

That’s the way Indy works. One year you’re on top of the… pic.twitter.com/qFCTV91RBk

— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) May 26, 2025

All week long, since IndyCar penalized his No. 2 team that led to the subsequent firing of three top executives at Penske, Newgarden upheld a seemingly genuine positive attitide. When he was asked earlier in the week what emotions he's carrying into race week, he was "trying to remain happy."

"This is the Indy 500. I just said it at the very beginning, too. I look forward to this time of year every season," Newgarden said earlier this week. "I can't wait. We're going to have a soldout crowd here for the Indianapolis 500, as it should be. To see all the people that show up and make this what it is, I look forward to that.

"That's how I feel right now. I'm ready to go racing. I know I have a good car. I'm ready to work with my team and hopefully put on a good show. There's no guarantees, but I'm ready to rock."

There's definitely no guarentees at the Indy 500. Newgarden knows that well as both of his Indy 500 wins came via last-corner passes he timed to perfection. On Sunday when he couldn't see the checkers, he made sure his gratitude was the one thing that traveled across the finish line.

"Still immensely grateful to run at Indianapolis. I love the race the most, I love the opportunity to be on the grid," Newgarden said. "As tough as it is to take, I still feel thankful to be out here today. I just wish we had a chance to fight for it."

Newgarden had motored his his way 18 positions up the leaderboard to 14th by lap 50 and then right before the lap-100 halfway mark, he cracked the top-10. On lap 50, however, he did report a left-rear vibration on his race car. It's unclear whether that escalated into the eventual fuel pickup issue.

He was on sequence with the leaders at the time and had 67 laps to make one more pit stop that would've brought him to the finish. Key word: would've.

"We didn't even get to see what have there. We were just slowly (moving) forward," Newgarden said. "Thank you to our partners and our whole team. Everybody put so much into this. It's a big team effort. It's a shame not to be there in the fight."