©IndyCar
Team Penske's Josef Newgarden added a second IndyCar crown to his credentials on Sunday after a safe drive to eighth place in the series' Laguna Seca season finale.
Rookie Colton Herta dominated the road course event, but Newgarden's conservative race was enough for the driver from Tennessee to beat Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud to the title by 25 points.
An emotional Newgarden failed to hold back the tears as he tried to regain his composure on Victory Lane.
"I don't know why, but it feels more special," said the 28-year-old IndyCar champ about his second title achieved two years after his first championship with Penske.
"It really hit me. It just really, really hit me on the in-lap. I don't know why. I was just so emotional.
"I didn't quite get that way in the first one. I don't know if you don't have quite the respect for it or what it is… [Second time around] You just have more perspective on how difficult it is.
“I think this one just felt like it was more ours to lose. It was more ours to give away. I thought it was our year to win, and if we didn't, it was just going to hurt a lot.
"I don't ever cry. Actually, it infuriates my fiancée because I don't think I've ever cried in front of her. It disturbed her in some ways. She's like, ‘You never cry, which is really… I don't know why you don't do that. You should cry at some point.’
"[This] was a good cry. It just felt like a big weight, to be honest with you. I still feel it when I think about it now. It's just a big weight. Especially when I saw all the guys when I got out. It meant a lot. It still does. It means a lot."
