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Team Penske has put Santino Ferrucci on standby to step in if IndyCar championship contender Josef Newgarden is not passed fit to race in the coming weekend’s Indianapolis road course round.
Newgarden spent Sunday night in MercyOne Des Moines Medical Center for observation having fallen in the paddock and sustained a head injury shortly after a heavy crash while leading the second of the weekend’s Iowa Speedway races. He had taken a dominant victory in the first.
The IndyCar medical team will examine Newgarden, who has now returned to his Nashville home, on Thursday ahead of the Indianapolis race to assess his condition.
Ferrucci has made three IndyCar starts so far this year through a mix of stand-in drives and an Indy 500 deal with Dreyer & Reinbold.
He last contested a full season in 2020, having done a part-time programme with Rahal Letterman Lanigan last year.
Newgarden had closed to within 15 points of championship leader Marcus Ericsson with his Saturday Iowa win but is now 34 points adrift following the crash.
