Josef Newgarden hoping the move to Team Penske can bring an Indy 500 win

There are three things to note up front when it comes to IndyCar racer Josef Newgarden:

No, he’s not a foreign driver; he was born and reared in Tennessee and the spelling of his first name stems from his Danish mother.

Yes, he grew up in NASCAR country but always was more drawn to sleek Indy-style cars than stock-car racing.

And yes, he’s again a leading candidate to win the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

This will be Newgarden’s sixth attempt to win the legendary race and his first since joining the powerhouse team of racing mogul Roger Penske, who holds the record for most Indy 500 victories by a team owner, with 16.

Newgarden, 26, promptly punctuated his arrival at Team Penske by winning the third race of the Verizon IndyCar Series season this year, at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama on April 23.

It was Newgarden’s fourth career series victory; his first also came at Barber, two years ago.

Even before joining Penske, Newgarden had shown he knew his way around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Newgarden last year qualified second and finished third in the centennial Indy 500 while driving for Ed Carpenter Racing, his best Indy 500 finish to date.

And this year, “I feel pretty good leading into the weekend” for the 101st running of the race, Newgarden told reporters. “It’s all about being there at the end. We’re close to finishing this thing off.”

The Team Penske drivers as a group surprisingly didn’t qualify well, leading some to wonder if they were a tad short of speed. Newgarden qualified 22nd in the 33-car field, and one of his teammates, three-time Indy 500 winner Helio Castroneves, qualified 19th.

But in addition to speed, winning the Indianapolis 500 often comes down to other variables such as fuel strategy and flawless pit stops, not to mention luck.

How the Team Penske drivers qualified “doesn’t necessarily [mean] how we will be in the race,” Newgarden said. “I expect us to be better in race conditions. We can outlast everyone in the strategy game.”

Newgarden also tore up his No. 2 car May 18 when he spun and crashed into the wall during Indy 500 practice, a setback he acknowledged was not easily forgotten.

“It lingers a bit, I won’t lie to you,” Newgarden told the media the next day. “But it’s one of those deals where I think you have to learn from it. This place doesn’t wait for you.”

Blond, square-jawed and a fashion-loving clothes horse, Newgarden calls himself a “big kid at heart” on his Twitter page. He played baseball and basketball as a kid but also raced go-karts because of his love for “anything motorized.”

The dream of being a professional driver soon followed. As he climbed the racing ladder, he went to Europe and considered one day racing in the international Formula One series.

But he also loved Indy-style cars and eventually found his way into the second-level Indy Lights series, where he won the title in 2011, and then moved up to the top-tier IndyCar series in 2012.

When Penske announced last October that Newgarden was joining his team, he said that “when you look at the top talent in the series, both from a driving and commercial perspective, Josef is near the top of the list.”

“He is hungry to win more races and win championships,” Penske said, “and we hope to give him that opportunity.”

Rossi’s return

Speaking of young American drivers, Alexander Rossi is ready to prove that his surprise Indy 500 victory last year was not a fluke.

Rossi won as a rookie after several other contenders had to make late stops for fuel. Rossi’s No. 98 car itself barely made it on fuel, coasting across the finish line on fumes and then needing a tow to Victory Lane.

It was the first time that an American-born rookie had won the Indy 500 since 1928.

This year, the 25-year-old native of Nevada City, Calif., has been quick all month. Rossi qualified third at 231.487 mph, so he’ll start on the front row.

“It’s a good place to be, no dirty air, and we’ll just get the race off to a strong start and see where it goes,” Rossi said after his qualifying run. “I’m more relaxed, I think, than I was last year because I know what to expect.”

james.peltz@latimes.com

Twitter: @PeltzLATimes