A significant benefit to its three Verizon IndyCar Series drivers from the merger of Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing and Ed Carpenter Racing into CFH Racing starts at the Indianapolis shop and has been reflected on the racetrack.

Josef Newgarden, a two-time race winner this season, doesn’t underestimate what he’s learned from teammates Ed Carpenter and Luca Filippi, and what he’s contributed to the program.

“This is my fourth year in Indy car racing and it's amazing the difference you get between year one and year four,” said Newgarden, who enters the final two races of the season eighth in the championship standings and still in contention for the title. “I feel like a veteran of this sport. I feel like I've had a lot of seat time under me. You just learn so much throughout the process.  There is for sure a difference between having years of seat time within the sport and not having much at all being a first-year guy or something.

“Even for me as a guy going into my fourth year, it's been nice for me to have someone like Ed as a teammate. I didn't have a teammate for the first three years of my IndyCar career and just having a teammate is great, but then also having someone like Ed who has been able to help me improve my craft on ovals and draw some experiences that he's seen in the past and just the way he looks at things. Not just when we're racing on ovals, but I think on road and street courses too, he helps keep me in check as a driver.

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“Regardless of where we race together, he's going to be able to give me a better perspective on things and not just rely on me to look at it for myself. So I think Ed's a really good outlet for me, and as someone that's been in the sport, he's been able to see it a little different and give me a different opinion on what I'm doing.”

On short ovals, Newgarden has been doing just fine. He earned the Verizon P1 Award at Milwaukee, led 109 laps and finished fifth. Six days later at Iowa Speedway, he started seventh, led a field-high 111 laps and was runner-up to Ryan Hunter-Reay for the second consecutive year.

The ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway is up next Aug. 23. In two starts at “The Tricky Triangle,” Newgarden has a best finish of fifth in a pair of top 10s.

“I think we've had some solid performances with the whole team at CFH Racing,” said Newgarden, who also started and finished ninth in the Indianapolis 500. “Iowa was a real strong point for us along with Milwaukee, and I think we've both had really good race cars at Fontana, too.

“We're all hungry to get a victory on an oval. So either Ed or myself, it would be great for the whole team if we can pull that off.”