Josef Newgarden's wife Ashley drops cryptic message after his unlucky crash during IndyCar race in Toronto

Josef Newgarden's wife, Ashley, has shared a cryptic message on her Instagram story after her husband's wild crash during IndyCar's Toronto race. Her message seemingly referred to her unusual reaction to the crash as the FOX cameras intermittently cut back and forth between the wreck and her reaction.

Newgarden's crash with Jacob Abel took place on a lap 37 restart and was the biggest one of the 90-lap race. Abel, in P11, was three places ahead of the Team Penske driver, in P14. However, the Dale Coyne Racing driver got overtaken by David Malukas into Turn 1, and Louis Foster trailed Malukas to pass Abel on the same corner.

While Malukas got by safely, Foster made contact with Abel and sent him into the wall. Josef Newgarden, who was right behind, had nowhere to go and ran into the right rear of Abel's car. The latter's car landed on top of Newgarden's, with Devlin DeFrancesco getting collected in the pile-up.

After the FOX broadcast cut to Ashley Newgarden on pit road a couple of times, she was seen smiling. A few hours after the race, the two-time Indy 500 winner shared an Instagram post about "another manic Sunday," which his wife reshared on her story with a message seemingly referring to her reaction.

"If you don't laugh, you'll cry," she wrote.

A snapshot of Ashley Newgarden's Instagram story (@ashleynewgarden)

It has been a trying 2025 season for Josef Newgarden. He has lost races and potential podium finishes from winning positions, owing to circumstances which were out of his control. In the last six races, the two-time IndyCar champion has DNFed four times, and remains in pursuit of his first win of the season.

Josef Newgarden laments another "wrong place, wrong time" moment after Toronto crash

Josef Newgarden has had a turbulent couple of weeks. He finished on the podium in Race 1 of the Iowa double-header, but the universe seemed to be against him in Race 2. He lost the race lead twice because of ill-timed cautions and finished on the edge of the Top 10 in what seemed like a guaranteed win for the No. 2 Team Penske crew.

Newgarden's crash with Abel in Toronto was another case of misfortune. It was similar to his crash at the WWT Raceway, where he had nowhere to go on track to avoid a spinning Louis Foster.

After being seen and released from the medical center after the Toronto wreck, Josef Newgarden spoke with Jack Harvey about the incident.

"Wrong place, wrong time. Just want to say thanks to PPG, Chevrolet and all our supporters at home."

It was a terrible day for Team Penske, overall. Scott McLaughlin crashed out early in the race after a wheel nut on his left rear tire came loose. Will Power, the team's only non-DNF result, had a potential podium stripped after colliding with Pato O'Ward on a lap 43 restart. He eventually finished in P11.

Edited by Hitesh Nigam