Newgarden vs. O'Rourke: 2012 Robo-Pong 200

October 11, 2012 Posted by krystin in Josef Newgarden

SFHR driver Josef Newgarden and his head engineer Nathan O’Rourke are used to playing on the same team to ensure the No. 67 SFHR Dallara/Honda/Firestone car is at the top of its game. However, they have maintained a healthy level of competition the entire year on challenges ranging from iRacing competitions to hair follicle count. After facing off 10 times, Newgarden and O’Rourke are tied with five victories each.

The final challenge of the season comes down to Sunday’s Robo-Pong 200, where the two will face-off on different teams in the biggest kart race of the year at New Castle Motorsports Park. Newgarden will be teamed up with co-driver Mark Dismore, Jr. and O’Rourke will join forces with IZOD IndyCar driver Ed Carpenter for the 200-mile race. Both teams will be driving karts built by the same person and will share set-up data. With an even playing field, driver skill will be the difference between winning or going home a loser.

Newgarden has predicted that his lap times will be 0.5-0.6 seconds faster than O’Rourke. O’Rourke on the other hand believes that Newgarden will only be 0.2-0.3 seconds quicker. While there has been no trash talking, Newgarden did say this: “I think if anything Nate’s just sad that he has to run with Ed and not me.”

Take a look at Newgarden and O’Rourke’s stats below to see who you think will pull off the victory: