IndyCar: Newgarden urges return to 'normal' after Texas heat

Scott Newgarden has called for IndyCar to avoid making wholesale changes to its heat protocols following last weekend's race at Texas Motor Speedway.

Temperatures reached highs of 103F (39.4C) in the Lone Star State, prompting IndyCar to enact its 'extreme heat' protocol, which mandates the race has to be halted at the halfway mark for 30 minutes to give teams an opportunity to cool down and drink water ahead of the second half of the race.

The race was ultimately won by Josef Newgarden, who took advantage of a late-race caution to snatch victory from Pato O'Ward, but the heat proved to be a major talking point over the weekend, especially after Callum Ilott collapsed after the race.

Ilott, who races for Juncos Hollinger Racing, has since said he "didn't feel good" prior to the race, but pushed through to start the race, during which he felt "really shaky".

The Briton was given intravenous fluids after collapsing and was kept in a local hospital overnight for observation. He has since been released, but the incident has raised questions about the health risks associated with racing in extreme heat.

However, Newgarden believes the current protocols are sufficient and that IndyCar should not make any drastic changes.

"I think we just need to run our program as normal as we can," said Newgarden.

"We're not going to get into a situation where we're going to put anybody at risk. We had a couple of incidents this weekend, but they weren't heat-related. They were just guys pushing it too hard.

"I think we've got a good protocol in place. We just need to stick to it."