IndyCar’s Josef Newgarden had no idea who the RHOSLC actor was during a cameo

Although The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City fans at his sight, an IndyCar driver Joseph Newgarden was left stunned after appearing on the Bravo reality series.

Newgarden, 34, made a cameo in the November 2024 episode. on the show in which Bronwyn Newport treated the cast to a trip to an IndyCar race in Thermal, California, outside of Palm Springs. After Newgarden’s meeting with the runway hosts, Newport called him “the most beautiful” and cast member Lisa Barlow shouted, “Take off your shirt!”

The women even tried to create Newgarden with one actor Heather Gaybut they were told that Newgarden was married to his wife, Ashley Welchand that the couple shares a 2-year-old son Elevation.

“I didn’t even know what was going on,” Newgarden admitted in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly “I’m serious, that’s the way these things happen. We’re on the track, we’re on this race. Someone walks into our engineering office and he says, “Hey, there are people here, there are guests. Can you come out and say hi?’

Newgarden continued, “I went out and said hi to everybody. They say, “You’re going to be photographed, so don’t worry about it.” I’m like, “OK, no problem.” And then you don’t hear anything about it for a few months, right? And then I get all these texts when the show is on. I don’t know this show. I haven’t seen him.”

The driver had “no idea” his interaction with the Wives would be included in the show, but called them “super cute.”

After the episode aired, Newgarden joked about the surprising demographic that responded most to his Bravo debut.

“You know what was funny? You get messages from husbands,” Newgarden said. “It’s all men. Every text message was from a person and was like “I was watching with my wife” or “My wife showed it on TV and I noticed you were there.” That’s pretty cool. I received about 20 such messages. I thought it was really funny.

Outside of your newfound hosts fame, Newgarden is also the face of IndyCar’s inaugural season on Fox, which officially kicks off on March 2. Newgarden is featured in a glossy ad to promote the collaboration, which spotlights Newgarden’s chiseled jaw and appears from Tom Brady.

For Newgarden, being in such a prominent place for IndyCar is not something he takes lightly.

“I care about the growth of the sport, I’m just a racer and I love IndyCar,” he said. “I want to see him reach the highest possible heights. I remember when I was younger, IndyCar was a household name in North America. It reached beyond America. It was a global sport. I think it can go back to that point.

Newgarden added: “I care a lot about his performance and how he’s perceived. I think Fox will really capture the essence of what IndyCar is, the cool factor of it. Because it’s always been right there. It’s just a matter of exposure.”

Fox’s coverage of the 2025 IndyCar season begins with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in St. Petersburg, Florida on Sunday, March 2.