Josef Newgarden's future took a step toward confirmation on Thursday when Ed Carpenter Racing officially announced that the 25-year-old would be departing from the team. "While it's disappointing that Josef will not be returning, it's also not a total surprise after all of the speculation the past few weeks," team owner Ed Carpenter said of the news. "I wish Josef the best in his future endeavors, but also remain focused on ECR's continued success. We are positioned well moving into 2017 and I have total confidence that we will continue to deliver the high level of performance we expect as a team."

Newgarden's free agency has been the biggest headline of the silly season. While recent reports suggest he would sign with Team Penske, nothing had been officially announced about his status until this announcement from Ed Carpenter Racing. However, a further announcement from Newgarden about his future may now be imminent.

Newgarden earned three career in his time with ECR, and its prior iterations as Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing and CFH Racing, and finished a career-best fourth in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship in 2016.