Newgarden, 26, secured the IndyCar crown in his first season with the iconic Penske outfit, and sixth in the series, scoring one pole, four wins and five further podiums.

Daly and Newgarden both spent time racing in Europe, featuring on Formula 1 support bills, but returned to the United States to forge IndyCar careers.

Having risen to the top of America's premier single-seater category, Newgarden is deserving of an opportunity in Formula 1, feels Daly.

"Right now, the pace Josef has been on with his steady development, he should be receiving calls from Formula 1 teams," Daly told RACER.

"In no way should he not be paid attention to. The guy won the championship in his first season with Roger Penske, and maybe he is receiving calls from Formula 1 teams."

Daly appeared in GP3/2 from 2011-2014, but Newgarden spent just one season in GP3 (classifying 18th) before returning to the US.

Newgarden won the Indy Lights title in 2011 and went on to establish himself in IndyCar.

"It's hard to accept that a talent like Josef, that we've seen for many years, would have been kicked out of the Red Bull system if he had gone to Formula 1," said Daly.

"Their deal would be, '23rd as a rookie, 14th in Year 2, let's get rid of him'. You aren't given a lot of time to grow, which he's had now in IndyCar.

"The progression is what's impressive about Josef. Drivers are always learning, and he's only been with Penske one year and look what he's done already.

"He's going to be very difficult to beat here if he doesn't get taken by a Formula 1 team."

Newgarden will stay at Penske in 2018, alongside Will Power and Simon Pagenaud.