Josef Newgarden led a race-high 32 laps on the downtown streets of Long Beach to move Team Penske to 3-0 on the new IndyCar season.
Not so fast, scowled Josef Newgarden, who went to sleep the night before the race Sunday stewing over a question he’d been asked after qualifying by a reporter who inquired, “At what point does Colton Herta check out tomorrow?”
It was his first career victory in 10 starts at the most prestigious street course race in the United States. He was the leader in the 2011 Indy Lights race when he crashed with two laps remaining. Team Penske last opened an IndyCar season with three consecutive wins in 2012, when the team won the first four races.
“This is not an easy race to win. I don’t know what it looked like from the outside, but I was working my butt off with Grojean there at the end,” said Newgarden. He led 28 laps but had ceded the lead to Newgarden when Herta crashed out of the race with 29 laps remaining. He said he was pushing too hard when he crashed.
Will Power of Team Penske was fourth and Pato O’Ward salvaged his sloppy start to the season with a fifth-place finish. The Arrow McLaren SP driver is supposed to be a championship contender but has made mistakes in each of the first three race weekends and is admittedly distracted by his desire for a new contract.