Josef Newgarden has taken victory in a dramatic Grand Prix of Long Beach, fending off a multitude of challenges in a masterclass of driving talent.
The start of the race was controlled by the polesitter Colton Herta, and it was a mostly precessional affair for much of the opening portion of the race.
The second half of the race was a thriller, however, with bold moves taking place on seemingly every corner of the 1.9-mile course.
Battles in pit lane shook up the order a bit and brought a few new drivers into the mix for the lead, and a slew of on-track battles ensued shortly after.
It was a titanic fight between Josef Newgarden, Romain Grosjean, and Alex Palou for the final 20 laps of the race, and fans of the series were witness to a treat of world-class driving.
After running side by side through corners that do no usually allow, and engaging in risky braking duels on the bumpy streets, the three skilled drivers sorted out their positions enough to run nose to tail at the head of the field.
A late caution left them to battle each other for the win in a five lap shootout around the tight city streets, but that was cut short by another caution and Newgarden was able to keep his position at the head of the field.
The win is the second in a row for the two-time series champion, and vaults the Team Penske driver into the points lead after three races.
Romain Grosjean ended the day a close second, and Alex Palou had to settle for third after not quite being able to mount an attack in the final laps.
After starting from pole and dominating the opening laps, Herta threw away a chance for a second consecutive win at Long Beach. Pushing too hard on the last lap of a stint, Herta became one of many drivers to get bitten by the concrete walls.
Marcus Ericsson also had a good weekend go awry in the final 20 laps, when his rear end stepped out and sent him into the barriers.
Ericsson’s team-mate Scott Dixon ran into the Swede while he was spun in the middle of the road, but amazingly was able to drive away with next to no damage and finished in sixth position.
Jimmie Johnson capped off a miserable weekend with a third crash near the end of the race. He joined Dalton Kellett, Devlin DeFrancesco, Callum Ilott, and David Malukas as the contingent of drivers who had to retire after contact.
In the end, there were only 16 cars still on course after 85 grueling laps, meaning quite a few teams will have their share of repair work to complete back at their respective shops.
The next race on the IndyCar calendar takes place from the countryside course of Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, May 1.
| # | Driver | Time / Gap | Laps led | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josef Newgarden | 01:46:48.0102 | 32 | 53 |
| 2 | Romain Grosjean | 1.2869 | – | 40 |
| 3 | Alex Palou | 1.7594 | 22 | 36 |
| 4 | Will Power | 2.9654 | 2 | 33 |
| 5 | Pato O’Ward | 3.7122 | – | 30 |
| 6 | Scott Dixon | 5.0605 | – | 28 |
| 7 | Graham Rahal | 5.3931 | – | 26 |
| 8 | Alexander Rossi | 7.3084 | – | 24 |
| 9 | Helio Castroneves | 8.9521 | – | 22 |
| 10 | Kyle Kirkwood | 12.8631 | – | 20 |
| 11 | Felix Rosenqvist | 14.2930 | – | 19 |
| 12 | Conor Daly | 15.2177 | – | 18 |
| 13 | Rinus VeeKay | 16.2460 | – | 17 |
| 14 | Scott McLaughlin | 17.9291 | – | 16 |
| 15 | Jack Harvey | 18.7807 | – | 15 |
| 16 | Tatiana Calderon | -1 lap | – | 14 |
| 17 | Takuma Sato | -2 laps | – | 13 |
| 18 | Christian Lundgaard | -2 laps | – | 12 |
| 19 | Simon Pagenaud | -4 laps | – | 11 |
| 20 | Jimmie Johnson | -12 laps | – | 10 |
| 21 | David Malukas | -13 laps | – | 9 |
| 22 | Marcus Ericsson | -19 laps | – | 8 |
| 23 | Colton Herta | -30 laps | 28 | 9 |
| 24 | Callum Ilott | -30 laps | – | 6 |
| 25 | Devlin DeFrancesco | -50 laps | 1 | 6 |
| 26 | Dalton Kellett | -80 laps | – | 5 |
