LONG BEACH, Calif. – Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden was able to hold off a determined charge from Andretti Autosport’s Romain Grosjean on the final restart with five laps to go. The two-time NTT IndyCar Series champion went on to win his first Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on Sunday.
It was Newgarden’s second-straight victory. He also won a dramatic last lap, last turn victory in the March 20 race at Texas Motor Speedway.
“It’s definitely up there on the list,” Newgarden said. “Man, this was definitely a fight. I was trying to get Grosjean to use up his reds (tires). I’ve been trying to win a race here for 11 years. I’m so happy to get it done.
“Grosjean overall had a better shot at getting it done, but we were able to hold on.”
It was Team Penske’s third victory to start the season. The last time Team Penske won the first three races in a row was in 2012. The team would go on to win the first four races that season.
The race ended under caution after Takuma Sato crashed into the tire barrier on the final lap.
Click here for the race results.
Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet defeated Grosjean’s No. 28 Honda by 1.2869 seconds. It was Grosjean’s first podium with Andretti Autosport.
Defending IndyCar champion Alex Palou was third in the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing. Two-time Long Beach winner Will Power was fourth for Team Penske with Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward of Mexico rounding out the top five.
Jimmie Johnson, driving with a broken right hand, raced his way up to 17th position after starting 25th. But with 10 laps to go, the seven-time NASCAR Cup Series champion lost it in Turn 8. He spun and backed it into the wall.
David Malukas tried to avoid Johnson’s No. 48 Carvana/American Legion Honda but ran into the wall.
“I lost it so early, I’m not sure there was contact from behind,” Johnson said. “There were inches of rubber stacked up around that race track and I was unsure where to place it.
“This comes with it. I feel bad I put the team in this position. This deal isn’t easy. You have to live on the razor’s edge. There is no room for error. I’ll learn from these mistakes, and we’ll come back harder. What I went through this weekend, I can carry though like this for the next couple of weeks. I’ll see a hand specialist in North Carolina tomorrow and determine whether to put a screw it in or not and how long the recovery would be.”
That set up the final restart of the race. Grosjean tried to get past Newgarden but didn’t have enough to complete the move. Newgarden kept his No. 2 Chevrolet in front to claim the 22nd win of his IndyCar career, tying him with Tony Bettenhausen and Emerson Fittipaldi for 20th all-time.
Newgarden led 32 laps in the race. Colton Herta led 28 laps after starting on the pole. Herta’s race ended when he hit the wall in Turn 9 on his in-lap for what would have been his final pit stop.
Palou led 22 laps and remains third in the championship.
“We did a good strategy, to be honest,” Palou said. “We were so close. We had a really good pit stop again but we came out behind Josef. They did an amazing job. It wasn’t our day, but we’ll try again at Barber.
“We have more points than last year. We came here with 30 points to the first position and now we are 15. We are flying behind the radar or out of the radar, but whatever.”
Power’s fourth place finish continues a fine start to his season.
“I didn’t have much for the guys at the front,” Power said. “I was happy with fourth considering where we were starting. It’s the most consistent start to the season that we’ve had in a long time, so I’m happy with that.
“That’s the way it rolls. Sometimes it works for you and sometimes it works against you.”
O’Ward’s fifth place finish was a bit of a comeback after a disappointing start to the season.
“There’s 14 races to go,” O’Ward said. “We took a big step in qualifying. I had a great race car today. Unlucky we weren’t starting further up front.
“Eyes forward.”
With the victory, Newgarden takes over the IndyCar Series points lead with 118. Scott McLaughlin, who finished 14th, is five points back. Palou is third, 15 behind, Power is fourth, 16 points back and Scott Dixon, who finished sixth, is 35 points out of the lead.
By finishing second, Grosjean is sixth in the standings, 43 behind the leader.
The next IndyCar Series race is the May 1 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park. Before that, however, is a two-day test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 106th Indianapolis 500 on April 20 and 21.