Josef Newgarden has won an IndyCar race on the Long Beach street circuit for the first time – He edged out Romain Grosjean in the closing laps
The second win in a row: Josef Newgarden has won the third round of the 2022 IndyCar season at Long Beach. It was the first time the 31-year-old had been allowed to turn into Victory Lane on the street circuit in California. After his oval triumph in Texas, it was already his second victory in the current championship. The US American also entered the winners’ list for the 22nd time in his career.
Newgarden had his hands full during the race: At the start, he defended his second position against IndyCar champion Alex Palou, while polesitter Colton Herta defended his lead at the start. The drivers divided the 85-lap race into a total of three stints. After 28 laps, it was Palou who stopped first from the leading group to change from the soft red tyres to the more durable black tyres.
While Herta came in for service on lap 30, Newgarden was the last of the top 3 to turn into the pit lane. The US American rejoined the track behind Palou, who had taken the lead by surprising his rivals with the undercut, taking advantage of the open track and managing the tyres well. Herta had to settle for third place at the start of the second stint.
Herta can’t take the pressure
The latter tried to put pressure on Newgarden, but the Penske driver managed to hold on to second place on cold new tyres. Herta had almost turned into a wrong pit too early, so he had to make a swerve in the pit lane, which cost the Andretti driver a few tenths and second place.
Palou opened the round of second pit stops in the leading group on lap 56. Only a few seconds later, there was a dramatic turn at the front: Herta braked on his old tyres in turn 9 and crashed into the wall. The race was over for the pole sitter. Afterwards, Herta spoke of a “stupid mistake” that had cost him “the chance of victory”.
Newgarden with advantage in the closing stages
It remained green as Herta had parked a car in a safe spot, so Newgarden headed to the pits for service just one lap later. He returned to the track just a few metres ahead of Palou to take the lead in the final third of the race. Again, the Penske driver managed to defend his position against the competition despite the cold tyres.
Tactically, Newgarden also had the advantage, as at this point he had 20 seconds more push-to-pass than the Spaniard in second place. Only a few seconds later, Simon Pagenaud spun in the famous roundabout and swerved onto the green of the traffic island. Rinus Veekay still hit the rear of the braking Scott McLaughlin, who had taken up the race as the only top driver on black tyres.
Thanks to the yellow, Grosjean caught up with the leading group and immediately attacked on his faster but shorter-lived red tyres after the restart. At first Palou managed to defend himself, but only a few corners later the Frenchman cracked the current champion. Both then chased Newgarden at the front. But as before, Newgarden defended brilliantly, so Grosjean was unable to exploit his pace advantage on the tyres.
With ten laps to go, Jimmie Johnson, who was racing with a broken hand, and David Malukas crashed into the tyre barrier at turn 8. Again the safety car had to be deployed. With five laps to go, the race resumed. On the first lap under green, the drivers were not allowed to use the push-to-pass system. Newgarden got a good restart and stayed in first place.
Race comes to an end under yellow
With just two laps remaining, Takuma Sato crashed into the wall. The Japanese driver thus triggered the last yellow phase of the race, which is why Newgarden won behind the safety car ahead of Grosjean and Palou. Behind them, Will Power and Patricio O’Ward, who had started from eleventh place, rounded off the top 5. St Petersburg winner McLaughlin ultimately finished ninth.
Big bad luck befell Felix Rosenqvist, who kept pace with the leaders in his McLaren in the early stages. After the first caution phase, which had been triggered by Dalton Kallett on lap six, there was contact between Alexander Rossi and the Swede. While Rossi was able to continue without any problems, Rosenqvist dropped back to eleventh place. He ultimately only finished eleventh.
Scott Dixon pitted as early as lap 22 and tried to make up positions strategically with his early stops. The tactic didn’t work, which is why Dixon finished sixth and Rossi eighth. On lap 66, third-placed Marcus Ericsson touched the wall and collided with Dixon. The second Swede in the field retired.
In the overall standings, Newgarden overtook the opening winner McLaughlin. The Penske driver has 118 points on his account. McLaughlin followed in second with 113 points, while Palou (103 points) and Power (102 points) also cracked the 100-point mark. The fourth round of the IndyCar Series season takes place on May 1 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham.
