Race control officials opted to throw the red flag on lap 198 after a multi-car collision coming to the green flag with four laps remaining, which left only time for a single-lap, green-white-checkered finish for cars that came straight from the pitlane.
That allowed Newgarden to pass last year’s winner Marcus Ericsson to triumph in America’s biggest open-wheel race at his 12th attempt.
“Well, I'm happy they did it to give a good finish,” said Newgarden. “Obviously, if I was in Marcus's situation, I would have said, ‘Yeah, just end it.’
“There are so many different ways that this could have played out, and you could have said this is fair or that's fair. I've seen it all. At this point, I'm just really thankful they did it the way they did.
“I don't really care! I've seen a lot of situations where it didn't go our way.
“It went our way, and I'll take it. I'll take it all day.”
Source: Autosport