Newgarden had dominated the early stages in his Chevrolet-powered Team Penske car from pole position, but an early caution period – caused by Marcus Armstrong’s crash – led to a round of pitstops under yellow during which he dropped to third after a slow rejoin from his pitbox.
He subsequently charged back to the front, passing Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist in successive laps to regain his lead, which he held until the finish.
But when asked if he was confident of retaking his track position at the front of the field, he replied: “No, definitely not.
“I went into the race comfortable with the fact that let's just have a good day. If we don't win, that's not the end all, be all. Let's just get good points.
“[But] as soon as we restarted, I'm like ‘I'm going past these guys’. I don't care if I wreck it. I'm just going to the front.
“I felt that today. So, it was fun to have the killer mentality. I think you've got to have that in a lot of ways in any race that you're in. It's hard to survive without it.
“But, no, I had no idea that we were just going to be able to get back out front and win.”
After a disastrous end to his 2024 campaign, when he slumped from second in the points to fifth in the final five rounds, Newgarden admitted that he’s changed his mindset for this season, removing the expectation to be perfect.
Source: Autosport