Newgarden led 92 laps, losing the lead after a slow first pitstop but battling back to quickly reaffirm his dominance.
He started from the pole, using the harder primary tyres versus the softer alternates of fellow front-row starter Felix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank Racing), and led the field to the first green flag of the season.
Newgarden held his top spot through a frantic Turn 1 from Rosenqvist, as Colton Herta (Andretti Global, starting on alternates) grabbed third from Pato O’Ward (Arrow McLaren, on primaries) around the outside at Turn 1 and dived to his inside at Turn 2.
Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson grabbed fifth, ahead of a feisty Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) and Rinus VeeKay (Ed Carpenter Racing), as a tentative Romain Grosjean (Juncos Hollinger Racing) slumped to eighth after getting shuffled out at Turn 1 as McLaughlin steamed from ninth to sixth, bumping past VeeKay down the inside of the opening corner.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s best-placed driver Christian Lundgaard sustained a right-rear puncture after a touch from behind at Turn 4 and was forced to pit at the end of the opening lap.
Newgarden led Rosenqvist by just under a second after 10 laps, with a train comprising Herta, O’Ward, Ericsson and McLaughlin a further 3s in arrears as the 100-lap race snoozed into full fuel-saving mode.
Newgarden was leading by 1.9s when 10th-placed Marcus Armstrong, the first of the Chip Ganassi Racing runners, crashed at Turn 10 on lap 26, breaking his front-right corner, bringing out the first full-course caution of the season. “A costly mistake,” he rued.
Source: Autosport