Josef Newgarden scores first victory at Long Beach, holding off Romain Grosjean

LONG BEACH, California — Josef Newgarden capitalized on a swift pit stop and good strategy, fending off a charge Sunday by Romain Grosjean to win the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, his first NTT IndyCar Series victory on the famed street circuit.

It was the second consecutive NTT IndyCar Series victory for the Team Penske driver, who also won at Texas Motor Speedway last month. Penske has opened the 2022 season by winning the first three races (with Scott McLaughlin the victor in the season opener at St. Petersburg).

Newgarden led a race-high 32 of 85 laps, cycling ahead of pole-sitter Colton Herta on his first stop. He then took the lead when defending series champion Alex Palou stopped. Newgarden barely held onto first after Newgarden made his second stop on Lap 57.

“I’ve been trying to win a race here for 11 years,” Newgarden told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider after his 22nd career victory (which ranks 20th all time on the IndyCar list). “It feels so good to finally get it done.”

Grosjean, who pulled alongside Newgarden on the final restart with five laps remaining but was unable to complete the pass, finished second and was followed by Palou, Will Power and Pato O’Ward.

The restart was set up by a caution on Lap 75 after Jimmie Johnson spun in Turn 8 in an accident that also collected rookie David Malukas.

It was the third crash of the race weekend for Johnson, who was racing with a carbon fiber splint on the right hand that he fractured in a Friday wreck. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver was fine, though, waving to fans of his native Southern California while walking to a safety vehicle.

The tight and treacherous 11-turn, 1.968-mile street course produced its share of incidents and crashes, most notably for the defending