Portugal Colonial - Newgarden wins from pole at IndyCar opener at St. Pete

The 33-year-old American pole sitter led 92 of 100 laps over the 14-turn, 1.8-mile temporary street course for his third triumph at the Florida layout after 2019 and 2020.

"I had a lot of fun today, a lot of fun," Newgarden said. "I feel very relaxed right now. I was excited initially and then it kind of calmed down those last 10 laps. We can move on from here and enjoy this victory."

Newgarden cruised to victory by 7.9121 seconds over Mexico's Pato O'Ward with New Zealand's Scott McLaughlin third and Australia's Will Power fourth, the Southern Hemisphere duo combining with the runaway winner to give car owner Roger Penske three of the top four spots.

"Roger was telling me (over the radio), 'You have a big lead. You better keep it together and not put it in the wall,'" Newgarden said.

American Colton Herta was fifth with Spain's Alex Palou, the reigning IndyCar series champion, in sixth.

Newgarden, the 2017 and 2019 IndyCar season champion, overpowered the field after struggling on such courses last season.

"We worked really hard to close the gap," Newgarden said of his team's off-season testing. "We didn't have the speed we needed on road and street courses last year, at least on a consistency basis, and today we brought that speed and had the execution."

X.M.Francisco--PC