ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Marcus Ericsson won a chaotic IndyCar season opener, leading the final four laps of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg after Pato O’Ward had engine trouble.

O’Ward finished second by 2.4113 seconds and led 23 laps before his No. 5 Dallara-Chevrolet experienced a brief loss of power out of the final corner on Lap 97 of 100.

“Obviously, that’s racing,” Ericsson told NBC Sports’ Marty Snider. “I feel bad for Pato for having an issue. That’s racing. You need to get to the finish line. We were having such a good weekend. The car was fantastic all the way through, and we were hunting him down, putting the pressure on and then things happened. Really proud of the team.

“That was a hell of a start to the season.”

O’Ward said the engine in his No. 5 Dallara-Chevrolet briefly shut off in Turn 14 because of a plenum backfire. According to a Chevy spokesperson, it’s a random blip that can happen to any turbocharged engine, particularly those running at high temperatures as in IndyCar.

“We did everything right today,” O’Ward said. “Just …. Ugh. It’s always something. The boys deserved that. Yeah, (Texas) is next. We’ll fight for that one and compared to where we were last year, it’s a massive step. We gave that one away. We can’t have that happen anymore.”

Asked by NBC Sports whether it was an Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team issue or a Chevrolet issue, O’Ward smiled and took a long pause.

“We need to analyze,” O’Ward said. “It comes up randomly. You can’t really predict it.

“So yeah, we just have to have a look into it. We ended up with some great points. We started the year like we wanted to, right, but they’re very valuable points at the end of the day. We just got 10 points thrown away. We’ll have a look at all the data and stuff and then just make sure how for that not to happen.”

Josef Newgarden (17th) also had a late-race engine fire and finished five laps down. Chevy was unable to diagnose Newgarden’s problem at the track because of missing engine parts. The No. 2 engine will be examined in the coming days after returning to Chevy’s Michigan shop.

Ericsson became the fourth defending Indy 500 winner to win the opening race of the next season. It’s Ganassi’s second win in St. Pete and first since Dario Franchitti in 2011.

It’s the fourth career victory for Ericsson and the Chip Ganassi Racing driver’s first since winning last year’s Indy 500.

“I think people forget us in some conservations when they talk about the championship,” said Ericsson, who won his his first race with new Ganassi team manager Taylor Kiel as his strategist. “We’re here to win. We won the 500 last year. We were leading the championship for a long time. That’s our mission this year. This is a good start to it.

“Taylor’s been a great addition to the team. He’s brought a lot of experience and energy to the team. Win on your first try, it doesn’t get much better than that. Such a great start to the season.”

Noting that each of his four IndyCar wins (Detroit and Nashville in 2021 are the others) have included a red flag, Ericsson laughed off the notion

“Today was another one of those races where a lot of things happened,” said the Swede, who won the inaugural race at Nashville after going airborne on the fifth lap.

“it seems when a lot of things are happening, and people are making mistakes, we seem to be able to stay cool, both me and the car, and the guys on the strategy and pit stops and everything. And we seem to be able to get everything together in those situations.

“All those races are very high-intensity races. It’s not sort of straightforward races. There’s a lot of things happening. You need to be ready to adjust your strategy, pit stops, restarts. There’s a lot of things going on, and we seem to be very good at that. That’s definitely one of our strengths. Not saying we cannot win without the red flag, but it’s definitely been working for us.”

Scott Dixon finished third, followed by Alexander Rossi (in his Arrow McLaren debut) and Callum Ilott in a career-best fifth.

Graham Rahal, Will Power, Alex Palou, Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas rounded out the top 10.

It was a devastating day for Andretti Autosport, which took three of the top six spots in qualifying but had all four of its Dallara-Hondas involved in wrecks.

The last involved pole-sitter Romain Grosjean, who led 31 laps but collided with Scott McLaughlin (who led 37 laps) in Turn 4 on Lap 71 of 100.

McLaughlin received a drive-through penalty from IndyCar for avoidable contact.

“What happened was really obvious on TV, so I’m not going to elaborate too much on that,” Grosjean told NBC Sports’ Dave Burns. “I’m very, very disappointed, and I hope there’s going to be rules put in place. What an amazing weekend. We had a super fast car, and the team did a really good job, but I’m really annoyed to be talking to you with the race going on.

“That’s not racing.”

McLaughlin agreed and took full blame in an interview with NBC Sports’ Kevin Lee. He later found Grosjean in the paddock for an in-person apology.

“I’m very sorry to Romain,” McLaughlin said. “He’s a friend of mine. We were both going for the win. I just made a big mistake. I tried to push on cold tires and didn’t have the grip and locked the rears and made a little bit of contact that took us both out.

“Look, I don’t race like that. I apologize. I’ve had plenty of good battles with many good drivers. I just made (a mistake). You have your good and bad days, and I really do apologize to Romain, and I’ll go see him soon. I need to make better decisions.”

Andretti teammate Colton Herta also was outraged at a rival after being squeezed into the Turn 8 tire barrier to bring out a Lap 50 yellow.

“He wanted to use the next state over for room on the exit,” Herta told NBC Sports’  Lee about Power while watching the replay. “I don’t know what else I can do there except hit the wall. Yep. What an ass.”

The other two Andretti drivers were involved in separate airborne crashes in the first 42 laps as the 2023 season got off to a wild start on the streets of St. Pete.

Devlin DeFrancesco was OK after his No. 29 Dallara-Honda went skyward from being T-boned by rookie Benjamin Pedersen in a pileup on the first lap.

Kyle Kirkwood, who was making his Andretti debut, briefly took flight, too, but he was able to continue after sailing over Jack Harvey (who had slowed for a spin by Rinus VeeKay).

Harvey needed help from medical personnel exiting his car and was in distress while sitting on the back step of an ambulance. IndyCar medical director Dr. Julia Vazier said Harvey was taken to Bayfront Medical Center in St. Petersburg because of “an abundance of caution.”

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing later posted on social media that Harvey had been checked and released.

ST PETERSBURG, Florida – It was shaping up as a battle royale between last year’s winner, Scott McLaughlin, and this year’s pole-sitter, Romain Grosjean, in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

It was obvious that McLaughlin of Team Penske and Grosjean of Andretti Autosport had the two best cars in Sunday’s race. That’s just what race fans want to see, the two best battle it out all the way to the checkered flag.

McLaughlin, who won the NTT IndyCar Series opening race at St. Petersburg last year, led a race-high 37 laps. Grosjean, who won the pole on Saturday by four-tenths of a second over teammate Colton Herta, led 31 laps.

It appeared the race would be determined in a real battle after both drivers made their final pit stops.

Grosjean pitted on Lap 71 for what he hoped would be the final stop of the race. One lap later, McLaughlin pitted as the leader.

As Grosjean came down the frontstraight at full speed, McLaughlin left pit lane on cold tires and the two cars intersected at pit out in a side-by-side battle.

But as the two cars raced into the Turn 4 area, both made contact, and both crashed into the tire barrier.

Grosjean’s race was over, but McLaughlin would later continue in the race and finish 13th, one lap down. He was issued an “avoidable contact” penalty by IndyCar Race Control.

Both drivers sat in their cars as they waited for the IndyCar Safety Team to reach the area. Grosjean climbed out of his car, walked over to the tire barrier and was furious.

WILD OPENER: Marcus Ericsson triumphs in chaotic Grand Prix of St. Pete

He pounded his fist into the stack of tires and was visibly upset.

After making the trip to IndyCar’s new medical trailer for the mandatory checkup, the Frenchman gave NBC’s Dave Burns a few cryptic comments alluding to the fact he thought McLaughlin was at fault (while also saluting his illustrious resume that includes three IndyCar wins and three Supercars championships).

“You saw it on TV, so I’m not going to elaborate too much on that,” Grosjean said. “I’m very, very disappointed, and I hope some rules will be put in place.

“We had a super fast car, but I’m really annoyed. What we saw today on the track was not racing.”

When Burns asked, what it was, Grosjean replied, “I don’t know. You tell me.”

Meantime, McLaughlin was able to finish the race, one-lap down in 13th-place finish.

Shortly after Marcus Ericsson of Chip Ganassi Racing crossed the finish line as the winner, McLaughlin drove his No. 3 Chevrolet down pit lane in front of his Team Penske pit.

Behind that pit area were some guests and VIPs from DHL, Grosjean’s sponsor. They stood against the rail and loudly booed McLaughlin, venting their displeasure at the driver they believed was responsible.

“You’re a bum, McLaughlin,” a fan yelled at the Team Penske driver. “You crasher.”

When McLaughlin took off his helmet, the dejection was evident on his face. The New Zealand native took it very hard and sat on the pit wall with his head dropped in dejection.

He shouldered the blame for what happened.

“First of all, I’m very sorry to Romain, he’s a friend of mine and I made a mistake,” McLaughlin said. “I just made a big mistake. I tried to push him on cold tires and didn’t have the grip on the inside like I did on the Greens. I locked the rears, and we made wheel contact that time and it took us both out.

“Look, I don’t race like that, I apologize. I’ve had plenty of good battles with many good drivers.

“I was racing for the win. I just made a stuff up. I really do apologize to Romain, and I’ll go see him in a bit. I knew if I could stay in front of him, I had a shot to win. I need to be better than that, I need to make better decisions. I was racing hard; I was racing for the win.

“I’ll go man up and I’m going to see Romain right now.”

McLaughlin was hoping to back up the first win of his career last year on the streets of St. Petersburg with another win to open the 2023 season.

Prior to that, the strategy was working well, and the car had speed. That is what made what happened so frustrating.

“The guys did an awesome job with strategy and Ben Bretzman (his engineer) gave me a great car,” McLaughlin told NBCSports.com. “There is nothing more they could have done.

“I wish we had pitted behind Agustin Canapino there. That cost us a couple of seconds.”

McLaughlin predicted the race would be wild, and it was. Two drivers went airborne in two separate crashes. Luckily, none of them were injured.

“We predicted it was going to be wild,” McLaughlin said. “Last year was wild and this year was wilder.

“I’m just gutted, man.”

True to his word, McLaughlin walked over to Grosjean’s transporter at Andretti Autosport to apologize and accept the blame for his role in the incident.

The two drivers hugged twice and Grosjean smiled.

“We all race, we all make mistakes,” Grosjean said. “Scott (McLaughlin) came over and apologized, which means everything to me. He did get a penalty.

“Unfortunately, that doesn’t really change anything for my race, but the fact that he comes here and says he’s sorry is a big deal.

“I know that we were the fastest car on track by a long way and that’s all that matters. We were competitive, we were up there, and we have 16 races left. We showed today with Andretti that we can be up there.”

As McLaughlin’s engineer, Bretzman believed changes to Turn 3 from last year’s race course created an all-out battle heading into Turn 4. That is why he was not surprised that so many of Sunday’s incidents came in that portion of the track.

“The whole race was getting into Turn 4 – who can get there first and get out of there first,” Bretzman told NBCSports.com. “Looking back at it, the only thing we could have done better was pitting on the same lap as he did. Then, it would have been pit crew versus pit crew, and we’ll take that battle all day.”

Bretzman said there were a lot of cars that had issues in Turn 3 and Turn 4 in practice, similar to when changes were made to the track in 2020.

“There are 27 cars and luckily we finished 13th, so we take that as a positive,” Bretzman said. “It’s going to be tight. You have to keep finishing up front. If you can, you have to get what you can.

“I’m happy we were able to keep running and at least finish 13th. It’s better than the alternative.

“We have to keep bringing it, but it’s not going to be easy.”

So, what can Bretzman do to cheer up his driver?

“You just have to give him the night,” Bretzman said. “He’ll be back to normal, Monday.

“But he’s going to feel like a punching bag tonight.”

It was not a good day for Team Penske. Josef Newgarden finished two laps down after his Chevrolet had a sensor issue on the engine that caused a small fire.

“Pretty tough day,” Newgarden said. “Just terrible ending. We had something mechanically break unfortunately on the engine side. Had a small fire. Tried to come to pit lane and shut it off, get it back to pit lane and get the fire out.

“It’s unfortunate because I think we were on for a top-five. I made a mistake on the last restart unfortunately with about 25 to go. We were restarting fifth and I went back to either eighth or ninth. I just got wide. I think for sure a top-10. We were capable of producing a good day which would have been a good start. Unfortunately, we just had to stop early.

“A real good job to the team. We had a really solid race. Everything was executed just beautifully as always. The Hitachi car felt racy. We made some moves there in the middle. I was proud of everybody. It was a good first race to work together; a lot of new people on the crew. Everyone performed incredibly, really good stops. So, I feel really encouraged for the next round. We’ll just get back on it and get this thing tuned up and keep going.”

McLaughlin wasn’t the only Penske driver to be assessed an avoidable contact penalty.

Defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Will Power rebounded for seventh after being sent to the rear just past halfway for his role in an incident that took out Colton Herta, who had qualified second.

“We banged all the way in, and I went up the inside, and I had as much lock as I could,” Power said. “I feel bad that it ruined his day, but I thought for sure he knew I was there. I was up his inside, and I just understeered. It wasn’t like just a big divebomb. I was here, and he kind of hung on the outside.

“I hate to ruin anyone’s day. I do. I hate that. I like to race these guys clean, and he races me clean, so I feel really bad. He ended up out, and I was able to keep going. Still a very good day for us. I’m really happy to get the Verizon car in the top-10. A very hectic day.

“I will definitely talk to Colton and let him know that it was cold tires and marbles and as much lock in to give him as much room. It was unfortunate.

“I always feel bloody bad after incidents like that.”

It’s already been a difficult 2023 off the track for Power, whose wife, Liz, has been battling a serious staph infection that required spinal surgery and two hospitalizations.

With so much weighing on his mind, Power will take the seventh-place finish and move on to the next race at Texas Motor Speedway on April 2.

“A great day,” he said. “I’m really happy with the day. The guys made all the right choices on tires and strategy. Unfortunately, we got the penalty.

“That’s IndyCar racing. It’s very, very aggressive.

“The cars were on edge around this track this weekend. Turn 3 made it very difficult. I’m not surprised. It’s going to be a pretty hectic year.”

At 42, Power can take the long view of the season. He can also understand the torment that McLaughlin felt because he was racing for the victory in the battle with Grosjean that eventually cost both the race.

“It really sucks for Scott McLaughlin,” Power said. “Do you give up a win to finish for the championship, or do you go for the win? Those are the lessons you learn. It’s tough.

“You always want to win the race. Every driver has their own personality, so you know what you are dealing with when you are out there fighting at the end.”

It was a tough lesson learned by McLaughlin on Sunday, but in Power’s mind, it’s a lesson worth learning.

Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500