Josef Newgarden was disappointed following qualifications for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, but his outlook drastically improved following the Verizon IndyCar Series season opener.

“We scored a top-10 finish, which is good points. You have to be scoring in the top 10 every weekend,” said Newgarden, who started 22nd (last) but steadily made up positions over the course of the 110 laps on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit to finish ninth.

We’ve seen Newgarden charge through the field before:

• 2013 -- 22nd to ninth-place finish at Barber, 25th to fifth at Sao Paulo, 24th to seventh at Belle Isle 1, 15th to fifth at Pocono, 18th to fifth at Houston 1.

• 2012 – 19th to 11th at St. Petersburg, 25th to 13th at Texas, 20th to 13th at Toronto.

“We started really buried in the field, which was not ideal, but we kept fighting,” said the third-year Sarah Fisher Hartman Racing driver, who was 14th in the championship standings last year. “There are a lot of fighters on this team who never give up. It's a great way to start the year.”

Justin Wilson will take eighth-place points to Long Beach after he started 16th in the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing entry. Simon Pagenaud gained nine positions in the No. 77 Schmidt Peterson Hamilton Motorsports car to finish fifth, while three-time race winner Helio Castroneves moved up seven spots in the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske car to secure a podium finish.

Graham Rahal advanced from 21st to 11th in the early part of the 110-lap race and settled for 14th place in the No. 15 National Guard car for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Also of note, Sebastian Saavedra, who opened the 2013 season at St. Petersburg with a 20th-place finish (contact) after qualifying ninth, started and came home 11th in the No. 17 AFS KVAFS Racing car. He recorded two higher finishes than 11th during the 19 races in 2013. Mikhail Aleshin in 12th was the top-finishing rookie.