Alex Palou started 2026 in the same form he carried through the previous three seasons, as he used pit strategy to climb to the front, winning the opening round for the NTT IndyCar Series at Sunday’s (March 1) Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Almost repeating how he won the race last year, Palou hung around in third during the opening stint. When polesitter Scott McLaughlin and Marcus Ericsson were battling after the first round of green flag stops, Palou exited comfortably in front of them, taking the lead. He never looked back, pacing the field for 59 laps.
“It’s been an amazing offseason,” Palou said. “Everybody at [Chip Ganassi Racing] and Honda have done a tremendous job. I don’t know what to say. The car was unbelievable today. Those firestones were everlasting; they would just keep going. Just an amazing car today. Can’t thank these guys enough.”
Street course ace Kyle Kirkwood tried to catch the four-time IndyCar champion during the last 30 laps, but only closed to within 5.5 seconds before tires fell off, falling back to fourth. Early frontrunner McLaughlin finished second, 12.4 seconds behind, with Christian Lundgaard third. Pato O’Ward rounded out the top five.
McLaughlin held the point from the start, leading 34 laps through the first round of pit stops. However, he was never able to gap Ericsson, who challenged him over the first third of the race. While McLaughlin did end up outdueling the Swede, it was only for second place, as Palou stretched his lead.
“It was a good start for the DEX Chevy and the Thirsty 3’s,” McLaughlin said. “I was super fast; it was just a mixed bag what tire you start on. Maybe we come back here and start on reds and get them out of the way. Overall, made the passes we needed to make at the right times, and I thought we maximized our day, and that’s what we needed to do.”
Dale Coyne Racing ‘Got Sweet Music’ in St. Petersburg IndyCar Qualifying
This was the first race with INDYCAR’s new rule enforcing the use of the alternate, red Firestone tires twice in a race, bumping the requirement by one from previous seasons. Teams had to figure out when to use their reds, while maintaining tire fall off. Palou’s team started with brand new alternates, followed by scuffs for their first two stints, before finishing on primary, black tires. It didn’t seem to matter which tire the No. 10 DHL Honda was on, though, as he stretched his lead comfortably during both stints.
Further in the field, two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden had the race of the day, moving from 23rd to finish seventh. He had crashed in practice on Friday and then didn’t make it out of Round 1 in qualifying Saturday afternoon. Rookie Dennis Hauger, who started third, ran a clean race, finishing 10th in his first IndyCar event.
Six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon hoped to finally break into victory lane at St. Pete, but after a pit stop, his right rear wheel fell off and ended his day. That brought out the second caution of the day. The first occurred on the opening lap of the race, when a crash in turn one took out rookie Mick Schumacher, as well as Santino Ferrucci. Sting Ray Robb picked up damage in the collision but was able to drive away.
2026 IndyCar St. Petersburg Race Results
Palou leaves St. Pete with his 20th IndyCar win in just his 99th race. Much like he did last year, and for the last three seasons, he takes the points lead to Phoenix Raceway in a week. Saturday (March 7) will feature the Good Ranchers 250 with coverage at 3 p.m. ET on FOX.
