Alex Palou picked up right where he left off in 2025, opening the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season with a dominant victory in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Palou won his third consecutive and fourth overall series championship by a whopping 196 points – an advantage of more than three races’ worth of points – last season, and he and Chip Ganassi Racing showed the same swagger on a sun-splashed Sunday in Florida. Palou cruised to his 20th career victory in just his 99th start, driving his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 12.4948-second victory over the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet of NTT P1 Award winner Scott McLaughlin.
Christian Lundgaard, who started 12th, rallied to complete the podium finishers in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Kyle Kirkwood dropped from second late in the 100-lap race to finish fourth in the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda fielded by Andretti Global.
Pato O’Ward put two Arrow McLaren cars into the top five after finishing fifth in the team’s No. 5 Chevrolet.
Stay tuned for a complete report.