The six months that have passed since the 2025 championship finale at Nashville SuperSpeedway have in no way diminished Álex Palou’s form! The Spanish rider, a four-time champion, is still going strong. IndyCar and who has won the last three titles, once again dominated the opening round of the season on the streets of St. Petersburg, and took the win ahead of Scott McLaughlin (Penske) and Christian Lundgaard (Arrow). McLaren).

Starting fourth, Palou quickly overtook rookie Dennis Hauger (Dale Coyne Racing) to move into third, behind leader McLaughlin and Marcus Ericsson (Andretti). The three drivers remained in close formation throughout the first stint, and the first round of pit stops proved decisive for Álex Palou.

McLaughlin was indeed the first to pit, followed by Ericsson on the next lap, and two laps later by Palou. While significant tire wear was expected, especially on the soft compound, Palou took advantage of an overcut to take the lead, ahead of Ericsson and McLaughlin.

A safety car period on lap 44 of 100, due to Scott Dixon losing his right rear wheel, brought the field closer together, but the Spaniard then produced an exceptional effort, building a lead of over 14 seconds by lap 67 when he returned to the pits. Forced to use hard tires on his final stint, unlike his rivals, Palou understandably lost some of his advantage at the start of his stint. He ultimately won by 13 seconds over Scott McLaughlin and Christian Rasmussen, who climbed from 14th on the grid. Starting just ahead of Kyle Kirkwood, the Dane finished ahead of the Andretti Global driver, but much higher than his starting position!

Starting fifteenth, the Floridian used an impeccable strategy to position himself in the fight for the podium. Unfortunately for him, Kirkwood had to conserve more fuel at the end of the race, allowing Lundgaard and McLaughlin to pull away. Starting in the top six, the two Dale Coyne Racing drivers had a steady race, which ultimately saw Romain Grosjean crossing the finish line in eighth place, two positions ahead of his teammate, Norwegian rookie Dennis Hauger. For one of the other two rookies at the start, Mick Schumacher (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing), the race came to an abrupt halt at the fourth corner. The German driver collided with Santino Ferrucci (AJ Foyt Racing) and Sting Ray Robb (Juncos Hollinger Racing), and was unable to restart after ending up perched on Ferrucci’s rear wing.

Turn 4 turns into CHAOS! 😬

Sting Ray Robb, Santino Ferrucci and Mick Schumacher are involved in an incident on Lap 1. pic.twitter.com/JzRWGlMTqS

– NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) March 1, 2026

The season continues on Saturday at the Phoenix oval, with a race held as a curtain-raiser to the main event. NASCAR Cup Series

IndyCar – St. Petersburg
The classification of the race

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