Alex Palou en route to victory Sunday at the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Street Circuit. (James Black/Penske Entertainment photo)

By Max Corcoran, SWN Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 1, 2026) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou picked up right where he left off last year, as the defending and four-time series champion won the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the city’s 1.8-mile street circuit for the second year in a row.

Along with Palou, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin and Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard completed the inaugural podium of the new season, as that duo finished second and third, respectively.

“I don’t know what to say from this team anymore,” said Palou. “It’s been a long offseason. I was sad last year that the season ended. I just wanted to continue going, because I knew it was so magical and so tough to get such a great car, such a great team behind me.

“Yeah, this team has done it again here for this weekend. It’s very early on, but still, I think that shows all the preparation they did, and I had by far the best car today.”

The race featured just two cautions, with a small pileup on lap one taking out Mick Schumacher and Santino Ferrucci, while heavily damaging Sting Ray Robb, who wound up 21st out of the 25 entrants.

The second caution flew on lap 40 for Scott Dixon, whose right rear tire separated itself from Dixon’s No. 9 car and forced the yellow. Beyond that, the final 58 laps ran uninterrupted under green.

Several drivers made their debuts for new teams in the new season, most notably Will Power moving on from Team Penske after 17 seasons. Power moved to Andretti Autosport, but the pageantry was short-lived as early damage set the team behind several laps.

Power ultimately finished the day 22nd, 45 laps down.

Power’s Penske replacement, David Malukas, came over from A.J. Foyt Racing but also found trouble with a mid-race flat tire. He managed to keep the car in one piece and on the lead lap, ultimately coming home 13th.

Three rookies also made their series debuts, with reigning Indy NXT champion Dennis Hauger leading the trio with a 10th-place result.

"This weekend is a dream come true,” said an elated Hauger. “I have dreaming of this for a long time, to get P3 in my first ever qualifying performance in an IndyCar was surreal and to turn that into a top 10 finish is such a great feeling.

“I think we did good this weekend, but I know we have more we can find in ourselves to finish even better going forward. We can build off of this performance, and I’m excited to go out and do this all again next week. I had all of my partners from Norway here this weekend, so I’m happy I could give them a good performance for them. I’m so grateful for all their support.”

Last year’s Indy NXT runner-up, Caio Collet, came home 17th, and the aforementioned accident for Schumacher slotted the son of seven-time Formula One champion Michael Schumacher last of the 25 starters on the grid.

The NTT IndyCar Series season next moves to Arizona’s Phoenix Raceway for a weekend alongside the NASCAR Cup Series, as part of the Desert Double at the iconic facility. IndyCar makes its return to the one-mile desert oval for the first time since 2018.

Coverage of the Good Ranchers 250 begins Saturday, March 7 at 3 p.m. ET, live on FOX, the IndyCar Radio Network, and SiriusXM IndyCar Nation, channel 218.

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