Entering the 2025 season, a major question for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES was how to stop the championship streak of three-time and two-time reigning series champion Alex Palou.
Even after the season's first race on the sunny streets of St. Petersburg, that question remains unanswered.
Palou began his pursuit of a third consecutive Astor Challenge Cup as series champion in the best possible way, winning the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding with a masterful display of strategy, speed, and patience. He drove his No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 2.8669-second victory over teammate and six-time series champion Scott Dixon, who revealed he raced the last 90 laps of the 100-lap event without radio communication in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
“What an amazing job by everybody,” Palou said. “They gave me everything we needed this weekend to win. I told you yesterday we had a fast car.
“Our strategy changed a lot during that first yellow, but I’m so glad we got that No. 10 in Victory Lane. It’s been 138 days since Nashville (2024 season finale), and I’ve been dreaming about this every single night.”
Spaniard Palou, who began in eighth position, secured his 12th career victory in the series. The Ganassi team achieved its first 1-2 finish since July 2023 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
Two-time series champion Josef Newgarden completed the podium in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet after Dixon overtook him for second on the final lap.
NTT P1 Award winner Scott McLaughlin finished fourth in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet, as Team Penske joined Chip Ganassi Racing with two drivers in the top four. McLaughlin was among seven drivers leading today, heading a race-high 40 laps.
Florida native and resident Kyle Kirkwood completed the top five at his home race in the No. 27 Chili’s Honda fielded by Andretti Global.
Palou took the lead for good on Lap 75 when Felix Rosenqvist made his final pit stop in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing. This was the result of a race with split strategies, as drivers who started on the grippier but less durable Firestone Firehawk alternate tires – including Palou, Dixon, and Newgarden – pitted on Lap 3 during the only caution period to switch to Firestone primary tires.
This decision proved crucial, yet Palou didn’t merely inherit the lead at the race’s three-quarter mark and cruise to Victory Lane. He executed rapid in and out laps around his final pit stop at the end of Lap 72, undercutting his teammate Dixon, who couldn’t discuss strategy with his team and reacted to Palou’s pit move by stopping a lap later after being slowed by heavy traffic.
After his final stop, Dixon exited the pits behind a charging Palou.
“We were just kind of flying blind out there,” Dixon said of his radio issues. “Ultimately, I think they were trying to call me in because on that last lap we had before we pitted, there was just so much traffic, and we lost two or three seconds. That’s where the 10 car got us.”
Palou commented: “I think he (Dixon) got trapped in traffic a little bit. That’s why the 10 stand decided to pit a little bit earlier. We had a clean out lap, could run fast and just opened a gap from there.”
Palou was 4.502 seconds ahead of Newgarden on Lap 75, but that gap didn’t last. Newgarden reduced that margin to 2.4 seconds by Lap 88 as Palou dealt with turbulent air from the car ahead, the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Sting Ray Robb, who was fighting to stay on the lead lap.
Newgarden capitalized on this and continued to pursue Palou, closing to within .8186 of a second after Lap 95. Dixon was also gaining ground in third.
But a potential three-car battle for the checkered flag was dispersed when Palou finally lapped Robb in Turn 1 on Lap 96. Newgarden and Dixon passed Robb on the same lap, but the clear air allowed Palou to pull away immediately.
Palou extended his lead to 1.1959 seconds after Lap 97 and 1.6938 seconds at the white flag at the end of Lap 99. His lead grew even more during the final trip around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile street circuit as Dixon and Newgarden fought for second. Dixon overtook fellow Indianapolis 500 winner and series champion Newgarden in Turn 10 on the final lap.
“I felt like our car today certainly was capable of winning,” Newgarden said. “Just didn’t quite get there for a couple of reasons. Pit cycles, obviously, we needed to go longer, and we had a shift at the end that we didn’t realize, so we kind of had to give up that second place.”
2024 St. Petersburg winner Pato O’Ward used a combination of strategy and speed to climb from the 23rd starting spot to finish 11th in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. That was the biggest climb from start to finish by any of the 27 drivers in the field.
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