Jeffrey Hrunka - Staff Writer
After a lap-one wreck split the field on strategy, Alex Palou played his cards right to beat fellow multi-time series champions Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden for his first win on the streets of St. Petersburg.
Palou has had a complicated history in this event. He entered the weekend with a best finish of second in 2022 and an average finish of 7.7. This marked Chip Ganassi's second win at the racetrack, and his first since 2023, when Marcus Ericsson took the checkered flag.
Will Power, a two-time St. Petersburg Grand Prix winner, caused a first-lap incident that turned the race upside down. He nailed the rear end of Nolan Siegel's No.6 Arrow-McLaren Chevorlet, sending him around in turn three. Rookie Louis Foster was also collected in the mess, ending the days for all three drivers.
Scott McLaughlin (fourth), Felix Rosenqvist (seventh), Christian Lundgaard (eighth) and Alexander Rossi (10th), were four of nine drivers who started on the primary tires and stayed out during the only full-course yellow. They were the only drivers on their strategy to finish inside the top 10.
Colton Herta and Scott Dixon led the change down pit lane to switch off alternate tires. This decision proved to be the better option.
It was clear that the drivers who stayed out were at a significant disadvantage, as they struggled to stretch the softer alternate tire beyond 10-12 laps. This gave those who made their mandatory compound change under the yellow flag a significant advantage.
McLaughlin led the charge of those who stayed out, leading the most laps of the race (40). However, he was one step behind Dixon and Herta because of the degradation when he switched to the alternate tire. This advantage was clear when Newgarden jumped McLaughlin, Lundgaard and Rossi, with one less pit stop, under green with 30 to go.
“It's got to be difficult,” Dixon said. “ You got to have degradation. If you had a race that went from green to checker, that would have definitely spiced it up, whereas in the past, it wouldn't have.”
Herta led the charge on the alternate strategy until he had problems with a slow pit stop and a fuel issue on laps 37 and 49, setting him back to 16th. This left Dixon, Newgarden, and Palou in the mix for the win.
With 27 laps to go, Palou jumped Dixon under the final round of pit stops. For Dixon, this was the last time he was ahead of Palou, as radio issues forced him to execute pit strategy from behind the wheel.
“I didn't know if they could hear me, so I was just telling them, I'm just going to run to the light and see what happens,” Dixon said. “Ultimately, I think for me, it was just one lap too long.”
Two laps later, the Spaniard cycled to the race lead, where he stayed for the remaining 25 laps. However, it wasn’t without pressure as the lapped car of Sting Ray Robb backed Palou up, bringing Newgarden and Dixon back into the battle.
A pass on Robb with five laps to go sealed it for the three-time champ, as Palou pulled away once around the #77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevorlet. Dixon and Newgarden rounded out the podium in second and third. Robb finished the race one lap down in 21st.
“[St. Petersburg] was one of the places that we've been struggling in the past, and we wanted to get a little bit closer to the competition,” Palou said. “So I wanted to be here in victory lane, but I did not expect to be here in victory lane.”
NTT INDYCAR RESULTS
Alex Palou #10
Scott Dixon #9 -2.867s
Josef Newgarden #2 -6.204s
Scott McLaughlin #3 -8.688s
Kyle Kirkwood #27 -10.971s
Marcus Ericsson #28 -23.084s
Felix Rosenqvist #60 -24.290s
Christian Lundgaard #7-32.205s
Rinus Veekay #18 -38.944s
Alexander Rossi #20 -42.33s
Pato O’Ward #5 -42.729s
Graham Rahal #15 -48.499s
David Malukas #4 -49.150s
Santino Ferrucci #14 -49.522s
Christian Rasmussen #21 -52.384s
Colton Herta #26 -52.705s
Connor Daly #76 -59.632s
Kyiffin Simpson #8 -1:00.171s
Callum Ilott #90 -1:01.23s
Robert Swartzman #83(R) -1:02.37s
Sting Ray Robb #77 - 1 lap down
Delvin DeFrancesco #30 - 1 lap down
Jacob Abel #51 (R) - 1 lap down
Marcus Armstong #66 - 54 laps down
Nolan Siegel #6 - 100 laps down
Will Power #12 - 100 laps down
Louis Foster #45 (R) - 100 laps down
NTT INDYCAR SERIES action returns at the Thermal Club for the Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix on Sunday, March 23, on FOX.
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