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. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

At one point during his post-race press conference Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla., four-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou was asked if he felt “beatable.”

“Unfortunately, yeah,” said Palou, shortly after scoring a runaway victory in the 2026 season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Palou cruised to his 20th career INDYCAR victory in just his 99th start by wheeling the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 12.4948-second victory over Scott McLaughlin, the NTT P1 Award-winner and driver of the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet.

Recall that Palou won eight of 17 races en route to claiming his third consecutive and fourth overall series championship last season by a massive 196 points _ an advantage of more than three races. Palou and his Chip Ganassi Racing crew flashed the same swagger on a sun-splashed Sunday in Florida.

“Incredible. I mean, I don’t know what to say from this team anymore,” said Palou, a 28-year-old native of Spain. “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.

“This team keeps on improving, keeps on making new changes and they just keep on raising the bar. It’s pretty impressive. It’s a long season in front of us, but what a great way to start the season.”

SEE: Race Results

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-lapper to finish fourth in the No. 27 JM Bullion/Gold.com Honda fielded by Andretti Global.

Pato O’Ward placed a pair of Arrow McLaren entries into the top-five after starting eighth and finishing fifth in the team’s No. 5 Chevrolet.

“P5 was a good day for us,” said O’Ward, a 26-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “Obviously, we would have loved to have kept moving forward, but we were struggling a little bit there at the end with the race car. We’ll dive into it and see what we need to make better for the next street-course race. Now it’s time to shift to oval mode going into Phoenix, and see what we can get done.”

This was the first race in which INDYCAR rules mandated the use of at least two sets of the softer Firestone Firehawk alternate tire with red sidewalls, throwing an additional strategic element into the racing mix. Per usual, Palou and longtime strategist Barry Wanser made all the right calls.

The decisive moments of the race occurred on Laps 36 and 37. Team Penske called leader McLaughlin into the pits at the end of Lap 35, with Marcus Ericsson assuming the lead from second in the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda. Andretti Global summoned Ericsson to the pits at the end of Lap 36, with Palou taking P1.

But instead of calling Palou into the pits on the next lap, Wanser and Palou decided to stay out until the end of Lap 38 on their original set of alternate tires in an “overcut” strategy. It worked.

Palou blended back onto the 1.8-mile/14-turn temporary street circuit in front of McLaughlin and Ericsson. Once the remainder of the leaders cycled through their pit stops, Palou found himself out front by Lap 42. He would only surrender the top spot during pit stop cycles to finish the race, leading 59 of the scheduled 100 laps.

McLaughlin acknowledged that Palou, who started fourth, and his team continue as the series’ measuring sticks. “Look, he’s just doing a great job, put himself in the right position,” said McLaughlin, a 32-year-old native of New Zealand. “I think that they were on the right strategy today with the tire, and that’s a decision they made compared to us, but I thought we showed plenty of speed. Just…we were boxed-in.

“Yeah, you saw the DHL car. He knew where he qualified. He was going to be there or thereabouts. I knew when he was third the first stint, that I was like, ‘OK, well, he’s probably going to be the guy throughout the race,’ and it ended up he was.”

Lundgaard added that Palou has morphed into a podium fixture. “Yeah, every time I’m on the podium, second or third, he’s first,” said a smiling Lundgaard, a 24-year-old native of Denmark. “It’s pretty annoying.

“Our strategy was really good, and our car was really good. Ultimately, I just have to say thanks to Team Chevy and Arrow McLaren. We put so much effort into the offseason, moved into the new shop and I just think it’s paying off. Pato and I were both fast, and it’s really nice to get it done early in the year.”

That sentiment was echoed by Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan, the popular Brazilian who is a former series and Indianapolis 500 champion.

“We started the weekend saying if we can’t win we need to maximize the points,” Kanaan said, “and the way this championship goes, top-five gives the most points. So, two cars in the top-five, we accomplished that.

“Looking further, I still think we need to fight one guy (Palou) that has schooled the whole field today. He set the bar high and we just need to look at what we need to do to beat him and get some wins, which we’re extremely capable of doing. We did a decent job all weekend long, but there is that one factor still out there that we’re chasing.

“It was a great podium for Christian and a top-five for Pato. We will take a weekend like that, for sure, but the whole team wants to keep stepping up.”

There was a bit of suspense when Palou made his final pit stop at the end of Lap 67 with a 14-second lead on McLaughlin. Palou had used the required two sets of Firestone alternate tires during his first two stints and opted for the harder, but slower, Firestone primary (black) tires for his sprint to the finish.

Kirkwood and McLaughlin made their final stops at the end of Laps 65 and 68, respectively, both taking the softer but faster Firestone alternate tires. That tire choice offered a glimpse of hope that Palou could be reeled-in after he took the lead on Lap 70, but Kirkwood never got closer than 5.5-seconds in his pursuit despite the more grippy rubber.

Palou then pulled away at an astonishing rate over the closing laps to win by the largest margin in the 23 editions of this event. “Those Firestones were like everlasting,” Palou said. “They would just keep going. I had an amazing car today.”

Asked to expand upon his perceived weaknesses, Palou said, “I mean, I’m not going to say it here out loud…I feel there are so many things. We didn’t start on-pole. We started fourth. I think we could have done stuff better throughout the weekend.

“I feel like myself also driving-wise, you can always brake just a little bit later, just one feet. It only takes one feet later to go a bit faster. You can always go on power a bit better. You can always set up your car better. So, you can always keep on improving, I feel like, in all sports, which is the beauty of it.”

There was drama over the final 10 laps as McLaughlin and Lundgaard both took advantage of fresher tires to pass Kirkwood for the second and third positions on Lap 94.

“Our Chevy was fast, but it’s just a mixed bag on what tire you start on,” McLaughlin said. “Maybe we come back here again, and maybe you start on reds (alternate) and just get them out of the way. Overall, made the passes we needed to make at the right times, and I thought we maximized our day.”

Wanser acknowledged the decision to start the race on the softer reds was a perfect example of risk vs. reward. “Yeah, with the new tire rules where we have to run two sets of the reds in the race, we took a big chance,” Wanser said. “Going into the weekend, certainly throughout the practice sessions, we felt that the tire likely was not going to be able to do a full (fuel) stint, so it was going to be a three-stop race.

“We took a big risk (Saturday) in the Firestone Fast Six to use one of those set of reds of the two sets instead of keeping them both new for the race. We went after the pole and didn’t get it.

“We knew we were at a deficit to others that we’re racing around that had two sets of sticker reds today. We started on the sticker reds _ which we knew was a bit of a risk to not save those, the best tires, for the last _ but it worked out.

“Again, I think Alex brought it up, the pace of the leaders at the time in the early part of the race certainly helped us go the distance. Then we knew we can do that on the alternates, but we left the option up to him whether he wanted to do the reds or the primaries, the blacks, first.”

Frenchman Romain Grosjean, 39 and a former Formula One regular, marked his return to the series and a reunion with Dale Coyne Racing by finishing eighth in the No. 18 BMax Honda.

Dennis Hauger, the 22-year-old Norwegian who qualified an impressive third, was the top finisher among the race’s three rookies _ 10th in the No. 19 Ault Block Chain Honda of Dale Coyne Racing.

Meanwhile, fellow-rookie Caio Collet of Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing emerged from his No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet quite pleased after completing all 100 laps en route to finishing 17th. The 23-year-old Brazilian, who started 24^th in the 25-car field, secured 17th after a lengthy battle with Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

“I think it was definitely a good race,” said Collet, the 2025 vice-champion of the INDY NXT by Firestone series. “We ended up on a positive note, moved forward. I think the strategy, we maximized what we could do to be honest and made some moves out on track as well, and kept out of trouble.

“We were quite quick on the blacks (Firestone’s primary tire) and I think on the reds (alternate rubber) is something that I need to work on myself, just trying to see where the limit of the tire is and how the balance shifts between black and reds. Also what I need to be confident and extract the limit of the car on the red tire _ I think it’s something that I need to work on in my driving.

“But I think overall, it was a good Sunday after a so-so Saturday, to be honest. Happy to end the weekend on a positive note.”

Foyt teammate Santino Ferrucci’s race ended on the opening lap, the result of contact initiated by Sting Ray Robb in Turn 4. Ferrucci was battling Rahal as they approached Turn 4 when Robb shot up the inside and drove Ferrucci into the tire barrier. Rookie Mick Schumacher had nowhere to go, with his No. 47 ENVE Honda ending up on top of Ferrucci’s No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet.

None of the drivers was injured. Robb was given a penalty for avoidable contact and continued on while both Ferrucci and Schumacher were done for the day.

“It’s just a shame to be out on Lap 1 of something that’s not your doing,” said Ferrucci, a 27-year-old resident of Dallas. “You know, it’s kind of weird _ we all sit around and talk about it on the driver’s stand or in driver intros _ ‘Let’s go easy on Lap 1.’ And every season, there’s a few of us that do that, and then there’s couple of us that just forget where the brake zone is. So, no, it’s a bummer.”

Similarly, Schumacher was disappointed over the incident that ended his first full INDYCAR race weekend with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

“I saw Santino lock-up and I wasn’t aware that there was another guy on the inside locking-up,” said Schumacher, the 26-year-old son of seven-time Formula One World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher of Germany. “Sting Ray seemed like he went a little deeper than what was supposed to be and that led to a chain reaction, unfortunately.

“Our real target was to finish the race, get in all the laps that we wanted. We got even less than that. It’s very unfortunate. I’m still happy about all the knowledge we gained throughout this weekend and things we can definitely take forwards and take to Phoenix now. I’m looking ahead, not looking back and will try and understand what we could have done better on our end, qualifying maybe being one of them. Always when you’re starting in the back things end up being difficult and tough anyways, but I think this just made it extra difficult for us.”

INDYCAR’s 18-race 2026 schedule includes new venues in Arlington, Texas, in the Dallas-Fort Worth market; Markham, Ontario, Canada and Washington, D.C. For information about the series or teams, visit www.indycar.com.

Next up on the schedule is the Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday, March 7, at Phoenix Raceway _ part of the “Desert Double” weekend at the 1-mile oval that also features the NASCAR Cup Series race on Sunday.

Nikita Johnson earned his first INDY NXT by Firestone victory Sunday, winning his hometown Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It was his first victory in just his fourth career start in the INDYCAR development series. (Photo courtesy of the NTT IndyCar Series)

Nikita Johnson earned his first INDY NXT by Firestone victory Sunday, winning his hometown Grand Prix of St. Petersburg after prevailing in a duel of talented teen-agers.

Johnson, a 17-year-old native of St. Petersburg, delivered his first victory in just his fourth career start in INDYCAR’s developmental series. It also was the first INDY NXT victory for Cape Motorsports, which Johnson joined this offseason after a part-time foray in 2025 with HMD Motorsports.

SEE: Race Results

“I can’t thank the boys from Cape Motorsports enough and everyone from ECR who has been helping us,” Johnson said. “It’s a pretty amazing feeling to get my first win in INDY NXT and Cape’s first win in INDY NXT. I can’t wait to see all my friends and family.”

Johnson wheeled his No. 21 Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR entry to victory by 0.6990-seconds over pole-sitter Max Taylor, 18, and driver of the No. 28 Susan G. Komen car of Andretti Global. Rookie Tymek Kucharczyk of Poland completed the podium in his first INDY NXT start in the No. 71 HMD Motorsports entry. Kucharczyk, 20, finished 5.055-seconds behind Johnson.

Andretti Global took three of the top five spots. Seb Murray, an 18-year-old native of Scotland, placed fourth in the No. 27 Prosperity machine, while Lochie Hughes of Australia rounded-out the top-five in the No. 26 car.

Johnson wasted no time asserting his command of the race, scheduled for 45 laps but halted on time after 55 minutes. Johnson started second and used a bold, sweeping move to the outside of Taylor in Turn 1 at the start to grab a lead he never relinquished.

“It was pretty straight-up,” Johnson said. “I reviewed some video from previous years on YouTube, the INDY NXT Channel. I knew I wanted to get up front quickly, and I did just that. I went into Turn 1 and knew what he (Taylor) was going to do before he did it and just went around the outside. After that, I kept it pretty simple, tried to keep a nice gap.”

Caution periods ended up being Johnson’s biggest foe, besides Taylor. The race was slowed by four full-course yellows, but Johnson held off Taylor on each of the restarts.

Perhaps Taylor’s best chance occurred on a restart on Lap 20. He tried the same move Johnson used to gain the lead on Lap 1, but his attempt at a sweeping, outside pass was unsuccessful. “All the restarts were pretty difficult,” Johnson said. “He (Taylor) caught on at one point, and I had to throw in a little curveball and change it up.”

Taylor maintained pressure on Johnson for the entire race, never trailing by more than a second and keeping his car usually within six- or seven-tenths of the leader. But Taylor also never got close enough after restarts to mount a serious challenge to the race lead.

The two teens traded blows over the closing laps. Johnson turned his quickest circuit of the race on Lap 38, but Taylor countered with the speediest lap overall on Lap 39.

“Good race overall, good points,” Taylor said. “Showed a lot of pace but just messed up on the start. The restarts were very difficult to get right. Just kept trying to apply the pressure, trying different things. Probably could have had an opportunity to pass him there, but you live and you learn.”

Next up on the INDY NXT by Firestone schedule is the inaugural Grand Prix of Arlington on Sunday, March 15, on the Streets of Arlington, Texas.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 53; 2, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 42; 3, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 36; 4, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 32; 5, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 30; 6, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 29; 7, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 27; 8, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 24; 9, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 22; 10, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 20;

11, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 19; 12, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 18; 13, David Malukas, Team Penske, 17; 14, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 17; 15, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 15; 16, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 14; 17, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 13; 18, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 12; 19, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 11; 20, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 10;

21, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 9; 22, Will Power, Andretti Global, 8; 23, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 8; 24, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 6; 25, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 5.

FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)

Note _ All times Eastern

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., 3 p.m.

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., 1 p.m.

Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., 5:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, 4:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 24 _ 110^th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, 10 a.m.

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., 9 p.m.

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m.

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, 12:30 p.m.

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., TBA

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, 4 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon

Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA

Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.

Note _ Dates and times subject to change.

2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas

Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., Race 1

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., Race 2

Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Detroit

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill.

Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2

Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn.

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.

Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2