The NTT IndyCar Series kicked off the 2026 season on Sunday afternoon from the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Scott McLaughlin started the race on the pole, and Marcus Ericsson started second.
On the opening lap, the first caution came out when Sting Ray Robb, Mick Schumacher, and Santino Ferrucci were involved in a crash at Turn 4. McLaughlin led the opening 35 laps before making a pit stop. Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon, and Luis Foster all led laps. During the pit stops, Dixon’s right rear tire was not properly tightened, and he lost the wheel on lap 42, which brought out the second and last caution of the race. Dixon finished in 23rd place.
Louis Foster would go to pit road, and Alex Palou took the lead. From there, Palou led 56 of the last 58 laps to win his first race of the season by 12.4948 over Scott McLaughlin. It was Palou’s second consecutive win in St. Petersburg, and the 20th career IndyCar Series win in 99 starts.
The last driver to win back-to-back races at St. Petersburg was Josef Newgarden in 2019 and 2020. The other drivers to win back-to-back at St. Petersburg are Helio Castroneves (2006-07), Juan Pablo Montoya (2015-16), and Sebastien Bourdais (2017-18).
Christian Lundgaard, Kyle Kirkwood, and Pato O’Ward rounded out the top five. Marcus Ericsson, Josef Newgarden, Romain Grosjean, Rinus VeeKay, and Dennis Hauger completed the top ten. There were eight lead changes among seven drivers.
The NTT IndyCar Series heads to Phoenix Raceway next Saturday, March 7, 2026, at 3 pm on Fox.
