Alex Palou back on top at St. Petersburg
INDIANAPOLIS – Alex Palou, driver of the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, returned to the streets of St. Petersburg ready to pick up his reign over IndyCar. The four-time champion and one-time “500” winner finished nearly 13 seconds ahead of the competition in the first race of the 2026 season.
Palou started the race from fourth place, where he quickly overtook rookie Dennis Hauger for third. From there, the team optimized their use of the alternate, softer tires to keep the Spanish driver out longer than the two cars ahead that were on the primary, harder tires.
With the overcut from pitlane, Palau soared to the top of the leaderboard and led the race for a total of 59 of the 100 laps.
“This team; it keeps on improving, keeps on making changes, and they just keep on raising the bar,” Palou told the Fox broadcast. “There’s a long season in front of us, but what a great way to start a season.”
Behind him, the race for the other two spots on the podium was cutthroat.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who had secured pole position in qualifying, made some quick overtakes to ensure his podium finish. This included an outside pass around fellow Kiwi driver Marcus Armstrong at turn 10.
“I knew this was going to be a strong track, and I had to make the most of it,” McLaughlin said following the race. “I think it was solid from my side. I think we just missed the balance a little bit, probably being a little bit cautious and not trying to throw away a good car, but it was still decent. I just think it was a really solid day for us on the 3 car.”
Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard took up the final spot on the podium. The Danish driver started the race from 12th place but moved up through pit strategy and a final pass around Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood to take third place.
“I think ultimately we knew the car was fast this weekend,” Lundgaard said. “We knew it was fast here last year. We simply just made a mistake in qualifying, and we made up for it in the race, but to go out there and put the results on paper feels nice now.”
Next weekend, IndyCar will return to Phoenix Speedway for the first time since 2018. The race will take place on Saturday, March 7th, at 3:00 p.m. EST and will serve as a double-header with NASCAR.