Palou Goes Back-to-Back at St. Pete

Palou dominates, leading 59 of 100 laps for his first win of 2026 season.
Palou joins elite group of drivers with consecutive St. Petersburg victories.
Chip Ganassi Racing extends its success at this track with 4th win.

AUTO: MAR 01 NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg — Source: Icon Sportswire / Getty

St. Petersburg, FL – Alex Palou officially started the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series season right where he left 2025, on the top step of the podium, going back-to-back to win the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, leading 59 of the 100 laps.

For Palou, this was his first win of 2026, his second win at St. Petersburg, and the 20^th win of his career. Palou is now the fifth driver to ever get back-to-back wins at St. Petersburg, joining Helio Castroneves, Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastien Bourdais, and Josef Newgarden.

As for Chip Ganassi Racing, this was their fourth win at St. Petersburg, from Dario Franchitti in 2011, Marcus Ericsson in 2023, and Palou last year.

Palou spoke to Alex Wollf of IndyCar Radio post-race. “Honestly it was on rails today. The #10 car was unbelievable. It felt like those Firestones kept on giving me grip and I could continue pushing. So, it was one of the best cars I’ve ever driven. It’s impressive that this team at CGR is able to keep on raising the bar. Keep on making small changes that make a big difference on track. Nothing I can say about the group that is around me. They make me look very good on track.”

Wollf asked Palou how he managed to maintain his first stint on the alternate red tires. “It was tough, it was not easy especially on the used alternates from yesterday qualifying, I had to take care of them. At the end, they were just gone. But everything was great for us. I think there was some other people struggling a bit more than us and we could get a cushion of 5-6 seconds that gave us everything today.”

Pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin lost the lead after Palou was able to extend his first stint while holding off Marcus Ericsson and Marcus Armstrong during the green-flag pitstop exchanges. McLaughlin would end up finishing second with Christian Lundgaard completing the podium.

There were two cautions in total. Sting Ray Robb crashed on the opening lap, taking out Santino Ferrucci and Mick Schumacher along with him. Later, Kyffin Simpson made contact with Christian Rasmussen resulting a single-car spin. Will Power made contact with the wall, ending his Andretti Global debut early. David Malukas had a similar incident but was able to continue. Scott Dixon had an early retirement due to the right-rear tire not being attached after a routine pitstop.

Newgarden was the biggest mover of the race finishing 7^th after starting 23rd. Dennis Hauger was the highest finishing rookie finishing 10^th after starting an impressive third.

The official results of the 2026 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.