Greater than 5 months faraway from the 2024 season finale in Nashville, the NTT IndyCar Collection lastly returned to life in St. Petersburg, Florida. Between the beginning of a brand new period with FOX Sports activities and a strategy-heavy road race, there was a lot to debate leaving the weekend.
Some IndyCar names landed on the constructive aspect of issues, positioning themselves for future success. Others have been left with early holes to dig out of after an early crash and pit highway woes.
Right here’s a have a look at the winners and losers leaving the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing
Picture by: Penske Leisure
Loser: Scott Dixon
Go away it to the Iceman to have to determine his personal technique and nonetheless almost win. Dixon ran the majority of Sunday’s race with none radio, leaving him checking his gas gauge and “kinda simply flying blind” on when to cease. He was on the successful technique and forward of Palou, however missed a name to pit and misplaced time caught behind lapped site visitors. That opened the door for a Palou undercut that stored Dixon from an elusive first St. Pete win.
Josef Newgarden, Workforce Penske
Picture by: Penske Leisure
Winner: Former champs put themselves in rivalry
Any new followers tuning in for his or her first IndyCar race on FOX have been handled to a few of the sport’s finest drivers up entrance. The rostrum finishers – Alex Palou, Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon – mix for 11 sequence titles and 101 race wins. With sturdy runs within the opening race, they’ve every positioned themselves to be championship contenders as soon as once more. No surprises right here.
Scott McLaughlin, Workforce Penske
Picture by: Penske Leisure
Loser: Scotty Mac’s day undone by premature yellow
Scott McLaughlin did all the pieces proper to place himself in place for a second St. Pete win. The Australian certified on pole, acquired by the opening corners clear and ran with sturdy tempo all through the day. Sadly for him, generally luck and technique are key to wins in IndyCar. He began on the tougher main tire, which meant he couldn’t pit and be carried out with the quick-shredding delicate tires after a lap 1 crash. McLaughlin did what he might to shut the hole on those who might, however wound up fourth at race’s finish.
Patricio O’ward, Arrow McLaren
Picture by: Penske Leisure
Loser: Herta and O’Ward endure in St. Pete
Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta have every gained in St. Pete previously 5 years, however their weekends didn’t go to plan within the monitor’s 2025 race. O’Ward certified a distant twenty third, acquired pushed off-strategy with a lap 1 puncture and needed to rally to salvage an Eleventh-place end. Herta began sturdy however was derailed by pit highway points, relegating him to sixteenth. In a sequence the place consistency is paramount, Arrow McLaren’s star driver can have a razor-thin margin for error shifting ahead.
Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing
Picture by: Penske Leisure
Winner: FOX brings the pomp for IndyCar opener
FOX Sports activities performed its playing cards proper within the weeks main as much as its first IndyCar broadcast. It nailed its early ads – showcasing three stars, bringing in NFL legend Tom Brady for crossover enchantment and airing adverts in the course of the Tremendous Bowl. The corporate introduced in recognizable faces for its broadcast staff, together with fan-favorite Method 1 presenter Will Buxton.
Hype was sufficiently constructed. All it had to do that weekend was stick the touchdown. And fortunately, FOX largely pulled it off. There was room for enchancment – the motive force intros have a wierd cadence, extra information may very well be supplied and the producers went to the mistaken automobile a number of instances on replays. However the firm largely introduced IndyCar with reverence, intelligence and respect. One thing to construct on.
That stated…
Loser: FOX Sports activities sticks with the superhero theme
Soccer. NASCAR. IndyCar. It doesn’t matter the game or sequence. These superhero headshots look terrible.
Rinus Veekay, Dale Coyne Racing
Picture by: Penske Leisure
Winner: Veekay, Rossi discover success at new houses
Rinus VeeKay had a quiet opening weekend in St. Pete, however ended it with a powerful ninth-place run for Dale Coyne Racing. One of many drivers that went to his previous house, Ed Carpenter Racing, additionally discovered modest success. Alexander Rossi got here house a strong tenth in his first race with the No. 20 staff. One thing to construct on.
Will Energy, Workforce Penske
Picture by: Penske Leisure
Loser: Energy, Siegel and Foster crash out early
Will Energy got here into St. Pete celebrating his forty fourth birthday. He left after two hybrid unit adjustments, considered one of his worst qualifying performances on the monitor and a crash simply seconds into the race.
Energy nudged right into a checked-up Nolan Siegel as the sphere rolled by the opening corners, setting off a crash that additionally eradicated rookie Louis Foster. The top outcome? Finishes of twenty fifth, twenty sixth and twenty seventh.
This trio waited months for IndyCar to get again to motion. They’ll have to carry on for one more three weeks to (hopefully) race at The Thermal Membership.
Winner: Chip Ganassi Racing scores an enormous AI associate
It’s uncommon for a partnership to catch your eye in trendy motorsports, when liveries change by the week and groups are consistently looking for the subsequent associate. However Chip Ganassi Racing made waves with its “strategic analysis collaboration” with synthetic intelligence frontrunner OpenAI, introduced Friday. The staff says it should “create superior effectivity as they may also help automate knowledge-based duties in ways in which have been beforehand unattainable or no less than time-consuming.”
Find it irresistible or hate it (as a author, it doesn’t bode properly for me), AI techniques proceed to enhance and can have use circumstances in each trade. It was solely a matter of time earlier than an IndyCar staff partnered with considered one of these corporations. Now we wait to see how lengthy it takes earlier than Google Gemini, Amazon Alexa or Claude by Anthropic make their method into the paddock.
Photographs from St. Pete – Race
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