By David Morgan, Associate Editor
After a long six-month offseason, the NTT IndyCar Series is back in action for the 2025 campaign, beginning with Sunday’s running of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
As the home of the IndyCar season opener, the 1.8-mile, 14-turn street circuit along the waterfront in St. Petersburg, Florida, including the runway of the Albert Whitted Airport has provided an exciting venue to kick off the season and the 2025 edition should be another action-packed chapter.
The on-track activity begins with practice on Friday afternoon at 3:00 pm ET, followed by a second practice on Saturday morning at 10:00 am ET leading into qualifying at 2:30 pm ET. Sunday’s 100-lap main event is scheduled for a Noon ET start on FOX.
With the series’ new media rights deal with FOX Sports, all 17 races in 2025 will be broadcast on network television FOX, with practice and qualifying sessions all year long televised on either FOX Sports 1 or FOX Sports 2, which should in theory widen the viewing audience for the premier open wheel series in North America.
The 2025 season will also be the first full-time season with the new hybrid unit that was introduced at the mid-point of last season, with teams getting their first crack at using it at St. Petersburg this weekend.
In addition, the plethora of drivers on the move this offseason will have their first chance to gel with their new teams in race conditions throughout the weekend.
Last, but not least, defending series champion Alex Palou rolls into the 2025 season with a huge target on his back, with every driver in the field looking to keep him from adding a fourth Astor Cup to his trophy case when the season wraps up in September.
By the Numbers
What: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, NTT IndyCar Series Race No. 1 of 17
Where: Streets of St. Petersburg – St. Petersburg, Florida (Opened: 1985, first INDYCAR event was 2003)
When: Sunday, March 2
TV/Radio: FOX 12:00 p.m. ET / INDYCAR Radio Network
Track Size: 1.8-mile street course
Race Length: 100 laps, 180 miles
2024 Race Winner: Pato O’Ward – No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet (Started third, no laps led – Newgarden disqualified after leading 92 laps)
Track Qualifying Record: Will Power – No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet (59.3466 seconds, 109.189 mph – February 26, 2022)
From the Driver’s Seat
“For a street course, it isn’t that bumpy so you get the thrill of close wall to wall action that a street course gives you without the unpleasant bumps,” said David Malukas.
“From the fans to the track layout, it is already one of my favorite race tracks on the calendar and better yet, it is the first race back. So, the nerves and energy are at their highest! A successful weekend would be staying out of trouble and getting a good result in the end. Want to make sure to start the season off in the right direction!
“St. Pete is a great city to start off the season. The weather is amazing and the views are unbeatable. The fan show up is also always fantastic. It would be hard to beat for a season opener!”
New Faces, New Places
With the new season, there have of course been some changes to the landscape of the IndyCar paddock for the 2025 season with drivers moving from team to team and some new faces coming on board as well.
Team Penske and Andretti Global are the only two teams that enter this season with the same contingent they took the checkered flag with in Nashville last year. Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin, and Will Power return to Team Penske, while Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, and Marcus Ericsson will once again suit up for Andretti.
- Arrow McLaren will have Christian Lundgaard joining Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel in papaya this season, with Lundgaard taking the reins of the No. 7 Chevrolet.
- Alexander Rossi, who drove for Arrow McLaren in recent seasons, moves over to Ed Carpenter Racing in 2025, alongside Christian Rasmussen.
- Chip Ganassi Racing downsizes from five cars to three in 2025, with Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, and Kyffin Simpson returning.
- 2024 Rookie of the Year Linus Lundqvist finds himself on the outs in the shuffle, while Marcus Armstrong has found refuge at Meyer Shank Racing, which will get technical support from Ganassi this season.
- David Malukas moves over to AJ Foyt Racing this season after his stopover at Meyer Shank in 2024, joining forces with team mainstay Santino Ferrucci
- Conor Daly returns to the IndyCar grid on a full-time basis for the first time since the first half of the 2023 season, teaming up with Sting Ray Robb in the two Juncos Hollinger Racing entries.
- Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing brings on rookie and defending Indy NXT champion Louis Foster, as well as Devlin DeFrancesco, who last drove in the series in 2023, to join Graham Rahal in the team’s three-car stable.
- Rinus VeeKay makes the move over to Dale Coyne Racing this season after a five year stint at Ed Carpenter Racing, with the team bringing up rookie Jacob Abel from Indy NXT to fill the team’s second seat.
- Last, but not least, is the newest team in the paddock, PREMA Racing, making their first appearance in IndyCar with drivers Callum Ilott and Robert Shwartzman. Ilott comes in with previous IndyCar experience having run two full-time seasons and a handful of other starts between 2021 and 2024. Schwartzman most recently ran in WEC in 2024.
Last Time at St. Petersburg
The Josef Newgarden Show was in full effect last season in St. Petersburg.
Rolling off from pole position, once the driver of the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet ascended to the lead, there was no stopping him, leading all but eight laps on the day to score his third win in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg by an astounding 7.912 seconds over Pato O’Ward and Arrow McLaren.
Newgarden’s victory continued the steamroll that Team Penske has been on as of late, winning the 2023 Indianapolis 500, the NASCAR Cup Series championship with Ryan Blaney, and the 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona. Newgarden then gave his team owner, “The Captain” Roger Penske, a great start to the 2024 IndyCar campaign.
“I don’t want to say it felt easy,” Newgarden said of his dominant Sunday. “It felt comfortable today. Really, really comfortable. I had a lot of fun.
“I sort of told myself before going into the race, I sort of want to let it be, not overstep, and then early on in the race, I’m like, I’m going. I’m not here to wait around. We’re going to win this race.”
The boss.
Roger Penske was there to congratulate @JosefNewgarden on his win. #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/nSf9NR4mRN
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) March 10, 2024
For O’Ward, it was another runner-up finish in St. Pete, but decidedly a different mood compared to 2023 when he lost this race in heartbreaking fashion.
“Really strong day for us today,” said O’Ward. “I think it’s a very solid foundation to what is going to be a very tight, very competitive rest of the year. I think the Penskes were just too strong for us today. I think we were all kind of playing the fuel game a little bit, and got to give it to everybody at Chevrolet, my guys over at Arrow McLaren.
“We got down to work in the off-season and we’ve made some gains and really cool to see the top 4 was all Chevrolet. I’m pretty pleased to see that.”
Newgarden’s Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin finished in third to round out the podium, with the third Team Penske driver in Will Power coming home in fourth. If not for O’Ward coming home in second, it would have been a clean sweep for Team Penske up front.
Colton Herta was the top Honda driver in fifth, followed by defending series champion Alex Palou, Felix Rosenqvist, Alexander Rossi, Scott Dixon, and Rinus VeeKay to complete the top-10 finishers.
The race was slowed three times for caution, twice for Chip Ganassi Racing drivers Marcus Armstrong and Linus Lundqvist having issues in Turn 10 and another for Sting Ray Robb going off-course in Turn 1 after brake failure on his machine.
Marcus Ericsson and Romain Grosjean retired early due to mechanical issues.
A Short-Lived Victory
While Team Penske celebrated in St. Pete, their excitement would be short-lived as the team was hit with a major penalty from the sanctioning body a few weeks later following the race in Long Beach.
IndyCar officials announced that race winner Josef Newgarden and third place finisher Scott McLaughlin would be handed disqualifications for irregularities with their Push to Pass systems in place for the season opener, dropping both to the bottom of the finishing order.
Power was allowed to keep his finish, but was assessed a 10-point penalty, along with a $25,000 fine for each.
Per IndyCar, Team Penske modified the overtake system so that it could be used on starts and restarts before it was technically legal to do so. In their review, it was discovered that both Newgarden and McLaughlin used the system earlier than they were allowed to, while Power did not, therefore Power was only handed a point and monetary fine, while the other two were disqualified.
“The integrity of the INDYCAR SERIES championship is critical to everything we do,” INDYCAR President Jay Frye said. “While the violation went undetected at St. Petersburg, INDYCAR discovered the manipulation during Sunday’s warmup in Long Beach and immediately addressed it ensuring all cars were compliant for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.”
According to Team Penske officials, the issue with the Push to Pass system for their cars in St. Petersburg was an oversight on their part with the software used during hybrid testing remaining in place for the race instead of being swapped out for the correct race-ready software.
“Unfortunately, the Push to Pass software was not removed as it should have been, following recently completed hybrid testing in the Team Penske Indy cars,” Team Penske President Tim Cindric said.
“This software allowed for Push to Pass to be deployed during restarts at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix race, when it should not have been permitted. The No. 2 car driven by Josef Newgarden and the No. 3 car driven by Scott McLaughlin both deployed Push to Pass on a restart, which violated INDYCAR rules. Team Penske accepts the penalties applied by INDYCAR.”
With the penalties assessed, second-place finisher Pato O’Ward was awarded the victory, marking his fifth career win in the series in 74 starts. Power moved up to second in the finishing order, with Colton Herta rounding out the podium finishers.
Weekend Schedule (All Times Eastern)
Friday, February 28
- NTT IndyCar Series Practice 1 (3:00 p.m. – FOX Sports 1)
Saturday, March 1
- NTT IndyCar Series Practice 2 (10:00 a.m. – FOX Sports 2)
- NTT IndyCar Series Qualifying (2:30 p.m. – FOX Sports 1)
Sunday, March 2
- NTT IndyCar Series Warmup (9:00 a.m. – FOX Sports 2)
- NTT IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (12:00 p.m. – 100 laps, 180 miles – FOX/INDYCAR Radio Network)
Be the first to comment