Every year, IndyCar teams come to the Florida Gulf Coast full of optimism. And folks like us head into the season full of questions and desperate for answers. While one race can’t answer them all, we did get some clarity on a few things. Still, more questions were raised thanks to the surprising performance, or lack thereof by a few of the teams. Here are the top five things we learned from our weekend at the streets of St. Pete
It’s Still Alex’s World And Everyone Else Is Just Living In It
It wasn’t just that Alex won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. It wasn’t that he won it by 12.5 seconds, the largest margin of victory in the 22 times a race has been run on the streets of St. Pete. It was that he looked so calm before the race and remained so humble after it. When we asked him what his expectations were just minutes before the start he said, “Hopefully we win. That’s the target. It’s going to be a fun race!”
Testing Isn’t Racing
Testing at both Sebring and Phoenix, had us looking through the field and making predictions for who the challengers may be to the traditional powers of Ganassi, Penske, Andretti, and Arrow-McLaren. We thought Ed Carpenter Racing and the Meyer-Shank cars might make some noise. But nobody predicted the Dale Coyne Racing cars of Dennis Hauger and Romain Grosjean would qualify third and sixth and they’d both finish the race in the top 10. 16th and 19th place finishes were definitely a disappointment for DCR based on how they finished last year and their tests this year. We’ll know whether this is a blip or a trend by the end of March.
Penske Is On The Rebound
After one of the most difficult seasons in the history of the team, Penske seems to be back on track and ready to challenge Ganassi for the championship this year if Alex has a bobble or two. Scott McLaughlin’s epic qualifying run and strong performance during the race bode well for the team. Yes, Josef Newgarden qualified poorly, but he drove a masterful race, proving he and his car had more than enough for the field as he moved from 23rd to 7th. Even David Malukas, who qualified 5th, had a good recovery drive to finish 13th after shredding a tire and moving to the back of the field on lap 12.
Chevy and Honda Will Be Battling It Out For the Manufacturer’s Championship This Year
Thanks to Alex’s incredible run and a strong showing by the drivers of Honda-powered cars, the manufacturer’s title was decided at the Portland Grand Prix in 2025 with Honda’s final margin of victory eclipsing 200 points. That won’t be the case this year thanks to incremental improvements Chevy has made since the introduction of the Hybrid.
Points from the top two finishers for each manufacturer in each race are counted toward the season total. An additional five points are given to the race winner and one point for the pole at all races except the Indianapolis 500 where they get two points for pole and one point for being fastest on the first day of qualifying. So after this first weekend with Honda finishing 1st and 4th and Chevy 2nd and 3rd with the pole the totals stand at 87 to 76.
We were worried, especially after the test in Sebring, that Honda engines would continue to dominate the street and road courses as they did in 2025. In St. Petersburg Chevy-powered cars made up three of the top five and five of the top 10. So, game on for 2026!
Excitement For IndyCar Is Still On The Rise
Well over 100,000 people attended the IndyCar season opener in St. Pete, an increase over 2025. According to race organizers, there was also a significant increase in the number of 3-day tickets sold for the event, due in part to the addition of the NASCAR truck race. Grandstands around the track were full, the lines for driver autographs were long, and the grid walk before the start felt like it was shoulder to shoulder, making it hard for us to grab interviews before the race. Television ratings equaled last years broadcast which feels like a win. Last year Fox was able to reach 127 million people watching the Super Bowl with their promos to drive viewership. With the Big Game on NBC this year, that marketing channel wasn’t open to them. How will things hold up over the next 4 races? Right now, that’s a big, “We’ll see.”
All in all, the Firestone Grand Prix at St. Petersburg proved to be another great start to what should be an intriguing IndyCar season. We’ll be providing lots of coverage and commentary as the year goes on so check back frequently for IndyCar updates.
