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The 2025 IndyCar season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg saw Chip Ganassi's Alex Palou as the winner of the race. Palou will be looking forward to defend his win at the Thermal Club Grand Prix which will be taking place on the 23rd of March. It will be the venue's inaugural points-paying race in the NTT IndyCar Series.
The three-time champion won last year's exhibition race at the Thermal Club, held to test the venue, in a very dominating manner, leading every lap. He won with a gap of 5 seconds over Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin, earning the $1 million prize.
As there were no points to be won, for the qualifying the drivers were randomly divided into two groups and each given 12 minutes to qualify. This determined the grid for the heat race the next day. The 20-lap race was divided into 10 laps each.
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However, out of the $1 millon, Alex Palou was only given $500,000. This is because the club members didn't want to participate in the matching buy-in.
After the race, Palou went on to talk about how he would use the money won on his daughter despite being stuck with a $30 million lawsuit with McLaren at the time.
Only the top five were eligible for the money award, with Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin coming in second, Meyer Shank Racing's Felix Rosenquist in third, Andretti Global's Colton Herta in fourth and Chip Ganassi's Marcus Armstrong in fifth.
If Palou makes it a second consecutive win at the venue this weekend, he can increase the gap in the championship standings.
Alex Palou expresses his feelings after 12 Hours of Sebring
Alex Palou participated in the 12 Hours of Sebring race with ACURA Meyer Shank Racing along with Nick Yelloly and Renger Van Der Zande. They managed to secure third place in the event.
After the race, Palou took to Instagram to express his feelings about the race. He posted a carousel of pictures along with the caption:
"P3 at Sebring 12h. Huge rollercoaster of a race, but so happy that the team maximized the opportunities, and we got a pretty cool silver plate to celebrate. Awesome job by my teammates, can’t wait for more! @MeyerShankRac"
The first spot was secured by Porsche while Team Penske settled in second place. The crew drove the #93 car for ACURA Meyer Shank Racing.
