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Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg, FL - March 2, 2025

JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 PPG CHEVROLET

START: 10TH  
FINISH: 3RD  
POINTS: 3RD (-15)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 PPG Chevrolet team finished third in Sunday's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to open the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, coasting across the finish line on a nearly empty fuel tank. The two-time St. Pete winner started the race from the 10th position on the Firestone alternate tire before coming down pit lane following a first lap caution to quickly move to the harder, Firestone primary tire. This alternate strategy allowed him to cycle to the lead at on Lap 37 before making his second trip to pit lane one lap later. He would remain at the front of those on his strategy, making a strong move around the No. 9 of Scott Dixon on Lap 74 to take the lead of the drivers in that grouping. Following the last round of pit stops, Newgarden found himself running second to Alex Palou. As the leader caught lapped traffic, Newgarden was able to significantly close the gap to Palou but could not find a window to try for a pass. Unfortunately, as the laps wound down, the fuel tank in the No. 2 Chevy began to dry up as Newgarden had to allow Dixon to pass him for second to save enough fuel to make it to the end for a third-place finish. 

NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: "It was a good race by the 2 team, a couple of hiccups, but this team fought really hard.  It starts with a really great car, and we have had a great car all weekend. I think we could have qualified higher than 10th and I said that yesterday. I felt like our car today was certainly capable of winning, but we just didn't quite get there for a couple of reasons. The pit cycle was where we obviously needed to go longer and then we had a shift there at the end that we kind of didn't realize and we had to give up second place there. It was a great fight for our team, and this is a good start for us. We are on the podium, got some points and we would like to keep these points on the board and then have a good, solid year. It's a long season and you have to go all the way. I am happy to be back with this team and happy to see the energy here to start the year in INDYCAR. You know, everything is very positive right now so thank you to Team Chevy and sorry we couldn't get the win. Obviously, PPG has been here with us and backing us and I always love driving this PPG Chevy because normally its more lucky.  But we had a lot of people here supporting and we just got to get ready to go to the next one."

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN No. 3 DEX IMAGING CHEVROLET

START: 1ST  
FINISH: 4TH  
POINTS: 4TH (-16)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet team started from the pole position in Sunday's Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - their second NTT P1 Award in four years at the season opener - before finishing fourth after an opening lap caution flag proved detrimental to their strategy. McLaughlin's 70th Team Penske pole award allowed the New Zealander to lead the field to the green flag and control the first half of the race, but a caution flag on the opening lap allowed several competitors to come to pit lane to remove the Firestone alternate tires while McLaughlin remained on track on the harder compound tires. Strategist Kyle Moyer would call for the alternate tires to be applied to the No. 3 Chevy on the second pit stop of the day and the softer compound allowed McLaughlin to race out to a 12-second lead before Moyer quickly called him back down pit lane for a return to the Firestone primary tires. As the differing pit cycles played out, McLaughlin remained at the front of the field. Ultimately, several of those that pitted on the first lap were at the front as the laps wound down to relegate McLaughlin to a fourth-place finish. 

MCLAUGHLIN'S THOUGHTS: "The yellow on the first lap really hurt us, but we knew going in, that was the risk of running the black tire. We wanted a solid race, and I thought the risky strategy was starting on the green. Ultimately it was the other way around but we had great pace today and I'm really proud of everyone. We were ultimately a pit stop behind, but we knew that was the risk of running the blacks. I think if there was no yellow first lap, we're gone. It is what it is. Great day for the DEX Imaging Chevy. Good points. Great start to the year. A pole and a fourth, I can't be unhappy with that." 

WILL POWER No. 12 VERIZON CHEVROLET

START: 13TH 
FINISH: 26TH 
POINTS: 26TH (-46)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: Will Power and the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet team were dealt a handful of adversity during the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg weekend before a first lap incident resulted in a 26th-place finish for the two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion. Power and the No. 12 team did not get many practice laps on Saturday morning after an issue with their hybrid unit was discovered early in the session. Yet, the series' greatest qualifier and nine-time NTT P1 Award winner at St. Pete was still able to place his Chevy 13th on the qualifying grid on Saturday afternoon. Following Sunday's morning's warmup session, another issue with the hybrid unit required another swap of the unit. When the green flag fell to start the 100-lap event, Power and others were caught up in a bottleneck in Turn 3 that saw Power make contact with the rear of the No. 6 Chevrolet, setting off a chain reaction that resulted in heavy damage to the No. 12 Verizon entry and an premature end to his day. 

POWER'S THOUGHTS: "Just really close racing there in the middle of the pack and we got checked up super quick. Got into the back of the 6 car which was my fault and obviously not intentional. Normally that corner opens up a bit there, so I need to go back and look at that. Not much I could do after that contact with the 45 car behind me. Just hate to start the season this way. We've been strong starters the last few years with the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Looking forward to Thermal and the points race there."

The second round of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season takes place Sunday, March 23 at the Thermal Club, the first series points race at the Palm Springs-area circuit. All of the action can be seen live on FOX starting at 3:00 pm ET.