The NTT IndyCar Series visited The Thermal Club for the first points-paying round to take place at the exclusive club track.
Pato O’Ward started from pole position and was able to use that advantage to keep himself at the front of the field for nearly the entire afternoon.
His Arrow McLaren Chevy was locked in, but in the final stint he was challenged heavily from Alex Palou who was on fresh soft compound tires in the closing laps.
READ MORE: IndyCar Thermal Club – Full Race Results
Palou’s car positively came to life with the new tires, and he was able to pass O’Ward with 10 laps remaining virtually unchallenged after catching him at a rate of over one second per lap.
The win marks Palou’s second consecutive victory to start the 2025 season, and gives him an ominous early points lead after having won the title for the past two years.
O’Ward easily took second place, even though he was 10 seconds and a full straight behind the #10 entry on the road.
The popular Mexican driver was very disappointed with the result, and has to wonder what he needs to do in order to keep Palou in his rear view mirrors.
Christian Lundgaard ran a solid race, finishing on the podium after starting on the front row. The Danish driver put up a good fight with Palou in the closing laps with multiple corners spent side by side, but he could not resist the inevitable for long.
Colton Herta and Felix Rosenqvist rounded out the top 5 for Andretti Global and Meyer Shank Racing respectively.
Pretty much every driver completed four pit stops throughout the day, as the rough track tore up the Firestone tires at an accelerated rate.
Fresh tires appeared to be the way to go, but nearly everyone had to run at least one set of used tires because they were running low on supply at the end of the weekend.
Racing from behind
Two members of Team Penske were able to climb from their disappointing qualifying positions to earn respectable results in the caution-free race.
Will Power was the most effective on Sunday, rising from 21st all the way up to sixth by time the checkered flag flew.
Josef Newgarden gained a few positions as well, putting his #2 Chevy into 13th by the end of the day.
Scott McLaughlin had an eventful start to the race, as he was spun around by Devlin DeFrancesco while the pack was lining up to take the green flag.
He recovered from the spin, but spent time on pit road on lap 20 due to hybrid overheating issues. He returned to the track for a while before finally retiring he car, finishing in the 27th and last position.
PREMA’s rough weekend continued into the race, as Callum Ilott ran into the back of his team-mate Robert Shwartzman on the opening lap.
Ilott’s car popped up into the air and the front wing was broken in the process. He was forced to pit early, and ended the day one lap down in 26th.
Shwartzman’s car was unhurt in the incident, but he had pit stop issues that slowed his early progress. He finished 22nd in his #83 entry.
Unrelated to the racing action, a power issue at the track knocked out the FOX television broadcast feed for 12 of the 65 laps.
The internal feed that journalists watch on-site was also down during this time, with images finally being returned shortly before the final pit stop sequence.
IndyCar’s spread out opening to the season continues, as drivers and teams have another two week break before returning to California for a romp around the streets of Long Beach on April 13.
