Three weeks after the season-opening round in St. Petersburg, the NTT IndyCar Series reconvened at The Thermal Club for the second round of the year.
The private club course in Southern California has hosted the series for the past two years, but not as a points paying round.
IndyCar completed a pre-season test at the winding course in 2023, and then held an exhibition event with a $1 million prize in 2024.
Drivers took to the 3.067-mile track on Friday afternoon in a standard practice session format, coming to grips with how the still-new hybrid power system would affect their cars.
After the main 45-minute session and both split session were completed, it was Alex Palou that found himself on the top of the charts.
The Spaniard has been on a tear over the past couple years, and once again showed that it is him versus the rest of the field nearly every weekend.
Palou set a fast time of 1:40.5486, averaging 109.81 MPH around the lengthy course.
Although Palou was the fastest overall, the team that looked quickest on Friday afternoon was Andretti Global.
Kyle Kirkwood was only 0.09 seconds slower than the fast time, and Marcus Ericsson was only 0.19 seconds further down the order with the third fastest time overall.
Colton Herta joined his team-mates as well, setting the fourth fastest time and completing an impressive showing by the Andretti squad.
Rounding out the top five was Christian Rasmussen, who continues to be impressive in his Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy.
Drivers all throughout the grid were making early observations that even the harder compound tire seemed to only last for one flying lap before falling off massively.
If that trend continues through the weekend and rubber does not work its way into the rough track surface, there could be difficult pit stop decisions to make come Sunday.
Disruptions on track
Nearly halfway through the main 45-minute session, the red flag came out when Robert Shwartzman stopped on course.
As he climbed from his #83 PREMA Chevy, it became clear that there was a small fire burning near the rear attenuator.
The AMR safety crew arrived on scene and quickly attended to the fire, but had to spend a few minutes dissecting the engine bay and it appeared that considerable damage was done deep inside the rear of the car.
It was revealed that a fuel issue was the cause of the fire, with a new engine, hybrid unit, and backup chassis being required for the remainder of the weekend.
Shwartzman was forced to stop on his very first lap, meaning he ended the day with less than half a lap under his belt.
The lost time meant that the other 26 drivers all headed out on track at the same time following the stoppage.
Devlin DeFrancesco then cost the field a bit more time as well when he pulled off to the side of the road near the end of the first split session.
Felix Rosenqvist took a high speed trip through the dirt while pushing hard, but was able to keep his Meyer Shank Honda out of the barriers.
A couple other drivers dipped their tires off the edge of the road, but nobody else was far enough off line to completely leave the racing surface.
A second practice session is scheduled for 10:00 AM local time on Saturday, with knockout qualifying taking place at 2:00 in the afternoon (5:00 PM eastern time).
