The Thermal Club GP hosted its first IndyCar points race, and while it wasn’t the most action-packed event, it still delivered plenty of storylines. From Alex Palou’s dominance to a chaotic start that left some contenders on the back foot, here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers from the race.
Winner: Alex Palou stays Mr Perfect
The reigning champion made it two-for-two to start the 2025 season, delivering another masterclass in patience and precision. While Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and Christian Lundgaard led much of the race, Palou remained in striking distance, waiting for the perfect opportunity.
A well-timed final pit stop gave him fresher tyres in the closing stages, and he took full advantage. With 15 laps to go, Palou executed textbook overtakes on both O’Ward and Lundgaard, asserting his dominance once again.
“Once I got close enough, I knew I had the pace to go for it,” Palou said. “The team made a perfect strategy call, and everything just fell into place.”
Speaking to Fastest Formula News and the media, Palou also noted the strong form Arrow McLaren showed.
“When you see two drivers from the same team up there fighting every single session, that means that they have a good car, and they are closer to you. Let’s say, like St. Pete for us, I think overall we had an amazing package and probably superior to everybody else.”
With back-to-back wins to start his title defence, Palou has already established himself as the driver to beat this season.
Loser: Broadcast viewers
For 20 minutes, fans watching from home were left in the dark—literally. An electrical issue at The Thermal Club wiped out the IndyCar broadcast, leaving Fox scrambling to fill the gap by switching to NASCAR coverage. International viewers regained access first, but for American fans, it was an aggravating interruption.
For Fox coverage to disappear, mid-broadcast is a carnal sin in sports TV management. Here’s hoping it was caused by genuine failure, and not a technician pushing the wrong button.
Winner: NASCAR, with an unexpected boost
A technical glitch at The Thermal Club led to an unexpected crossover moment between IndyCar and NASCAR. During lap 28, an electrical failure knocked out the IndyCar broadcast, and viewers instead found themselves watching NASCAR’s Cup Series race from Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Fox Sports quickly adapted, with lead NASCAR commentator Mike Joy acknowledging the IndyCar audience now tuning in. While the interruption frustrated IndyCar fans, it inadvertently gave NASCAR some extra exposure on a major network, creating an unusual but memorable moment in motorsport broadcasting.
Loser: Prema Racing
Prema Racing endured a nightmare weekend, beginning with Robert Shwartzman’s car catching fire in practice. The damage forced his team to miss a session, and though he managed to qualify, he started from the back.
Any hope of recovery was dashed when teammate Callum Ilott collided with him mid-race. Ilott’s woes continued with a refuelling issue that forced an additional pit stop. The result? Ilott in 26th, Shwartzman in 22nd—far from where Prema had hoped to be.
Winner: Arrow McLaren’s double podium
A victory slipped through their fingers, but Arrow McLaren still had plenty to celebrate with two cars on the podium. Christian Lundgaard led much of the race, managing his tyres well. Pato O’Ward meanwhile, mounted an impressive charge from 23rd on the grid to finish second.
Though both drivers were disappointed not to convert their efforts into a win, the result put them in a strong early-season position.
“It’s frustrating to come so close,” Lundgaard admitted. “But it’s still a great result for the team, and we showed we have the pace to fight at the front.”
With this kind of form, Arrow McLaren looks poised to challenge for more podiums—and possibly wins—as the year unfolds.
Loser: Foster’s hard pill to swallow
Indy NXT champion Louis Foster showed promise by putting his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car in the top 10 during qualifying. Unfortunately, the race didn’t go his way.
Despite battling hard—particularly in a tense scrap with Christian Rasmussen—he gradually slipped down the order. A disappointing 24th-place finish, 14 spots lower than his starting position, was a frustrating outcome after such a strong Saturday.
“It’s a disappointing result for us. We had good pace in the car in warmup but the first stint we struggled a little bit with tire degradation on the alternates. I wasn’t sure exactly how much to push and how much to save,” Foster explained.
“The second stint honestly went quite well, I think. We lost a bit of time in the first stint because of that, but we gained it back in the second stint and made some overtakes and were looking good. And then, just with it being my first race, we had some issues with the seat with my shoulder, so I was driving in a lot of pain, just struggling to honestly finish the race at that point.”
“We need to look over the seat and the belt and understand what exactly what the cause of that pain was. The positives are we’ve got the pace, we just need to now try and get myself more used to INDYCAR racing. It was a bit of a bittersweet weekend, but you know what, my first race in INDYCAR is behind me, so I’m pretty happy to get that one done.”
Winner: Will Power’s recovery drive
For Team Penske, Thermal was an uphill battle from the start. Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin struggled all weekend, leaving Will Power as the team’s only bright spot.
Despite starting deep in the pack, Power methodically worked his way forward, gaining 15 positions to finish sixth—by far the biggest mover of the race. Only Graham Rahal and Christian Rasmussen came close, each gaining seven spots.
“We just kept chipping away,” Power said. “We knew the pace was decent, but we had to be patient. In the end, it was a solid recovery.”
Power’s ability to extract results on tough weekends has always made him a championship contender. This performance could prove valuable when the points are tallied at season’s end.
Loser: The IndyCar Thermal Club GP was not kind to Ericsson
Marcus Ericsson’s weekend started with promise, as he secured his fourth Fast 6 appearance in 19 races with Andretti Global. But that was where the positives ended.
On the opening lap, he ran wide, losing valuable track position. After a quiet stint, his race took a further hit when he spun at Turn 9 following his first pit stop. That dropped him to 21st, where he ultimately finished—a brutal contrast to the other top-five starters, all of whom remained inside the top five at the chequered flag.
“It’s just frustrating,” Ericsson said. “We had a really strong car in qualifying, but the race just didn’t go our way.”
Loser: McLaughlin and DeFrancesco
Before the race had even started, Devlin DeFrancesco and Scott McLaughlin tangled, sending both drivers spinning before the field even reached Turn 1.
McLaughlin’s day went from bad to worse as hybrid system issues left him six laps down in 27th. DeFrancesco, meanwhile, received a penalty for avoidable contact and limped home in 20th. After the race, tempers flared, with DeFrancesco confronting McLaughlin over the incident in a heated exchange.
Some words between Devlin Defrancesco and Scott McLaughlin after the race.@BobPockrass | #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/org5jjWU1I
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 23, 2025
DeFrancesco was filmed confronting McLaughlin after the race. The incident then rapidly descended into two men fighting like children in the playground, arguing who had the most powerful Pokemon card:
“We’re supposed to be side-by-side, you f*****g moron. You turned in at me. You closed the f*****g door.”
McLaughlin was quick to bite back, arguing, “You drove into me. You got a drive-through for a reason.”
“I don’t really know what he was thinking,” McLaughlin said after the race. “That’s not the way you want to start a race.”
DeFrancesco elaborated on the incident in a press release from his team saying, “I got hit before the green flag even started,” he said. “McLaughlin closed the line as we were supposed to be running side by side through 15. He left me no room and turned down on me, which caused us to have a drive-through.”
“So not only did we start last, we started 30 seconds behind everybody else. The No. 30 Mi-Jack Honda was strong, especially on alternate tyres. We seemed to really be able to carve our way through.”
“That last stint on primary tyres, we just bottomed on the out lap and lost it, but you know, where I would have started, we would have probably been around 14th considering the drive-through.”
“It made somewhat good of a bad day, but we need to go review it with the INDYCAR stewards now because in my opinion, that drive-through was uncalled for.”
Of course, everyone, including DeFrancesco, but it’s likely best if the readers can assess the situation. Is it a case of a starter Pokemon locked in a hopeless battle with a rival 40 levels above it?
Here's what happened between Devlin Defrancesco and Scott McLaughlin. #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/8hUhZ3XDN1
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 23, 2025
