Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou started off the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series off in dominant fashion on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and he is still the only driver to lead the championship standings since June 2024, extending his record-breaking streak to 28 races.
However, IndyCar initially awarded the four-time and three-time reigning series champion a 13-point lead in the opening championship standings over Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin following Sunday's 100-lap Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit.
The real gap is 11 points.
Drivers are awarded 50 points for race wins and 40 points for second place finishes. The polesitter is awarded one additional point, and every driver who leads at least one lap is awarded one additional point. The driver who leads the most laps is awarded two additional points (three total for laps led).
IndyCar initially counted the race results as the qualifying results, as shown in the charts shared by Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass. As a result, Palou was awarded the point for pole position that should have gone to McLaughlin, giving the driver of the No. 10 Honda a 54-41 lead over the driver of the No. 3 Chevrolet. Palou qualified fourth for Sunday's race.
INDYCAR race results and points after St. Pete. Palou had 13-point lead on McLaughlin and 18 points on Lundgaard. @IndyCarOnFOX pic.twitter.com/EWTULwlhMf
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 1, 2026
In reality, the lead was 53-42. McLaughlin led 34 laps, netting himself another bonus point in addition to the one he had rightfully earned for pole, while Palou led 59, netting him the maximum of three bonus points in the laps led department.
IndyCar later posted, but then deleted, a standings graphic with the initial 54-41 calculation.
53-42* https://t.co/2JP3YgKif6
— Beyond the Flag (@Beyond_The_Flag) March 2, 2026
However, IndyCar has since corrected this error, noting Palou's true 53-42 lead on their official website.
Here's a look at the full standings.
IndyCar standings after St. Petersburg
Rank | Name | Points |
|---|---|---|
1 | Alex Palou, No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda | 53 |
2 | Scott McLaughlin, No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet | 42 |
3 | Christian Lundgaard, No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet | 36 |
4 | Kyle Kirkwood, No. 27 Andretti Global Honda | 32 |
5 | Pato O'Ward, No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet | 30 |
6 | Marcus Ericsson, No. 28 Andretti Global Honda | 29 |
7 | Josef Newgarden, No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet | 27 |
8 | Romain Grosjean, No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda | 24 |
9 | Rinus VeeKay, No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet | 22 |
10 | Dennis Hauger, No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda | 20 |
11 | Marcus Armstrong, No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda | 19 |
12 | Felix Rosenqvist, No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda | 18 |
13 | David Malukas, No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet | 17 |
14 | Louis Foster, No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda | 17 |
15 | Kyffin Simpson, No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda | 15 |
16 | Alexander Rossi, No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet | 14 |
17 | Caio Collet, No. 4 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet | 13 |
18 | Graham Rahal, No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda | 12 |
19 | Christian Rasmussen, No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet | 11 |
20 | Nolan Siegel, No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet | 10 |
21 | Sting Ray Robb, No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet | 9 |
22 | Will Power, No. 26 Andretti Global Honda | 8 |
23 | Scott Dixon, No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda | 8 |
24 | Santino Ferrucci, No. 14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet | 6 |
25 | Mick Schumacher, No. 47 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda | 5 |
We get it; mistakes happen. And the lap report does quite literally say "unofficial". But the points calculator does not, and then the series still published the graphic with the incorrection information.
Additionally, many media outlets had already run with the erroneous 54-41 version as part of their race-by-race standings updates.
Fortunately, this mistake was easily identified and corrected. But in a series where tiebreakers have determined championships before, hopefully this results in a tightened post-race calculation process when it comes to the series issuing standings updates down the road, especially as we start adding up cumulative points tallies.
Phoenix Raceway is scheduled to host the 2026 IndyCar season's second race this Saturday, March 7. The Good Ranchers 250 is set to be shown live on Fox starting at 3:00 p.m. ET. Start a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action!