It was about as perfect as it gets for four-time and three-time reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou to open up the 2026 season on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, the same place he began his charge to the 2025 championship with the first of eight victories.
However, it wasn't completely perfect, as it was Team Penske's Scott McLaughlin who took the pole position for Sunday's 100-lap race around the 14-turn, 1.8-mile (2.897-kilometer) temporary street circuit in Saturday afternoon's qualifying session.
IndyCar's scoring format awards one point to the polesitter, one point to all drivers who lead at least one lap, and two extra points to the driver who leads the most laps. The race winner is awarded 50 points, and the second place finisher is awarded 40.
IndyCar messes up St. Petersburg standings
IndyCar incorrectly stated in its post-race box score that Palou is leading the standings with 54 points over McLaughlin with 41.
Palou led the most laps (59), but he did not do so from pole; he did so from fourth on the grid, netting him three extra points instead of four. McLaughlin led 34 laps from pole, netting him two extra points, instead of one.
Palou really owns an 11-point lead over McLaughlin, not a 13-point lead.
As one can see clearly in the update shared by Fox Sports' Bob Pockrass after the race, IndyCar simply counted the race results as the qualifying results in their points calculator.
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
Here are the actual IndyCar standings after Sunday's opener, which also saw Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard, Andretti Global's Marcus Ericsson, Team Penske's Josef Newgarden, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Louis Foster, and Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon spend time at the front.
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 we'll give them the additional benefit of the doubt here too, since the lap report does say unofficial.
The points calculator, however, does not, and in the grand scheme of things, that's what really counts.
Seeing as how several media outlets have already picked up IndyCar's standings report and run with the incorrect edition, it is extremely important moving forward for the series to take extra care when sharing such updates.
In a series that has literally seen championships decided on tiebreakers before, every point is crucial.
UPDATE: IndyCar has corrected the error.
Race number two on the 2026 IndyCar schedule is the Good Ranchers 250, which is set to be shown live on Fox from Phoenix Raceway starting at 3:00 p.m. ET on Saturday, March 7. Start a free trial of FuboTV today and catch all of the action!