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Alex Palou Dominates Thermal Practice Despite Shwartzman’s Fiery Disruption: NTT IndyCar Series Highlights

Carl Harrison by Carl Harrison
March 22, 2025
in Motorsports
Reading Time: 2 mins read
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Alex Palou Dominates Thermal Practice Despite Shwartzman’s Fiery Disruption: NTT IndyCar Series Highlights

Three weeks following the inaugural round in St. Petersburg, the NTT IndyCar Series participants reconvened for the year’s second round at The Thermal Club. This private Southern Californian circuit, which has welcomed the series for two consecutive years, does not serve as a points-earning round. The track, however, was familiar grounds for the drivers, having served as a pre-season testing venue in 2023 and as the host for an exhibition event boasting a $1 million prize in 2024.

The drivers faced the 3.067-mile long track in a standard practice session on Friday afternoon, grappling with the still fresh hybrid power system’s impact on their vehicles. After the conclusion of the primary 45-minute session and the two split sessions, Alex Palou emerged at the head of the pack. The Spanish driver has demonstrated impressive form over the past few seasons, and this weekend was no exception, setting a blistering time of 1:40.5486 and recording an average speed of 109.81 MPH on the expansive course.

Andretti Global, however, was the team to beat on Friday afternoon, despite Palou’s individual brilliance. Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson trailed Palou by only 0.09 and 0.19 seconds respectively, posting the second and third fastest times. Colton Herta, their teammate, also contributed to the team’s strong performance by clocking the fourth fastest time. Christian Rasmussen of Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy rounded out the top five, maintaining his consistent performance.

Drivers across the board noted that even the sturdier tires seemed to degrade significantly after only one flying lap. If this trend persists over the weekend and the rough track surface doesn’t accumulate rubber, the pit stop strategy could become a challenging conundrum on Sunday.

The main session was disrupted midway when Robert Shwartzman’s #83 PREMA Chevy had to stop due to a small fire near the rear attenuator. The rapid response from the AMR safety crew managed to contain the fire quickly, but an inspection revealed substantial damage in the car’s rear. The cause of the fire was identified as a fuel issue, necessitating a new engine, hybrid unit, and backup chassis for the rest of the weekend. The stoppage, unfortunately, caused Shwartzman to end the day with less than half a lap completed.

After the halt, all 26 drivers returned to the track simultaneously, causing a slight delay when Devlin DeFrancesco had to pull off to the side of the road towards the end of the first split session. Felix Rosenqvist took an off-road detour while pushing his limits but managed to keep his Meyer Shank Honda clear of the barriers. A couple of other drivers also had minor off-track excursions, but none were significant enough to fully exit the racing surface.

A second practice session is set to take place at 10:00 AM local time on Saturday, followed by knockout qualifying at 2:00 PM (5:00 PM eastern time). The drama-filled practice session at The Thermal Club, dominated by Alex Palou’s speed and punctuated by Robert Shwartzman’s fiery stoppage, sets the stage for an exciting weekend of racing.

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