It’s time for Practice 2 in St.Pete, only the second time the drivers get ready for an official IndyCar session in 2026! Yesterday Practice 1 was rather chaotic, with several major names including Newgarden and Dixon spinning or crashing out.
All drivers on track for IndyCar Practice 2 in St. Pete!
Will Power in his Andretti no. 26 is the first driver to come out and he almost immediately slams into the wall at Turn 10 on his first lap, breaking off his front suspension, causing the first red flag of the day. The driver, who has just transferred from Penske to replace Europe-bound Colton Herta, had suffered from sever braking issues during yesterday’s on-track session. His car is towed away as his IndyCar St. Pete Practice 2 session is over.
Session resumes with 32.26 minutes to go, as Kirkwood, Grosjean, Siegel and the Ed Carpenter Racing drivers get out on the slight damp, definitely gripped out track. Rossi has a wiggle at the beginning of his first faster lap at Turn 1, demonstrating the rather challenging track conditions. Proceeding with his lap, he almost collided with the wall at the exit of Turn 14.
Newgarden joins the lapping drivers, while Rossi holds the provisional fastest lap in 1:02.638.
Power, who is in OK physically, mentioned a front tyre lockup as cause for his mistake. With 22 minutes left on the clock, only 7 drivers have completed a full lap: Rossi, Siegel, Newgarden, Grosjean, Rasmussen, Robb, Kirkwood and Veekay.
After a more turbulent Friday, Penske’s Newgarden moves up to P2 with a 1:02.826. With 18 minutes left on the clock, rookies Schumacher and Collet get out track, while many other drivers are warming up their engines, sitting in their challengers but waiting to see how the situation evolves.
Another red flag!
Grosjean goes deep on the street circuit, finding his way into the Turn 1 runoff. Rasmussen has a big shunt at the exit of Turn 3, causing the second red flag of the day so far. Replays show the Dane sliding through Turn 2 before making strong contact with the wall in between Turn 2 and 3, severely damaging his ECR car. Luckily, in spite of the strong impact, the Milwaukee race winner from 2025 is able to get out of the car on his own.
A new start to the session is underway with 8 minutes left on the clock, as Hauger, Dixon, and Rahal get out on track. Rossi’s earlier benchmark still holds P1, ahead of Newgarden, VeeKay, O’Ward and the 2025 Indy NXT champion. With five minutes to go, reigning champion Alex Palou joins everyone else in lapping around St. Pete.
Timings significantly improve towards the end of the full-grid session, with track evolution getting into play. VeeKey sets a 1:01.991 ahead of Lundgaard and Palou. Collet clips the wall at the exit of Turn 3, and is then forced to stop on track shortly after due to suspension damage. Consequently, the new Juncos Hollinger Racing driver has set the top time for Practice 2 of IndyCar in St. Pete.
Group A’s time to shine
McLaughlin was the first driver to take the wheel in the first split group portion of IndyCar Practice 2 in St. Pete, with the new practice format debuting for the first time in the season. During his first lap, however, he runs more than a tad wide.
After the first set of laps, Kirkwood holds the provisional best lap in 1:02.686, ahead of O’Ward and McLaughlin. However, it is brief as VeeKay regains P1 once again. The Andretti driver then sets the first lap in the 1:01s, and is joined shortly after by O’Ward, just as his teammate Marcus Ericsson slides in P3.
Ferrucci tried to go for a bold move, but ultimately backed out of it. Schumacher is slowly but steadily improving as he gains more experience through the streets of St. Pete, setting his personal best in 1:03.30.
On his final flying lap McLaughlin goes purple in the first sector, but it’s ultimately not enough to dethrone Kirkwood, settling for P2.
Group B bolts out!
Malukas is the first driver out of track for his group, just like his new teammate McLaughlin had done earlier in the split session. He too almost made contact with the wall on his out lap, running a bit too wide a bit later during the same lap.
Dixon, Rahal, Rossi and Simpson all cycle in P1, with Rossi settling in the lead by signing a 1:02.201. Siegel then moves up to P2, completing a rather positive session for Arrow McLaren featuring all of their drivers in the Groups top 10. Ganassi’s Simpson betters him shortly after. However, Lundgaard replaces him too as the timings get lower and lower. In fact, Rossi sets a 1:01.765, with Lundgaard shaving off 0.100s to take the lead.
At the same time, his teammate Nolan Siegel makes slight contact with the wall at the same spot Collet had done so earlier in the session. In the final minutes of the session, Meyers Shank Racing’s Armstrong moves up to P2, whereas his teammate Scott Dixon runs out in the Turn 1 runoff.
Head over here for the complete IndyCar Practice 2 St. Pete results!
