Kirkwood Tops Opening St. Petersburg IndyCar Practice, Outpaces Palou
Kyle Kirkwood topped the opening practice session of the 2025 IndyCar season at St. Petersburg with a lap time of 1m00.441s in his No. 27 Andretti Global Honda. The double street circuit race winner from 2023 set his fastest time during the dedicated 10-minute qualifying simulation runs using Firestone's alternate tires.
Indycar racing on speedway track
Alex Palou led the main 45-minute session with a 1m01.211s in his Chip Ganassi Racing No. 10 Honda, while Colton Herta posted a 1m01.060s in the final segment, completing Honda's dominance across all three practice segments.
Notable incidents included two synchronized spins from Meyer Shank Racing drivers at Turn 3. Felix Rosenqvist completed a full 360-degree spin without contact, while teammate Marcus Armstrong stalled facing backward, causing the session's only red flag. Scott McLaughlin's session ended with wall contact exiting Turn 3 in his Team Penske No. 3 Chevrolet, requiring suspension repairs before Saturday's 10 a.m. ET practice session.
INDYCAR Practice Results St. Petersburg 2025
"We've always been really good on street courses," said Kirkwood. "We were amazing at Nashville Speedway last year, so I hope this is just a continuation of our strong finish to last season and puts us in contention for the championship."