The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix Honda Key Message Points
What to Watch for at Thermal
- Points on the line: Though this is not the NTT INDYCAR SERIES‘ first time to The Thermal Club, it is the first time with championship points on the line. Last year’s cash prize was a good incentive, but a bad race at thermal this year could have season-long implications.
- Palou and Dixon off to the races: Chip Ganassi Racing’s duo of Alex Palou and Scott Dixon came into the 2025 season as potential championship favorites and solidified that with a 1-2 finish for CGR and Honda at the opening round in St. Petersburg, Florida.
- Honda teams have a strong start: All five NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams racing with Honda power had at least one driver that finished in the top 12 at the season-opener in St. Pete, with four of the five teams notching impressive top-10 results.
- More cars, more risk: Last year’s non-points race consisted of two qualifying heats to set the grid for the ‘All-Star Race’, meaning no more than 14 cars were on track at a given time. This year, the full field of 27 will be taking to the track at the same time for the very first time.
Honda at The Thermal Club
- Last year’s $1 Million Challenge at Thermal was the first racing action held at Thermal by the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, following a pre-season test at the track in 2023.
- Honda driver Alex Palou won the race in his #10 Chip Ganassi Racing machine, taking home a check for $500,000 in the non-points event while Felix Rosenqvist finished third for Meyer Shank Racing.
2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Honda Lineup
| Andretti Global | #26 Colton Herta (W) #27 Kyle Kirkwood (W) #28 Marcus Ericsson (I) (W) |
| Chip Ganassi Racing | # 8 Kyffin Simpson # 9 Scott Dixon (C) (I) (W) 10 Alex Palou (C) (W) |
| Dale Coyne Racing | #18 Rinus VeeKay (W) #51 Jacob Abel (R) |
| Meyer Shank Racing | #60 Felix Rosenqvist (W) #66 Marcus Armstrong |
| Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | #15 Graham Rahal (W) #30 Devlin DeFrancesco #45 Louis Foster (R) |
C – Series Champion I – Indianapolis 500 winner W – Race Winner R – Series Rookie
Where to Watch
- Television coverage of Sunday’s The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix starts at 3:00 p.m. ET on Fox. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).
- Practice and qualifying for this weekends’ race will air on FS1.