The first-ever Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix counting toward the IndyCar Championship was remarkable, to say the least. For the first time in 72 races, an IndyCar race was completed entirely under green! The victory went to Alex Palou, who, with a clever tire strategy, was nearly nineteen seconds faster than Pato O’Ward in the final fourteen laps! What else stood out? We summarize the weekend in a series of numbers.

208 - A total of 208 overtakes for position were recorded during the race. Including overtakes on backmarkers, the number rose to 246.

139 - In the OpenWheelWorld.net team championship, Chip Ganassi Racing now leads with 139 points. Arrow McLaren made a big leap forward and now holds second place, ahead of Team Penske in third.

103.3875 - Already in the third lap of the race, Pato O'Ward set the fastest lap of the race: 1:43.3875, or 103.3875 seconds.

102 - The OpenWheelWorld.net Nations Cup is still led by Spain with 102 points. The United States climbed from third to second place, overtaking New Zealand.

72 - The race ran entirely caution-free—something rare in the IndyCar Series. The last time this happened was during the Harvest GP at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2022, 72 races ago!

45 - For the first time since the Mid-Ohio race in 2022, Meyer Shank Racing finished with both cars in the top ten (Felix Rosenqvist fifth and Marcus Armstrong seventh)—this was 45 races ago!

44 - It had been a while since Pato O'Ward started from pole position; the last time was at Mid-Ohio in 2022, 44 races ago!

39 - Because of his victories in the first two races of the season, Alex Palou already has a 39-point lead in the championship! O'Ward now holds second place.

22 - Despite barely getting any track time before the race and having to start last, Robert Shwartzman was the highest-ranked rookie, finishing in 22nd place.

15 - Will Power gained the most positions from his starting spot: he started 21st and finished sixth—a gain of 15 positions! Impressive, considering there were no cautions.

13 - Robert Shwartzman completed only 13 laps on The Thermal Club before the race. The Prema driver’s car caught fire during his first lap in the first practice session, forcing the team to build the backup car, causing him to miss the second practice as well. He managed only four laps in qualifying and nine laps in the warm-up. Fortunately, Shwartzman had tested at The Thermal Club earlier this year, so he was already familiar with the circuit.

13 - This was Alex Palou’s 13th IndyCar victory. He now climbs to a shared 33rd position on the all-time IndyCar wins list, a spot he shares with Tom Sneva.

3 - Only three different drivers led at least one lap: Pato O'Ward (51 laps), Alex Palou (13 laps), and Alexander Rossi (1 lap).

2 - Race control had a relatively quiet weekend regarding penalties—just like in St. Petersburg—issuing only two. Devlin DeFrancesco received a drive-through penalty for colliding with Scott McLaughlin, while Jacob Abel was penalized for speeding in the pits.

1.3411 - Alex Palou won the race by running his final stint on a fresh set of softer, alternate tires. How much faster was he during this stint compared to Pato O'Ward? He gained an average of 1.3411 seconds per lap! Palou’s average lap time during the final stint (15 full laps) was 1:45.9776, while O’Ward’s was 1:47.3187 (over 14 full laps). In the final 14 laps, Palou was 19 seconds faster than O’Ward—even with his battle against Christian Lundgaard and traffic!