Competition Updates Begin on Streets of St. Petersburg for NTT INDYCAR SERIES, INDY NXT by Firestone
A late-winter thaw is well underway for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES as anticipation heats up for next week’s start to the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone seasons. Championship campaigns begin in the Florida sunshine with a two-day group test Feb. 17-18 at Sebring International Raceway ahead of the Sunday, March 2 season opener on the Streets of St. Petersburg.
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding is expected to set the stage for what will be another thrilling season on track and on television.
FOX Sports launches its inaugural season of INDYCAR coverage with the season’s first practice in St. Pete on Friday, Feb. 28 on FS1. All 17 races for the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will air on FOX, with two additional days during PPG Presents Armed Forces Qualifying May 17-18 ahead of the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge creating a series-record 19 network windows. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the only premier motorsport series in North America with all races broadcasting on network television.
All INDYCAR programming also streams live on the FOX Sports app.
“This will be a season of unrivaled exposure for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES,” said INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles. “With phenomenal support of our sport across multiple massive platforms – including Super Bowl LIX – FOX Sports has proven to be a superb partner and promoter. With the season approaching, we know their unique style of engaging and innovative broadcasts will continue to raise the bar and drive an unparallelled growth opportunity for INDYCAR.”
With an eye on the fierce and intense competition of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, several updates will be featured in 2025:
More Time, More Action:
To maximize the thrilling, wheel-to-wheel racing action for fans during the record number of FOX race broadcast windows, lap counts at several NTT INDYCAR SERIES races have been extended in 2025, creating added dynamics for race teams. Race distances have been updated for:
- Streets of Long Beach – 90 laps (+5 laps)
- Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course – 90 laps (+10)
- Iowa Speedway doubleheader – 275 laps (+25)
- Streets of Toronto – 90 laps (+5)
- Nashville Superspeedway – 225 laps (+19)
Hybrid Highlighted:
2025 will feature the first full-season integration of the hybrid power unit, including the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for the first time. Hybrid assist – developed specifically for INDYCAR through a first-of-its-kind collaborative effort by Chevrolet and Honda – provides an added boost of 120 horsepower when used with traditional Push to Pass on road and street circuits. Used in tandem, a total of 800 horsepower is available to drivers for the first time in two decades.
New this season, use of the hybrid power unit will be allowed to start or restart the 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engines on pit lane. As in 2024, hybrid assist will be allowed to restart a stalled race car on the racetrack on non-ovals.
After meticulous development, the INDYCAR hybrid power unit made its successful race debut July 7, 2024, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. From its full-field integration at the Milwaukee Mile Open Test on June 11 through the end of the 2024 season, 94,244 miles were completed with the system. Overall use and influence of hybrid assist increased race-over-race on road and street circuits and ovals. Twelve of the 14 on-track passing records broken during the 2024 season came after the introduction of the hybrid power unit.
Practice Makes Perfect:
Some NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions will have an updated look in 2025.
At select road and street circuits (Streets of St. Petersburg, Long Beach, Detroit and Toronto and Barber Motorsports Park, Road America, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Portland International Raceway), weekend tire allotments this season will include:
- One additional set of Firestone Firehawk alternates (five total)
- One less set of Firestone Firehawk primaries (five total)
Race teams will be allowed the freedom to use their weekend allotments as they see fit, reserving one set of new alternates, per the rulebook, for use during the race. Tire allotments for event weekends at The Thermal Club and Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course remain unchanged from last year.
Also on road and street circuits, split group practice sessions in Practice 1 will expand to all tracks except for Road America and its lengthy 4.014-mile layout. All cars will receive an initial 45-minute practice session before the start of two 10-minute segments, with groups split by odd and even numbered pit boxes. As in qualifying, the clock in Segments One and Two will stop for the first red flag condition of each practice segment.
Popular high-line practice sessions will continue on all short ovals in 2025. The additional track time allows for drivers and teams to work in the upper groove of the racetrack, providing more grip ahead of the race.
Race Ready:
An annual INDYCAR review also has led to adjustments to procedures and rules for the upcoming NTT INDYCAR SERIES season:
- Ahead of a race start on ovals, there will be a mandatory “pair up” location with “one to go” to reduce the chance of incident and the need for waved-off starts.
- Where feasible for oval restarts, INDYCAR will extend the beginning of the restart zone to give the leader wider discretion on the choice to accelerate. The ending location of oval restart zones will remain the same as in previous seasons.
- A multistage pit lane speed limiter, as utilized at pit in at Road America and at pit out at World Wide Technology Raceway and Nashville Superspeedway, will be expanded to pit lane entry at WWT Raceway, Iowa Speedway and Nashville. The update prevents cars from overextending from the apron onto the racetrack after the pit-in commitment point.
- The 2024 road and street circuit restart line, where drivers must remain in single file and are prohibited from passing until reaching the designated line in the last corner, remains intact for 2025.
- Additional EM Motorsport light panels, first used in 2022, will be used at all circuits. The additional lights will enhance the forewarning of conditions, particularly around blind corners.
- Also for safety, drivers will be alerted of local yellow conditions by a notification on driver cockpit dashes in addition to the light panels and traditional cloth flag notifications at marshal posts around each circuit.
Also noteworthy, alternate tires at Nashville Superspeedway again will be available for the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. Last season, the breathtaking championship race featured 653 on-track passes – the most on record for the series at the track.
“From the mid-year integration of the hybrid power unit to the on-track passing records and another championship decided at the final race, 2024 was truly a phenomenal year for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES,” INDYCAR Senior Vice President, Competition and Operations Mark Sibla said. “This is a testament to the hard work by the teams, drivers and naturally our partners Chevrolet, Honda, Firestone and Shell. As our attention turns toward 2025, we will continue the series’ energy, momentum and incredibly close competition on the track. We are excited to get the new season started.”
For the first time, an entire INDY NXT by Firestone season will be featured on live television. Announced in December, 12 INDY NXT races will appear live on FOX Sports’ FS1, with two airing on FS2. Additionally, all practice and qualifying sessions for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ development series will air on a combination of FS1 and FS2.
Which driver will receive the most attention from FOX’s cameras is anyone’s guess. After last season averaged the most starters (19.5) since 2009, the 2025 season is expected to match or exceed that number – in a field featuring drivers from 10 countries.
Chip Ganassi Racing will add even more intrigue to the championship as it fields cars in INDY NXT for the first time since 2007.
Building on the series’ continued momentum, 2024 featured on-track passing records at four circuits, with qualifying records broken at six. Sixteen of the 33 starters in last year’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge were graduates of INDY NXT.
After the launch of a reimagined look in 2023, this is the fourth season that INDYCAR’s development series will feature continued integration with INDYCAR as the sanctioning body. In 2025, INDY NXT chassis will showcase updated and stylized rear wing end plates featuring LED rain lights, matching the safety component available in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
The pathway to North America’s premier open-wheel series once again features a total purse of $1.4 million. The series champion will receive $850,000 to be applied to a rookie oval test, the Indy 500 Open Test and Rookie Orientation Program, an entry for the 2026 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and an entry for an additional 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES event. The 2025 championship team will receive a prize of $35,000.
“This will be a season of incredible and unprecedented exposure for INDY NXT by Firestone,” series director Richard Buck said. “The continued integration of this series with INDYCAR has clearly raised the quantity and quality of INDY NXT. The championship has never been more fierce and difficult to win, but it will prove to be all the more gratifying for the driver advancing to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.”
Coverage of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season debut Sunday, March 2 begins at noon ET on FOX. A Spanish-language version will be available on FOX Deportes.
INDY NXT by Firestone’s season opener begins earlier that day at 10 a.m. on FS1.
The award-winning INDYCAR Radio Network will provide coverage of both races with audio available on SiriusXM channel 218 and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.
Source: IndyCar
