The first race of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Season was a fight for survival as massive crashes, fires, and mistakes dominated the day, but in the end Marcus Ericsson and his bright red Huski Chocolate Honda reigned supreme on the streets of St. Petersburg over Pato O’Ward and Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon.

After a late race incident with pole-sitter Romain Grosjean and 2022 season opener winner Scott McLaughlin which saw the two collide after the Penske driver locked his tires, Pato O’Ward and his Arrow McLaren machine were brought back into the fold after falling back early on in the race. However, Pato’s chance for victory slipped away with 3 laps remaining as Ericsson chased him down ,when on corner exit into the long main straight, his motor suffered a misfire in the plenum that caused his Chevrolet powered machine to slow, allowing Ericsson to sneak by and take the win.

The 2022 Indy 500 champion looks to capitalize on his success last year, no doubt this will be the first of many victories for the Swede in 2023 as he continues to find success on US soil away from Formula 1.

Catch up on the action and highlights as the series takes it’s early season break before regrouping in Ft. Worth, Texas for the first oval race of the year in 4 weeks time.