Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Tag

By INDYCAR ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Colton Herta put the disappointment of a tough season opener behind him to dominate the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, earning his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory of the season. NTT P1 Award winner Herta led a race-record 97 of 100 laps from the pole in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda to win by 2.4933 seconds over two-time series champion Josef Newgarden in the No. 2 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet. 2016 series champion Simon Pagenaud finished third in the No. 22 Menards/AustralianRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Alexander Rossi endured a tough series of events in a matter of a lap in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The hell ended in an incident with Graham Rahal in Turns 4-5 on Lap 37, negatively impacting their race. Running in second, Rossi came to pit road for red compounds after starting the race with primary blacks. A slow right rear tire change slowed the stop down a bit and exited out in 13th, ahead of Rahal. Rahal was looking to pass RossiRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer From crashing out on the opening lap at Barber to finishing second at St. Petersburg, it was a strong rebound for Josef Newgarden. The same can be said about Colton Herta, who ended up winning Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg by 2.4933 seconds. Ironically, it was Herta who crashed into Newgarden last Sunday, resulting on their tough start to their seasons. Now with each getting a top-two result, Newgarden was satisfied putting themselves on the board. “Congrats to Colton. Great rebound for bothRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Qualifying is crucial for an IndyCar driver’s chances of delivering an outstanding result. More so in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as indicated by outside pole sitter Jack Harvey. Clocking in at 01:00.5709, Harvey wasn’t able to capture that elusive NTT P1 Pole Award during Saturday’s qualifying. Instead, it was his pseudo-teammate Colton Herta (01:00.3210) who went 0.2499 seconds quicker in the Firestone Fast Six. Nonetheless, Harvey was thrilled about starting on the front row for the third time of his career. “IRead More

By INDYCAR ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Colton Herta won the NTT P1 Award for pole position for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Saturday in a qualifying session that featured as much news for who didn’t make the Firestone Fast Six as for who did. Herta took his first pole of the season and fifth of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career with a best lap of 1 minute, .3210 of a second in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda. His previous best start at St. Petersburg was third last October,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Josef Newgarden’s quest for a St. Pete three-peat starts off on a positive note, topping Friday’s practice session. Newgarden was one of seven drivers who had a time below 61 seconds with him setting time of 1:00.803. The two-time IndyCar champion made it clear that his Lap 1 error from Barber Motorsports Park is the least of his concerns. With a strong start to his weekend, can you blame him? “It’s so early. As far as points go, it’s not ideal. Obviously in a perfectRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer For the second time in six months, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg takes center stage for the NTT IndyCar Series. While it was intended to be this season’s opening round, that honor went to Barber Motorsports Park last Sunday. That race certainly had a mixed bag of cars setting themselves apart due to excellent strategy. Look no further than Alex Palou, who won the opening round and determined to continue his momentum in Florida. “We’re coming from our first win to a streetRead More

By INDYCAR INDYCAR officials have announced the 2021 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is being rescheduled for Sunday, April 25 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The move creates a condensed, action-packed early-season schedule for 2021. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES returns to the Streets of St. Petersburg after Josef Newgarden’s thrilling win last October, which culminated with Scott Dixon’s sixth series title. NBC will remain as the television home of this year’s race on the tight, demanding street layout. “It’s not surprising that an event of this magnitude, scheduledRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer It might’ve not been the prettiest final few races for Scott Dixon, but after locking up his sixth Astor Cup in last Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, he added another noble honor to his ongoing legacy. That honor being winning the series championship wire-to-wire (14 races) which isn’t easy whatsoever in any major racing discipline aside for maybe Formula One. We saw Juan Pablo Montoya come close in 2015 until a tangle with Will Power at Sonoma cost him that opportunity. Who wonRead More

By INDYCAR ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Josef Newgarden went down swinging. Newgarden won a wild, unpredictable NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, in the No. 1 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet amid a head-to-head showdown with Scott Dixon for the series championship. Still, the winning performance wasn’t enough for Newgarden. Dixon finished third to seal his sixth INDYCAR championship by just 16 points over defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Newgarden after leading the season wire-to-wire in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Dixon’sRead More