Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Tag

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer After four months of whirlwind NTT IndyCar Series competition, it’s time to call it a season this weekend at St. Petersburg. What was supposed to be the season opener until the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic changed the sport as we know it, is now the finale site with two guys fighting for the championship. Leading the trail after 13 rounds is Scott Dixon, who has led the points since the beginning and hopes to become the first man winning the Astor Cup wire-to-wire. To do so,Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor Originally scheduled to kick off the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series season, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will now bring the revised schedule to a close on October 25. The move to crown this year’s champion in Florida was announced on Wednesday by officials from INDYCAR, Green Savoree St. Petersburg, LLC (GSSP) and the City of St. Petersburg, marking the 16th straight season that INDYCAR will host a race on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn temporary street circuit. “The streets of St. Petersburg will make for aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer As the 2020 NTT IndyCar Series is currently on hold due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, which resulted in the first four races (St. Petersburg, Barber Motorsports Park, Long Beach and Circuit of the Americas) being postponed, INDYCAR CEO Mark Miles held a teleconference Friday regarding what the sport will do going forward. “Obviously this is an incredibly fluid situation. The entire world is dealing with it. It changes by the hour,” Miles said to start off the call. “The President of the United States is goingRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Motorsports venues will be a ghost town around the world as Formula One, INDYCAR and NASCAR will not hold any form of racing this weekend and beyond due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. FORMULA ONE WON’T RETURN UNTIL END OF MAY A day after Formula One’s Australian Grand Prix was cancelled, the FIA announced that both the Bahrain Grand Prix (March 20-22) and inaugural Vietnamese Grand Prix (April 3-5) will be postponed. Although the Dutch Grand Prix (May 1-3) would be the new first official race,Read More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The world of open wheel racing took a slew of schedule alternations all across the world due to the rise of the much feared coronavirus pandemic. As many sports sanctioning bodies (NBA, NCAA, MLB, MLS, WEC, IMSA, AMA Supercross, LPGA and XFL) have suspended or delayed their seasons, the world of motorsports are no exceptions. Effective immediately, three notable races have changed in both Formula One and the NTT IndyCar Series. AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX CANCELLED The commencement of Formula One’s 70th season will have to waitRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The nearly six-month wait for NTT IndyCar Series action will finally come to an end this weekend as 26 daring drivers are ready to hit the revered streets of St. Petersburg for the 17th renewal of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg March 15. It’s the first season of Roger Penske’s empire taking control of INDYCAR and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, but Sunday will also mark the end of an era for one nation. Brazil, a country that’s won five Indy car championships with Gil deRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer DragonSpeed confirmed Monday that they’ll be entering its No. 81 10 Star Chevrolet, piloted by Ben Hanley, at the season opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg March 15. The 34-year-old British drove three races last season with those being St. Peterburg, Barber and the Indianapolis 500 with only an 18th in their NTT IndyCar Series debut being their best result. With some experience in the series, Hanley said the team vibe is a lot different than last year because they’ve had time to be moreRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG, Fla — Santino Ferrucci threw his car off the road during Saturday’s qualifying for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg but a solid run saw the Connecticut native climb to ninth place during the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season opener. The No. 19 David Yurman Honda for Dale Coyne Racing hovered around 13th-14th place during the first couple of stints in the race after the last full course yellow ended but Ferrucci managed to get into tenth place following the final round ofRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Josef Newgarden winning the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was far from the biggest story. Instead, it was television and streaming contracts, two media outlets INDYCAR fans have gone full rage all week. Just as the sport is hitting mass strides, something alters their momentum every time. This time around, it’s the television deals around the world that’s brought a lot of frustrations from the fans. Let’s start off with the biggest piece of the TV puzzle – NBC Sports. Last season, INDYCAR announced INDYCARRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer The season opener of the NTT IndyCar Series saw a lot of action that resulted in six retirements, notably in the first 30 laps that took out some of the heavy favorites in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida. One of the major storylines heading into the 110-lap contest was the struggles of two-time St. Pete winner Sebastien Bourdais, who was eyeing on a three-peat at the 1.8-mile circuit. His bid for a three-peat was already facing multiple roadblocks. Not only he hadRead More