The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding will be the 20th Indy car race on the course that incorporates streets in downtown St. Pete along with one of the runways at Albert Whitted Airport.
Last year, Team Penske-Chevrolet’s Scott McLaughlin edged teammate Will Power for pole position, and went on to clock his first IndyCar win, ahead of Alex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda) and Power. Other former winners set to take part in this Sunday’s race include Power (2010 and ’14), Helio Castroneves (2006, ’07 and ’12), Josef Newgarden (2019 and ’20), Graham Rahal (2008) and Colton Herta (2021).
Team-wise, Penske has won 11 of the 19 editions of the 19 GP St. Pete, while Andretti Autosport has three wins here, Dale Coyne Racing has two, Chip Ganassi Racing one, while the now defunct Newman/Haas Racing and Forsythe Racing teams also scored one apiece.
Power has scored nine pole positions and two other front-row starts at St. Petersburg, all while driving for Penske. The only other St. Pete pole-winners in the field this weekend are Herta and McLaughlin.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, who is chasing his seventh Indy car title to match AJ Foyt’s record, will this weekend tie the Texan legend for fourth in the all-time list for Indy car starts at 369. However, despite making competing in 18 GPs at this track, Dixon has yet to win here, his best results being four runner-up finishes.
Another significant milestone will be Simon Pagenaud making his 200th Indy car start. The Meyer Shank Racing-Honda driver was the 2016 IndyCar Series champion and 2019 Indy 500 winner.
At the other end of the scale, St. Petersburg will be the first ever IndyCar starts for rookies Marcus Armstrong (Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda), Sting Ray Robb (Dale Coyne Racing-Honda), Benjamin Pedersen (AJ Foyt Racing-Chevrolet) and Agustin Canapino (Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet).
Also making its race debut this weekend will be Shell’s 100% renewable race fuel will make its competition debut in St. Petersburg. This consists of a blend of second-generation ethanol derived from sugarcane waste and other biofuels to create a fuel that is 100 percent comprised of feedstocks categorized as renewable under the applicable regulatory frameworks. The fuel will enable a 60 percent life cycle greenhouse gas emissions reduction compared to fossil-based gasoline.
Speaking of renewable sources, this will be the second race for the Firestone Firehawks made with sustainable, domestically sourced guayule rubber. For all of IndyCar’s street races in the 2023 season, Firestone will supply tires using a sidewall material made exclusively with rubber derived from the guayule woody desert shrub grown on the company’s own farm in Eloy, AZ. These tires made their debut in last August’s Big Machine Music City GP in Nashville.
When is the IndyCar race at St. Petersburg?
Date: Friday, March 3 – Sunday, March 5
Start time: Sunday, 12.30pm Eastern Time
How can I watch the IndyCar race at St. Petersburg?
NBC’s coverage of the 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg will begin on Sunday, 12.00pm (ET).
Leigh Diffey is the play-by-play announcer for NBC's coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns are the pit reporters. Telemundo Deportes on Universo will provide a Spanish-language telecast.
All IndyCar practice sessions, qualifying and races, as well as Indy NXT by Firestone (formerly Indy Lights) races will stream live on Peacock, NBC’s livestreaming product.
IndyCar and Indy NXT broadcast schedule (Eastern Time)
Friday, March 3
1.55-2.40pm – Indy NXT practice 1 – IndyCar Live (IndyCar's own livestreaming product)
3.00-4.15pm – IndyCar practice 1 – Peacock
Saturday, March 4
9.00-9.45am – Indy NXT practice 2 – IndyCar Live
10.00-11.00am – IndyCar practice 2 – Peacock
1.35-1.55pm – Indy NXT qualifying – IndyCar Live
2.15-3.30pm – IndyCar qualifying – Peacock
Sunday, March 5
9.00-9.30am – IndyCar warm-up – Peacock
10.00am – Indy NXT RACE (45 laps / 55 minutes) – Peacock
12.00 – NBC Broadcast begins
12.23 – “Drivers, start your engines”
12.30 – Green flag for Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, NTT IndyCar Series RACE (100 laps) – NBC, Telemundo Deportes on Universo, Peacock
Will the IndyCar race at St. Petersburg be on the radio?
Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Nick Yeoman, Jake Query and Michael Young are the turn announcers. Ryan Myrehn, Alex Wollf and Georgia Henneberry are the pit reporters.
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race and all NTT IndyCar Series practices and qualifying sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM IndyCar Nation 160 and SiriusXM NBC Sports Audio 85, racecontrol.indycar.com and the IndyCar App powered by NTT DATA. All Indy NXT by Firestone practice and qualifying sessions and races are available on racecontrol.indycar.com, the IndyCar App and SiriusXM 160.
Race Notes
How many laps is the IndyCar race at St. Petersburg? 100 laps (180 miles)
Track: 1.8-mile, 14-turn street/runway course in St. Petersburg, FL.
Firestone tire allotment: Six primary sets, five alternate sets (teams must return a set of each before qualifying). One additional set of primary tires is available to rookie drivers for use in the Friday afternoon practice session.
Push-to-pass parameters: 150sec total time, with a maximum time of 15sec per activation. The push to pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race.
2022 Firestone GP of St. Pete winner: Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske-Chevrolet.
2022 Firestone GP of St. Pete pole-winner: Scott McLaughlin, 59.4821sec, 108.940mph.
Qualifying lap record: Will Power (Team Penske-Chevrolet), 59.3466sec, 109.189mph set in Round 2 of qualifying, Feb. 26, 2022.
Entry list
| No. | Driver | Hometown | Car name | Team-Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | Nashville, Tennessee | Hitachi Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Christchurch, New Zealand | DEX Imaging Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 5 | Pato O'Ward | Monterrey, Mexico | Arrow McLaren | Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet |
| 06 | Helio Castroneves | Sao Paulo, Brazil | AutoNation / SiriusXM | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda |
| 6 | Felix Rosenqvist | Varnamo, Sweden | Arrow McLaren | Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet |
| 7 | Alexander Rossi | Nevada City, California | Arrow McLaren | Arrow McLaren-Chevrolet |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Kumla, Sweden | Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 9 | Scott Dixon | Auckland, New Zealand | PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 10 | Alex Palou | Barcelona, Spain | The American Legion Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 11 | Marcus Armstrong (R) | Christchurch, New Zealand | Ridgeline Lubricants Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 12 | Will Power | Toowoomba, Australia | Verizon Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 14 | Santino Ferrucci | Woodbury, Connecticut | AJ Foyt Racing / Sexton Properties | A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet |
| 15 | Graham Rahal | New Albany, Ohio | United Rentals | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 18 | David Malukas | Chicago, Illinois | HMD Trucking | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD-Honda |
| 20 | Conor Daly | Noblesville, Indiana | BitNile.com | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet |
| 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Hoofddorp, Netherlands | BitNile.com | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet |
| 26 | Colton Herta | Valencia, California | Gainbridge | Andretti Autosport w/Curb Agajanian-Honda |
| 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Jupiter, Florida | AutoNation | Andretti Autosport-Honda |
| 28 | Romain Grosjean | Geneva, Switzerland | DHL | Andretti Autosport-Honda |
| 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco | Toronto, Canada | Capstone | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport-Honda |
| 30 | Jack Harvey | Bassingham, UK | Kustom Entertainment | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 45 | Christian Lundgaard | Hedensted, Denmark | Hy-Vee | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 51 | Sting Ray Robb (R) | Boise, Idaho | Biohaven | Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda |
| 55 | Benjamin Pedersen (R) | Copenhagen, Denmark | AJ Foyt Racing / Sexton Properties | AJ Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet |
| 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Montmorillon, France | AutoNation / SiriusXM | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda |
| 77 | Callum Ilott | Cambridge, UK | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet |
| 78 | Agustin Canapino (R) | Arrecifes, Argentina | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Juncos Hollinger Racing-Chevrolet |
