The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding will be the 22nd INDYCAR SERIES race on the streets of St. Petersburg this weekend. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou arrives at the season opener as the defending NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion for the third time in four seasons.
The three-time series champion from Spain will look to make history by becoming the first back-to-back-to-back champion since Dario Franchitti won three titles in a row for Chip Ganassi Racing from 2009-11.
The St. Petersburg INDYCAR SERIES race has been run every year since 2003 except for 2004. No driver has competed in every St. Petersburg race, but Scott Dixon has started 20 consecutive races.
It is one of five tracks on the schedule where Dixon is winless and the one where he has the most starts (20). Dixon has been successful on the streets of St. Petersburg. Dixon has four runner-up finishes at the circuit and has an average finish of 7.6 in his 20 previous starts. He has finished in the top 10 in his last nine starts, including seventh in 2024.
Dixon is expected to make his 403rd INDYCAR SERIES start, which is second on the all-time list. Dixon has made 339 consecutive starts heading into the weekend, the longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES.
Will Power (2010, 2014) and Josef Newgarden (2019, 2020) are the only entered drivers to win at St. Petersburg more than once. Seven past winners are entered: Power, Newgarden, Graham Rahal (2008), Colton Herta (2021), Scott McLaughlin (2022), Marcus Ericsson (2023) and Pato O’Ward (2024).
Saturday
2:30-4 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying)
(8:30am Sunday NZ Time)
Sunday, March 2
9:02-9:27 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES warmup, FS2
12:22 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines”
(6:22am Monday NZ Time)
12:29 p.m. – Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding (100 laps/181 miles)
(6:29am Monday NZ Time)
Comments