Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Verizon IndyCar Series
Location	St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S.; 27°45′59″N 82°37′45″W / 27.76639°N 82.62917°WCoordinates: 27°45′59″N 82°37′45″W / 27.76639°N 82.62917°W
Corporate sponsor	Firestone
First race	1985
First ICS race	2005
Distance	198 mi (319 km)
Laps	110
Previous names	St. Petersburg Grand Prix (1985–1990); Kash n' Karry Florida Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (1996–1997) ; Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (2005–2013); Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (2014–present)
Most wins (driver)	Hélio Castroneves (3)
Most wins (team)	Team Penske (8)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Dallara (14) Honda (9)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt/Concrete
Length	1.8 mi (2.9 km)
Turns	14
Lap record	Jordan King (1:00.0476, Dallara DW12, 2018, Verizon Indycar Series)

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is a Verizon IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. Since 2009, the race has served as the season opener, with the exception of 2010, when it was the second race of the season (but the first on U.S. soil). The race is held annually in the spring, currently in March.

The race takes place on a temporary course, utilizing downtown streets, and two runways of Albert Whitted Airport. The event dates back to 1985, with IndyCars first competing in 2003.

History

The SCCA Trans-Am Series held a race on a St. Petersburg downtown waterfront circuit from 1985 to 1990. Can-Am also competed in 1985. Local residents and businesses complained about noise, and the event was eventually put on hiatus.^[1] Driver Jim Fitzgerald was killed in a crash during the 1987 race.^[2]^[3] Racing in the Tampa Bay Area was then moved across town for a couple years. An IMSA race at the Florida State Fairgrounds was held in 1989 and 1990.

From 1996 to 1997, the St. Petersburg race was revived on a different course around Tropicana Field (about one mile west of the original waterfront course). Along with the Trans-Am Series, support races included U.S. FF2000, World Challenge, Pro SRF and Barber Dodge. The event subsequently went again on hiatus for several years.^[1]

In 2003, the event was revived again for the Champ Car World Series. A new, modified version of the original 1985 waterfront circuit was created.

For 2004, the event was cancelled due to a dispute between the promoters, furthermore, the bankruptcy and liquidation of the CART series into the new Champ Car World Series saw a shakeup of the calendar. When the race returned in 2005, it switched to the IndyCar Series, marking the first non-oval event for the Indy Racing League. In 2007, the race weekend was expanded to include an American Le Mans Series event.

Andretti Green Promotions would later take over promotion of the event.^[4] Starting in 2014, Firestone took over as title sponsor.^[5]

Past winners

Season	Date	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	Race Distance		Race Time	Average Speed (mph)	Report
Season	Date	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	Laps	Miles (km)	Race Time	Average Speed (mph)	Report
Champ Car World Series history
2003	February 23	Paul Tracy	Forsythe Racing	Lola	Ford–Cosworth	Bridgestone	105	189.63 (305.179)	2:04:28	91.401	Report
2004	Not held
Verizon IndyCar Series history
2005	April 3	Dan Wheldon	Andretti Green Racing	Dallara	Honda	Firestone	100	180 (289.681)	2:09:54	83.14	Report
2006	April 2	Hélio Castroneves	Team Penske	Dallara	Honda	Firestone	100	180 (289.681)	1:56:58	92.34	Report
2007	April 1	Hélio Castroneves (2)	Team Penske (2)	Dallara	Honda	Firestone	100	180 (289.681)	2:01:07	89.166	Report
2008	April 6	Graham Rahal	Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing	Dallara	Honda	Firestone	83*	149.4 (240.435)	2:00:44	74.251	Report
2009	April 5	Ryan Briscoe	Team Penske (3)	Dallara	Honda	Firestone	100	180 (289.681)	2:12:27	81.542	Report
2010	March 29*	Will Power	Team Penske (4)	Dallara	Honda	Firestone	100	180 (289.681)	2:07:06	84.975	Report
2011	March 27	Dario Franchitti	Chip Ganassi Racing	Dallara	Honda	Firestone	100	180 (289.681)	2:01:00	89.26	Report
2012	March 25	Hélio Castroneves (3)	Team Penske (5)	Dallara	Chevrolet	Firestone	100	180 (289.681)	1:59:51	90.113	Report
2013	March 24	James Hinchcliffe	Andretti Autosport (2)	Dallara	Chevrolet	Firestone	110	198 (318.65)	2:22:13	83.539	Report
2014	March 30	Will Power (2)	Team Penske (6)	Dallara	Chevrolet	Firestone	110	198 (318.65)	2:06:58	93.572	Report
2015	March 29	Juan Pablo Montoya	Team Penske (7)	Dallara	Chevrolet	Firestone	110	198 (318.65)	2:16:58	86.735	Report
2016	March 13	Juan Pablo Montoya (2)	Team Penske (8)	Dallara	Chevrolet (5)	Firestone	110	198 (318.65)	2:13:28	89.006	Report
2017	March 12	Sébastien Bourdais	Dale Coyne Racing	Dallara	Honda	Firestone	110	198 (318.65)	2:04:32	95.391	Report
2018	March 11	Sébastien Bourdais (2)	Dale Coyne Racing (2)	Dallara	Honda (9)	Firestone	110	198 (318.65)	2:17:48	86.207	Report

2008: Race shortened as a result of inclement weather at the start forcing the race to start on Lap 10 after nine Safety Car laps. Shortened by ESPN under time limit.
2010: Race postponed from March 28 due to inclement weather.^[6]

Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tire

Stefan Wilson driving along the Bay Shore Drive Southeast section during the qualifying race of the Indy Lights 2011.

Season	Date	Winning Driver	Chassis	Engine
2005	April 3	Marco Andretti	Dallara	Infiniti
2006	April 1	Raphael Matos	Dallara	Infiniti
2006	April 2	Raphael Matos	Dallara	Infiniti
2007	March 31	Alex Lloyd	Dallara	Infiniti
2007	April 1	Alex Lloyd	Dallara	Infiniti
2008	April 5	Raphael Matos	Dallara	Infiniti
2008	April 6	Richard Antinucci	Dallara	Infiniti
2009	April 4	Junior Strous	Dallara	Infiniti
2009	April 5	Junior Strous	Dallara	Infiniti
2010	March 28	Jean Karl Vernay	Dallara	Infiniti
2011	March 27	Josef Newgarden	Dallara	Honda
2012	March 24	Tristan Vautier	Dallara	Honda
2013	March 23	Jack Hawksworth	Dallara	Honda
2014	March 30	Zach Veach	Dallara	Honda
2015	March 28	Ed Jones	Dallara	Mazda
2015	March 29	Ed Jones	Dallara	Mazda
2016	March 12	Felix Serralles	Dallara	Mazda
2016	March 13	Felix Rosenqvist	Dallara	Mazda
2017	March 11	Aaron Telitz	Dallara	Mazda
2017	March 12	Colton Herta	Dallara	Mazda
2018	March 10	Patricio O'Ward	Dallara	Mazda
2018	March 11	Santiago Urrutia	Dallara	Mazda

American Le Mans Series

Overall winner in bold.

Season	LMP1 Winning Team	LMP2 Winning Team	GT1 Winning Team	GT2 Winning Team	Report
Season	LMP1 Winning Drivers	LMP2 Winning Drivers	GT1 Winning Drivers	GT2 Winning Drivers	Report
2007	#1 Audi Sport North America	#6 Penske Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#62 Risi Competizione	report
2007	Rinaldo Capello Allan McNish	Sascha Maassen Ryan Briscoe	Oliver Gavin Olivier Beretta	Mika Salo Jaime Melo	report
2008	#2 Audi Sport North America	#7 Penske Racing	#4 Corvette Racing	#71 Tafel Racing	report
2008	Marco Werner Lucas Luhr	Timo Bernhard Romain Dumas	Olivier Beretta Oliver Gavin	Dominik Farnbacher Dirk Müller	report
2009	#9 Patrón Highcroft Racing	#15 Lowe's Fernández Racing	No entry	#45 Flying Lizard Motorsports	report
2009	David Brabham Scott Sharp	Adrian Fernández Luis Díaz	No entry	Patrick Long Jörg Bergmeister	report

SCCA Trans-Am

Dan Wheldon memorial plaque located adjacent to the course layout.

Can-Am

1985 Lou Sell

SCCA Super Vee

1986 Didier Theys
1987 Dave Kudrave
1988 Bernard Jourdain
1989 Stuart Crow
1990 Chris Smith

IMSA (fairgrounds)

1989 Price Cobb
1990 James Weaver

Course

The section of the 2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg that curves through the Al Lang Stadium parking lot

The Streets of St. Petersburg course is a street circuit connecting existing roads with one of the two runways of Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg, Florida. It also dips into the parking lot at Al Lang Stadium.

First bayfront course

The original 1985 Trans-Am course utilized a similar layout to the course used today. For the first year the track actually ran out to the pier, made a 180 degree turn and returned. At the end of Bayshore Drive, rather than diverting off to the airport runways, the course circled around 5th Avenue Southeast around Bayfront Arena, and the start/finish line was located just south of the paddock (the parking lot of Bayfront Arena). In addition, the old course traveled further up Beach Drive Northeast, all the way to 5th Avenue Northeast. 5th Ave. NE was a very narrow segment. The course came south down Bayshore Drive Northeast, and passed by The Pier.

Tropicana Field course

The second course at Tropicana Field was located about a mile west of the waterfront location. The circuit used the roads around the perimeter of the parking lot of the stadium.

Second Bayfront course

Helio Castroneves approaches Dan Wheldon Way (Turn 10) on the final lap of the 2012 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

When the course was reconfigured, the northbound segment turned at Central Avenue instead, and did not go as far as The Pier. The pits and main straight were moved to the airport, and a purpose-built paddock area was paved next to the runway. The Albert Whitted Park was reconfigured/relocated, and the entire course layout was repaved.

The pits and paddock areas, as well as link from Dan Wheldon Way to the airport runway (turns 11, 12, and 13) were constructed specifically for the circuit in 2003, and are considered permanent features of the otherwise temporary circuit.

After the crash at the 2011 Izod IndyCar World Championship that killed Snell Isle resident Dan Wheldon, who won the 2005 race and two Indianapolis 500 titles, the straight following Turn 10 (the turn from Bayshore Drive to Albert Whitted Park) was renamed "Dan Wheldon Way" in his memory. The sign and commemorative plaque was unveiled by St. Petersburg mayor Bill Foster on March 6, 2012. A permanent Dan Wheldon Memorial is located next to the Dali Museum on the opposite side of Turn 10, where race winners have their names placed on the memorial.^[7]

The circuit layout from 1985 to 1991
The circuit layout from 1996 to 2000
The circuit layout from 2003 to present

Broadcasting history (United States)

Season	Channel	Lay-by-lap	Driver Analyst(s)	Pit Reporter(s)	Host(s)
2003	Speed Channel	Bob Varsha	Scott Pruett	Derek Daly Calvin Fish Tommy Kendall	Scott Pruett Bob Varsha
2005	ESPN	Todd Harris	Scott Goodyear
2006	ESPN	Marty Reid	Scott Goodyear Rusty Wallace	Jack Arute Jamie Little Dr. Jerry Punch	Brent Musburger Rusty Wallace
2007	ESPN	Marty Reid	Scott Goodyear	Jack Arute Brienne Pedigo	Marty Reid Scott Goodyear
2008	ESPN	Marty Reid	Scott Goodyear	Jack Arute Brienne Pedigo Vince Welch	Marty Reid Scott Goodyear
2009	Versus	Bob Jenkins	Jon Beekhuis Robbie Buhl	Jack Arute Robbie Floyd Lindy Thackston	Jack Arute
2010	ABC ESPN2	Marty Reid	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear	Rick DeBruhl Jamie Little Vince Welch	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear Marty Reid
2011	ABC	Marty Reid	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear	Rick DeBruhl Jamie Little Vince Welch	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear Marty Reid
2012	ABC	Marty Reid	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear	Rick DeBruhl Jamie Little Vince Welch	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear Marty Reid
2013	NBC Sports Network	Leigh Diffey	Townsend Bell Wally Dallenbach, Jr.	Jon Beekhuis Kevin Lee Robin Miller	Leigh Diffey
2014	ABC	Allen Bestwick	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear	Rick DeBruhl Jamie Little Vince Welch	Allen Bestwick Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear
2015	ABC	Allen Bestwick	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear	Jon Beekhuis Rick DeBruhl Dr. Jerry Punch	Allen Bestwick Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear
2016	ABC	Allen Bestwick	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear	Jon Beekhuis Rick DeBruhl Dr. Jerry Punch	Allen Bestwick Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear
2017	ABC	Allen Bestwick	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear	Jon Beekhuis Rick DeBruhl Dr. Jerry Punch	Allen Bestwick Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear
2018	ABC	Allen Bestwick	Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear	Jon Beekhuis Rick DeBruhl	Allen Bestwick Eddie Cheever Scott Goodyear
2019		Leigh Diffey	Townsend Bell Paul Tracy

2010: Race was originally scheduled for ABC, but after being postponed a day it was moved to ESPN2.

Notes

Works cited

References

1 2 "St. Petersburg Grand Prix: City has had false starts with racing". St. Petersburg Times. February 21, 2003. Retrieved April 3, 2015.
↑ "Trans-am Driver Killed In Crash During St. Petersburg Event". Sun-Sentinel. 1987-11-09. Retrieved 2013-07-14.
↑ "Veteran driver Fitzgerald dies". Reading Eagle. Reading, Pennsylvania. November 9, 1987. Retrieved 2013-07-30.
↑ Brassfield, Mike (6 April 2009). "Grand Prix is a winner for St. Petersburg". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
↑ http://www.indycar.com/News/2013/11/11-20-Firestone-to-sponsor-St-Petersburg-season-opener
↑ Auman, Greg (29 March 2010). "Grand Prix of St. Petersburg postponed until Monday". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
↑ "Street in St. Petersburg named for Dan Wheldon". Fox News. AP. 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-03-26.

External links

Preceded by -	IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg	Succeeded by Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

[StPtimes-1] 1 2 "St. Petersburg Grand Prix: City has had false starts with racing". St. Petersburg Times. February 21, 2003. Retrieved April 3, 2015.

[2] "Trans-am Driver Killed In Crash During St. Petersburg Event". Sun-Sentinel. 1987-11-09. Retrieved 2013-07-14.

[3] "Veteran driver Fitzgerald dies". Reading Eagle. Reading, Pennsylvania. November 9, 1987. Retrieved 2013-07-30.

[4] Brassfield, Mike (6 April 2009). "Grand Prix is a winner for St. Petersburg". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 13 February 2011.

[5] ttp://www.indycar.com/News/2013/11/11-20-Firestone-to-sponsor-St-Petersburg-season-opener

[6] Auman, Greg (29 March 2010). "Grand Prix of St. Petersburg postponed until Monday". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 13 February 2011.

[7] "Street in St. Petersburg named for Dan Wheldon". Fox News. AP. 2012-03-07. Retrieved 2012-03-26.

Verizon IndyCar Series


Location	St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. 27°45′59″N 82°37′45″W / 27.76639°N 82.62917°W / 27.76639; -82.62917Coordinates: 27°45′59″N 82°37′45″W / 27.76639°N 82.62917°W / 27.76639; -82.62917
Corporate sponsor	Firestone
First race	1985
First ICS race	2005
Distance	198 mi (319 km)
Laps	110
Previous names	St. Petersburg Grand Prix (1985–1990) Kash n' Karry Florida Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (1996–1997) Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (2005–2013) Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (2014–present)
Most wins (driver)	Hélio Castroneves (3)
Most wins (team)	Team Penske (8)
Most wins (manufacturer)	Dallara (14) Honda (9)
Circuit information
Surface	Asphalt/Concrete
Length	1.8 mi (2.9 km)
Turns	14
Lap record	Jordan King (1:00.0476, Dallara DW12, 2018, Verizon Indycar Series)