Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg 2023-03-05

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Event
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

Date
Sun 5th March 2023 (UTC)
Sun 5th March 2023 (Local)

Timestamp
2023-03-05T16:20:00

Time

16:20:00 UTC

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League
IndyCar Series

Season
2023

Round
1

Status

Location
Streets of St. Petersburg

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Description

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is an IndyCar Series race held in St. Petersburg, Florida. In most years since 2009, the race has served as the season opener (or at minimum, the first race held on U.S. soil). The race is held annually in the spring, with the exception of 2020, when it was postponed until October due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

The inaugural 1985 event was organized by William T. McVey, president of the McBri Corporation in Tampa and a member of IMSA and the SCCA. 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. Driver Jim Fitzgerald was killed in a crash during the 1987 race.

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.

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. Starting in 2014, Firestone took over as title sponsor.