Thrive
St. Pete shines at 2025 Grand Prix
The Sunshine City lived up to its moniker Sunday, as over 100,000 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg attendees enjoyed blue skies and temperatures in the low 70s.
Two-time defending NTT IndyCar Series champion Alex Palou started the season with a victory after completing the 100-lap, 1.8-mile street course in 1 hour, 51 minutes and 8.51 seconds. An expected global audience of more than one million viewers also saw that St. Petersburg, while still recovering from back-to-back hurricanes, is an ideal location for marquee events.
The Grand Prix attracted an estimated 165,000 fans to the downtown waterfront Sunday. Stakeholders believe their economic impact topped $60 million, and the influx of cash and positive exposure couldn’t have come at a more opportune time.
Joy Hamilton said the Grand Prix provided an “amazing” opportunity to work after the storms decimated her beach bar. She typically attends the Grand Prix as a spectator and thought the crowds were “better than any other year.”
“It’s nice to see people coming out and supporting St. Pete and the surrounding area,” Hamilton said. “We love it.”
From left: Scott Dixon (second), Alex Palou (first) and Josef Newgarden (third).
Local fan Carson Smith also thought the 2025 crowd was larger than in previous years. He said drivers seemed more willing to meet and take pictures with attendees, “which is great.”
“This community needs things that are fun and encouraging,” Smith added. “We need more things like this.”
The Grand Prix also provided a thrilling race, as Palou drove his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda to a 2.8669-second victory over teammate and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon. Dixon said he lacked radio communication throughout the last 90 laps.
“What an amazing job by everybody,” Palou said. “They gave me everything we needed this weekend to win.”
Dixon passed Josef Newgarden on the final lap to place second despite not having an in-car radio to discuss race strategy and plan pit stops. However, Team Ganassi still secured its first 1-2 finish since July 2023.
“Really good here for us in St. Pete – not one of our favorite tracks,” said Ganassi. “We’ve been challenged here the last number of years. I think our cars were better than they were a year ago, at least here in St. Pete.”
An estimated 165,000 people attended the race Sunday.
Newgarden finished third in his DEX-Imaging-branded Team Penske Chevrolet. He led a race-high 40 laps. Scott McLaughlin, who secured pole position during qualifying Saturday, placed fourth.
Kyle Kirkwood continued improving at his “home” race. The Jupiter native placed 15th in 2023, 10th last season and fifth Sunday for Andretti Global.
At a Feb. 6 ceremony celebrating track construction, Kirkwood said he could make the trip to St. Pete in about three hours. “So, I got a lot of family and friends who come out to this event. It’s just a wonderful environment here.”
Kirkwood said Sunday that he is happy with the top-five finish but is “eager to win. So, it’s not the best feeling in the world, but it’s a better feeling than I’ve come out of this event with.”
St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront featured prominently in the Fox broadcast.
Kim Green, co-owner of race promoter Green Savoree Racing, noted at the Feb. 6 event that the Grand Pix has become “more than just a race.” Mayor Ken Welch said it would show that “St. Pete is up and running” and was not devastated by Hurricanes Helene and Milton.
Green echoed that sentiment Sunday. “Obviously, you had a pretty ugly fall for St. Petersburg, two big storms,” he told WFTS.
“So that’s great and satisfying to be able to put an event back on of this magnitude with the help of the city. All the departments and the race fans have shown up.”
Fox has yet to release viewership numbers for its first IndyCar broadcast. However, the Indianapolis Star believes anywhere from 1.1 million to 1.6 million people tuned in for what Welch previously called a “postcard for what St. Pete is.”
Alex Palou’s No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda heads to the Winner’s Circle.
