Thrive
This weekend’s Grand Prix: ‘World’s fastest spring break party’
Official Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg events begin tonight and conclude Sunday afternoon with the NTT IndyCar Series season-opening race, televised live on Fox.
Here is everything you should expect from the 21st annual event, dubbed the “world’s fastest spring break party” due to its timing, location and four days of festivities:
A spectacle
IndyCar’s Party in the Park will kick off the Grand Prix with driver appearances, live music, giveaways, vendors, “special guests” and a parade of race cars today in North Straub Park. The free event runs from 4 until 7 p.m.
Kim Green, co-owner of race promoter Green Savoree Racing, expects over 1,200 people to participate in a charity “race” at 5 p.m. today. Tickets are now $50 for the 5K Run on the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Track.
Proceeds benefit the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg. Green Savoree has raised $333,265 for the nonprofit since 2017.
The race promoters announced Tuesday that the Jacksonville-based band Shinedown, which holds the record for most No. 1 singles on Billboard‘s Mainstream Rock chart (19), will serve as the race’s grand marshals. The group will instruct drivers to “start your engines.”
Major League Baseball icon Alex Rodriguez will ride in the “fastest seat in sports.” The World Series champion and three-time Most Valuable Player will lead drivers around the track in a customized IndyCar before Sunday’s green flag.
The race’s paddock between Albert Whitted Airport and the Mahaffey Theater will feature a smorgasbord of vendors selling their wares, offering free samples and raising money for charities throughout the weekend. Green noted the Grand Prix has become “more than just a race” at a Feb. 6 ceremony celebrating track construction.
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg annually attracts over 200,000 people to the downtown waterfront. Photo by Mark Parker.
Crowds and their wallets
Tourism officials expect over 200,000 people to generate an economic impact surpassing $60 million. At the Feb. 6 event, Mayor Ken Welch called the Grand Prix a “perfect” opportunity for the community to come together and show the world that St. Petersburg is “up and running” following an unprecedented hurricane season.
The four-day festival of speed will generate over $3 million in local taxes. It also supports several hundred jobs.
Brian Lowack, CEO of Visit St. Pete-Clearwater, said Grand Prix attendees will book over 15,000 overnight stays. Lowack also believes the 2025 iteration can beat last year’s record-breaking numbers.
A global audience
Welch called the Grand Prix a postcard for St. Petersburg. The downtown waterfront will provide an idyllic backdrop when Fox begins its live coverage of preliminary races Saturday.
NBC previously televised the event and garnered 1.2 million viewers in 2022. However, that number dropped to 975,000 in 2024, and IndyCar signed a new deal with Fox.
Fox will beam the races to over 200 countries. Kevin Savoree, co-owner of Green Savoree Racing, believes the broadcaster’s inaugural IndyCar event will set a series record.
Prominent local author Peter Kageyama noted Tuesday that some residents flee the Grand Prix’s noise and crowds. He also said the area’s broadcasted “beauty shots” are “absolutely worth the price of admission.”
Kageyama compared those views of the downtown waterfront to one of the world’s wealthiest and most expensive places. “We look like Monaco if you’ve never watched it,” he said.
Green Savoree Racing has expanded a temporary yacht club for the 2025 Grand Prix. Photo by Mark Parker.
An exciting race
The weekend will feature several races with up-and-coming drivers in the equivalent of IndyCar’s minor leagues. However, the Grand Prix’s green flag will drop Sunday at 12:29 p.m.
Drivers will then take 100 laps around the 1.8-mile street course, routinely topping 100 mph. Marcus Ericcson, the 2023 Grand Prix winner, previously called the track “technical” and said there is “no margin for error.”
For the first time in St. Petersburg, cars will come equipped with Honda and Chevrolet-designed hybrid motors that deliver a quick, powerful boost. The new engines provide an additional 120 horsepower.
“Street courses are quite a bit different from road courses and ovals because they’re temporary circuits,” said Kyle Kirkwood, a driver for Andretti Global. You don’t really get time to do that much testing. Adapting, quickly, is very important for us drivers.”
The race will also honor the late Dan Wheldon, who won the inaugural St. Petersburg Grand Prix in 2005. He died behind the wheel of his IndyCar at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011.
His son, Sebastian, will pilot a pace car ahead of drivers in the parade lap Sunday. Susie Wheldon, Dan’s wife, will wave the green flag.
“St. Petersburg was Dan’s adopted hometown and remains home for the boys and I,” Wheldon said in a prepared statement. “To be here with Sebastian and (younger son) Oliver 20 years later … is really a full-circle moment.”
For more information on the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, visit the website here.
The NTT IndyCar Series opener begins at 12:29 p.m. Sunday. Photo by Mark Parker.
