{"id":171274,"date":"2026-02-27T10:27:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171274\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T10:27:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T10:27:17","slug":"drivers-ready-for-2026-edition-of-st-pete-grand-prix-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/171274\/","title":{"rendered":"Drivers ready for 2026 edition of St. Pete Grand Prix"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Brief<\/p>\n

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is this weekend, marking the first race of the IndyCar season.<\/p>\n

Drivers say it is important to be precise in this race.<\/p>\n

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Street racing in St. Pete<\/a> is right around the corner. <\/p>\n

“There’s a lot of anticipation for this race weekend,” Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing said.<\/p>\n

That’s because this weekend is the beginning of the IndyCar season.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

READ: 17-year-old among youngest competitors in NASCAR Truck Series at Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete<\/a><\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

What they’re saying<\/p>\n

“No better place to start than right here on the streets of St. Pete,” Armstrong said.<\/p>\n

Winning on these streets is vital to becoming an IndyCar Champion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Big picture view<\/p>\n

“It’s important, man,” 2014 St. Pete Grand Prix winner Will Power said. “[It’s] the first race. You want to stack those points early in the season so you are not clawing back all year.”<\/p>\n

While this is the first race of the IndyCar season, winning is certainly no easy task. The drivers are crossing their t’s and dotting their i’s, because perfection is essential.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

“You are basically flirting with the walls every lap, every corner,” Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing said. ” It could be catastrophic consequences if you are half an inch on the wrong end of things.”<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

These drivers know all too well that they need to be calculated with every move.<\/p>\n

“Every mistake is unforgiving around here, especially when there are 25 cars around you as well,” Dennis Hauger of Meyer Shank Racing said. “You have to be precise.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

READ: Clearwater Beach, local kayak tours earn top global honors in 2026 Tripadvisor Awards<\/a><\/p>\n

Local perspective<\/p>\n

Precision is key in this sport,\u00a0but especially in St. Pete.<\/p>\n

“You want to keep the flow up and the speed up as much as you can,” 2022 St. Pete Grand Prix winner Scott McLaughlin said.<\/p>\n

READ: Grand Prix of St. Petersburg weekend kicks off with flag-raising, Party in the Park<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

On top of the flow and the speed, the vibes are also up as the drivers aim to take the checkered flag in the first race of the year.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

“We are all excited to get started and score as many points as possible and start an amazing season,” 2025 St. Pete Grand Prix winner Alex Palou said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

And this is just the start of what should be a fun couple of days in the sunshine city.<\/p>\n

“Excited for the challenge, excited for the weekend and love being in St. Pete,” Romain Grosjean of Dale Coyne Racing said.<\/p>\n

What’s next<\/p>\n

The St. Pete Grand Prix gets going on Sunday at 12:30 P.M. It will be televised on FOX.<\/p>\n

The Source<\/p>\n

The information in this story was gathered by FOX 13’s Mark Skol, Jr. during interviews with IndyCar drivers at the St. Pete Yacht Club.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Brief The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is this weekend, marking the first race of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171275,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[78863,16090,79535,81488,81489,202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-171274","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-firestone-grand-prix","9":"tag-indycar","10":"tag-marcus-armstrong","11":"tag-meyer-shank-racing","12":"tag-race-weekend","13":"tag-st-pete","14":"tag-st-pete-headlines","15":"tag-st-pete-news","16":"tag-st-petersburg","17":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","18":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}