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For more than 15 years, Erik Waxler has called Pasco County home. He\u2019s dedicated to helping his neighbors solve problems and celebrate those who help others. Share your ideas and tips with Erik below.
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is expected to draw larger crowds this year with the addition of a NASCAR Truck Series race to the annual IndyCar weekend along the downtown waterfront.<\/p>\n
IndyCar remains the main attraction of the three-day event, which runs along a temporary street course that winds through downtown St. Petersburg and around Albert Whitted Airport. Organizers said the addition of NASCAR trucks is bringing new energy and new fans to the event.<\/p>\n
Watch report from Tampa Bay 28 reporter Erik Waxler<\/p>\n
NASCAR trucks join St. Petersburg Grand Prix, boosting hopes for record crowds<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be exciting. The fans are in for a heck of a show,” said driver Adam Andretti.<\/p>\n
Andretti, nephew of racing legend Mario Andretti, said the trucks may resemble street vehicles, but they are built strictly for competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther than siloutte it really doesn\u2019t compare much to the pickup truck that you see on the street. Obviously, they look identical to what you\u2019d buy on the street, but they are pure-bred race trucks. It\u2019s not like you can hang a license plate on these and go to the grocery store,” said Andretti.<\/p>\n
The NASCAR Truck Series features purpose-built race vehicles designed to look like production pickup trucks, but with specialized chassis, suspension, and safety features tailored for high-speed competition.<\/p>\n
Among the drivers competing is actor-turned-racer Frankie Muniz, known for his role in the television sitcom \u201cMalcolm in the Middle.\u201d Muniz said he is looking forward to racing on the tight street course.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such an amazing city, amazing track. And I think we are going to have a lot of fun. It might be a little bit of mayhem in the truck race, but I think the fans will like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Race officials said attendance has reached as many as 150,000 fans over three days in previous years. With NASCAR joining the lineup, they are hoping to surpass that mark.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen here is actually a boost throughout the whole season of three-day tickets. So maybe a fan would have bought only a Sunday or only a Saturday, now we are seeing a lot more of our three day,” said race promoter Kevin Savoree. <\/p>\n
Savoree said it’s too soon to say if the truck series will become a yearly part of the Grand Prix weekend in St. Petersburg, but he would love to have them back.<\/p>\n
For fans like Kyle Courtney of Clearwater, the appeal is the opportunity to see NASCAR racing without traveling across the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s great. The closest thing for us is Daytona, 2.5 hours. And then Miami, 3.5 hours. So, this is great to not have to drive very far.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Garrett Deore, the race weekend also doubles as a celebration.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are here at the race. It\u2019s my bachelor party. I\u2019m getting married in a few weeks. I got my dad here. Got my father-in-law to be. Best man, and then my other best buddies here.\u201d<\/p>\n
With IndyCar and NASCAR sharing the streets of St. Petersburg, organizers say the expanded lineup is designed to attract a broader audience and elevate one of the city\u2019s largest annual sporting events.<\/p>\n
Share Your Story with Erik
For more than 15 years, Erik Waxler has called Pasco County home. He\u2019s dedicated to helping his neighbors solve problems and celebrate those who help others. Share your ideas and tips with Erik below.
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Florida school speed zone cameras are ripping drivers off says local magistrate<\/p>\n
A Hillsborough County magistrate who spent months ruling on school speed zone camera cases is now blowing the whistle on Florida’s controversial new camera program.<\/p>\n
Florida school speed zone cameras ripping drivers off says county magistrate who ruled on hundreds of cases<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. \u2014 The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is expected to draw larger crowds this year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[205,21234,70139,81899,596,202,204,203,199,201,200,36454,3670,9197,208],"class_list":["post-172275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-abc-action-news","tag-crowds","tag-grand-prix","tag-hopes","tag-pinellas-county","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news","tag-street-racing","tag-tampa-bay-local-news","tag-trucks","tag-wfts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172275","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=172275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}