\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019ve been preparing a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we\u2019ve been very busy during the off-season.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
But according to Palou, nothing compares to competing against other teams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been waiting a long time,\u201d Juncos Hollinger Racing driver, Sting Ray Robb said. \u201cSix months out of the car and we finally get to get back in, so I think that\u2019s probably my favorite thing, that we\u2019re finally back racing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the Feb. 26 IndyCar Party in the Park, Robb told The Crow\u2019s Nest that St. Petersburg is a great city to compete in for opening weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of excitement, lots of anticipation and I think that usually makes for good racing,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In addition to NTT IndyCar and IndyNXT, the Grand Prix will also host the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, which will make its street-race debut on Feb. 28.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s Grand Prix will signify another first for homegrown driver Nikita Johnson, who will be participating in his first full \u00a0IndyNXT season this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201c[I\u2019m] super thrilled. I mean, it\u2019s such a tough category, so to be in it again and for my first full year is amazing,\u201d Johnson told The Crow\u2019s Nest at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Kickoff party he hosted on Feb. 25. \u201cHopefully we can pull off a few wins. And of course, the main goal is to get to IndyCar for next year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s kickoff party was hosted at O\u2019Maddy\u2019s Bar & Grille.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Community members, like Gulf Port resident Bobbi Jo have attended the kickoff party every year in support of Johnson.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She has a tradition that began four years ago, shortly after she moved to the area, where she takes a selfie with him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first time I met him, he was such a young kid,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When she returned to the party each year, after having heard of Johnson\u2019s accomplishments, she felt proud each time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust look at everybody here,\u201d Bobbi Jo said, referring to the kick-off party\u2019s attendees.\u00a0 \u201cEvery year, there\u2019s people here. I just think whenever there\u2019s somebody in your community that works that hard and that is dedicated to something, you want to rally around them and give them the support that they need.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Robb also made note of the supportive atmosphere he experienced from the Tampa Bay area.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think [St. Petersburg is] very welcoming. I mean, the Party in the Park is obviously a great event for that as well,\u201d he said. \u201cIt feels very integral to what the city is about and so it\u2019s very easy to reach the community here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Abby Dean attended the race last year as a fan and this year decided to volunteer with Firestone\u2019s engagement team.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI think sports have such a unique ability to bring people together,\u201d Dean told The Crow\u2019s Nest. \u201cI think it\u2019s great to have an event where everyone, of all different backgrounds can come out and just be together and watch the race.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
NTT IndyCar and IndyCar NXT will host their races on Mar. 1 and will be televised on FOX Sports.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 33
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Written by: Julia Birdsall<\/a> on February 28, 2026.
Last revised by: Alisha Durosier<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sting Ray Rob was among several drivers who appeared at the annual IndyCar Party in the Park. Photo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":172520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-172519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172519","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=172519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}