Pictured Above: Ryan Hunter-Reay takes the final turn before the finish line. Hunter-Reay would finish 14th in his No. 28 Honda.
Courtesy of Mark Parker
By Mark Parker
Starting the weekend of April 23, the 17th annual Firestone Grand Prix came roaring back into downtown St. Petersburg and the neighboring USF St. Petersburg campus, bringing with it a smorgasbord of food, drinks and entertainment.
Compared to last year’s race – held in October and drastically scaled down due to the COVID-19 pandemic – this year’s three day event was all about more, much more.
There were significantly more people, more food, more drinks, more businesses, more games, more police and more humidity. Most of all, there was more of the party atmosphere that earned it the nickname “the world’s fastest spring break.”
Entering the festival area around the 1.8 mile temporary street track is a jolt to the senses, and not just from being closer to the racing. The smell of burnt rubber and corn dogs wafted through the thankfully steady breeze. Everywhere you looked there was something to catch your eye – exotic cars, promotional girls, and vendors selling everything under the sun and offering free goodies.
There were an innumerable amount of kids running around and into you, laughing exuberantly while being chased by their parents. The kid zone was back this year, featuring slides, games and a miniature rock climbing wall. For us big kids, there were IndyCar simulators.
Courtesy of Mark Parker
There was also Mario Andretti.
As if the Andretti name were not ubiquitous enough in the world of racing, the driver – who many consider the most successful American in the sport – could be seen every 30 minutes or so zipping around the grounds on his scooter and avoiding requests to talk and pose for pictures
Then there was the food.
The number of food vendors surely rivaled the midway at the Florida State Fair, coincidentally being held at the same time across the Bay. It was not all burgers, corn dogs, and elephant ears, either. No, this was legitimately a foodie’s paradise.
Although there was a myriad of the usual festival fare, there were also countless seafood, barbecue, and steak options to satisfy the more refined palates. There were even mobile cigar bars, and many areas that resembled small restaurants – complete with precious air conditioning.
While the listed attendance was supposedly limited to 20,000 per day again, looking at the crowds that simply does not seem possible.
There seemed to be that many people outside of the fenced-in area, and that many people every 100 yards or so inside. The crowds were noticeably much larger than last year when they had the same capacity. There were also noticeably more people attending by boat, and the special dock brought in for mega-yachts was full despite it costing between $9,500 and $14,500 to rent a slip.
It was also a diverse crowd of ages, all seeming to be thoroughly enjoying themselves.
Elderly ladies with their back turned toward the track jumping when a high-flying stadium truck unexpectedly careened past them was probably the only negative reaction witnessed all weekend.
While the open-wheeled Indy cars were the star of the show, many people – especially the younger ones – were most excited to watch the stadium super trucks take on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg.
Created by former IndyCar and NASCAR driver Robbie Gordon, these hulking, high-horsepower trucks get massive air while flying across specially placed jumps, speed down the straightaways, and slide on two giant wheels through turns.
“It’s just big-ass trucks completely getting after it,” Bay area resident Ryan Klee said. “I love it.”
Sunday was all about IndyCar though, and there was even more electricity in the air for the race finals this year.
Former USF and current Green Bay Packer football star Marquez Valdes-Scantling kicked off the festivities, serving as grand marshal and giving the timeless command of: “Gentleman, start your engines.”
“One of the coolest things I’ve done,” Scantling said on Twitter. “I grew up right around the corner and could hear the races from my bedroom as a kid.”
Besides having an alumnus serve as the grand marshal, USF was featured prominently to the country in other ways.
The St. Petersburg campus’ marine science building stood out in the skyline behind the home stretch, its parking garage was once again borrowed, a procession of chartered busses dropped off and picked thousands of fans in front of the bookstore, and the media gate was again across the street from the Tavern.
A few minutes after the former Bull opened the race, the omnipresent racing legend Andretti would drive another NFL wide receiver around the track for the ceremonial first lap. Super Bowl champion Scottie Miller of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rode shotgun in what is known as the “fastest seat in sports.”
“It’s terrific to have these two great athletes with Tampa and St. Pete ties join us,” said Kim Green, co-owner and CEO of GSSP, organizers of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to gpstpete.com. “This area has been the epicenter of the sports world over the past year, and it’s outstanding that we’re able to recognize their accomplishments…”
Another sports celebrity actually participated in the race.
NASCAR legend Jimmy Johnson, whose seven championships – five consecutively – leave many to believe he is one of the greatest of all time, recently decided he wanted to try his hand at IndyCar. While many fans were excited to see him race, he finished a lowly 22nd out of 24 cars in his second race of the series, while also bringing out two cautions.
This race belonged to IndyCar’s newest phenom, Colton Herta.
Herta, just 21 and a local after buying a home in Bellair last year, raced like he owned the St. Petersburg track.
He started in first after winning pole position on Saturday and never let up, shattering a race record of laps led with 97 out of a possible 100. His average speed of 96.552 mph was also the fastest recorded at the street course, as was his covering the 180 mile race in just 1:51:51.
All this was achieved with his dad, former IndyCar driver Bryan Herta guiding him on his radio for the first time, even though previous father-son combinations have not fared well in IndyCar.
The outcome of the race was never too much in doubt, and Colton Herta sped to a 2.49 second win over two-time series champion and winner of the last two races at St. Petersburg, Jozef Newgarden. 2016 series champion Simon Pegenaud finished third.
Courtesy of Mark Parker
“You know, I think you have a few times, maybe once or twice a year, where you have a car that dominant, where no matter what you’re doing, it just does exactly what you want it to do,” Herta said to us.motorsports.com. “You could be saving as much fuel as you want or going as hard as you want, and it just produces the killer lap times.
“We had one of those days, and it was awesome.”
Herta’s record setting day came in spite of the weather. While normally held in mid-March and held in late October of last year, this year’s event getting pushed back to late April added some heat to the event – both for fans and the 24 drivers.
After almost two hours in the cockpit, a visibly exhausted Herta struggled to find his words.
“What a great job everybody,” Herta said to indycar.com. “Sorry, I can barely talk; I’m so winded. I’m so happy we did this, so happy to rebound … and get the momentum going for the season that we need, which is a championship season.”
While not quite the “world’s fastest spring break party” that usually kicks off the IndyCar season in March, fans and drivers seemed to appreciate the race back to normalcy.
“You know, what an amazing weekend for me, and obviously for the whole team,” Herta said to us.motorsport.com.
