Many new figures stepped onto the racing scene, such as IndyCar rookies and former Formula series drivers Mick Schumacher and Dennis Hauger.
Photo by Irena Mesa | The Crow’s Nest
By Alisha Durosier and Julia Birdsall
The 2026 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg kicked off on Friday, Feb. 27, with the rumble of engines and excited crowds.
St. Petersburg residents had been watching the track’s construction for weeks, and as it came together, anticipation for this year’s races grew within the city.
No one felt this more than University of South Florida St. Petersburg students, who live only blocks from the track and could hear the festivities from their dorms.
Senior marine biology major Shayna Krieger attended the Firestone Grand Prix in 2025 solely because the noise annoyed her the previous year and she wanted to know what was going on.
“Then I just fell in love with it,” she told The Crow’s Nest on the second day of races. “I kept track of the rest of the season, and I’ve been looking forward to [the St. Petersburg Grand Prix] since last year.”
Krieger purchased a paddock pass this year and enjoyed being able to get up close and personal with the cars of her favorite team, McLaren, as well as interact with the drivers.
“I love watching the races here because… you can feel it when they drive by you. You can feel how fast they’re going and it’s awesome,” Krieger said.
Curiosity and irritation also got the best of sophomore environmental science and policy major Lauren Everitt.
“I always dealt with the stress,” Everitt told The Crow’s Nest on the first day of the Grand Prix, noting the on-campus crackdown on parking and the struggle to navigate the Bayside streets in the midst of construction.
“It shut everything down,” Everitt said. “But now seeing the environment here is really rewarding and like, ‘Oh wait, it’s actually a really big thing that our community has.’”
Over 100,000 fans attended the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg this year; historically, it’s one of the city’s largest annual events.
This year saw victories from Alex Palou — who secured first place in the IndyCar season opener by the largest margin in the series’ history on Sunday — and Nikita Johnson, who won his first Indy NXT race as a full-time driver for Cape Motorsports powered by ECR.
It drew in fans from all over the state and country.
Tara and Taylor Davenport, a mother and daughter who traveled from Naples to watch the races, also bought paddock passes because they wanted to get a “behind-the-scenes look at everything.”
They told The Crow’s Nest that they have been fans of various motorsport series — first Formula 1, then IndyCar — for about 6 years and 2026 marks their second year attending the St. Petersburg Grand Prix.
“We really enjoy motorsport in general, but we love IndyCar,” Taylor Davenport said. “But it’s just cool to be in the middle of everything and kind of seeing what the mechanics are doing.”
Aakash Karvir, a high school senior from North Carolina, has always loved motorsports and wanted to see a race before his graduation in May.
His dad granted his wish and even bought pit and paddock passes so that Karvir, who enjoys photography, could document everything.
“Getting to be this close to the cars and in the paddock, watching him [Dennis Hauger] roll by every day has been pretty cool,” Karvir told The Crow’s Nest on the second day of the Grand Prix. “And I’m surprised. I didn’t think I’d be able to get this close and… reach over and touch the car.”
Karvir, similarly, to the Davenports, became fans of IndyCar through Formula One (F1), a prominent international open-wheel racing series.
Karvir noted that IndyCar is much more interactive than F1.
“They don’t let you get this close and it’s much harder to get pit access and paddock access — from what I’ve heard, at least,” Karvir said. “That’s kind of what I was expecting [from IndyCar], but I’m glad it’s like this.”
Taylor Davenport emphasized his sentiment.
“We’ve been to a few Formula One races… unless you have thousands of dollars, you’re not getting access like this,” she said.
The appreciation for these aspects of IndyCar shows, as the Davenports noted, that the IndyCar fanbase has grown exponentially.
“[The 2026 St. Petersburg Grand Prix] feels busier, which is great,” Tara Davenport said. “I feel like people are becoming more interested.”
The introduction of the NASCAR truck series helped with this, bringing in many new fans.
Photo by Makenna Wozniak | The Crow’s Nest
Connor Stone, a USF alum, and Bella Molinari, a USF St. Petersburg psychology senior, both attended the St. Petersburg Grand Prix for the first time on the race’s opening day and said that they would be willing to attend in the future.
They enjoyed the “Sunday tailgate” feel of the races.
“I feel like it introduces people to other people,” Molinari told The Crow’s Nest. “And I think it brings people together to experience things together like this, create like a community or like a club, that type of thing.”
Kaitlyn Bears, who has been attending the St. Petersburg Grand Prix since she was a child, noticed this as well.
Before the races, Bears told The Crow’s Nest that one does not have to know anything about racing to enjoy the Grand Prix.
“If you just go and sit in the stands, I bet you somebody next to you will sit there and teach you or show you or tell you the rules,” she said. “Everybody’s super friendly and they want the sport to grow.”
Krieger had this exact experience when she attended for the first time in 2025.
“Last year, when I had no clue what was going on, some guy mid-race was like, ‘Oh, this is what this means,’ and started explaining everything to me,” she said. “It’s just been a super great atmosphere.”
The community-building aspect is an upside of sports as a whole, Taylor Davenport said.
Photo by Makenna Wozniak | The Crow’s Nest
Karvir agreed.
“People come from all over to come watch,” he said. “I’ve heard different languages, all sorts of stuff. So, it’s a really cool way to bring a lot of different people together that share common interests, like racing.”
Even drivers contribute to the welcoming atmosphere.
“One of my favorite memories was meeting James Hinchcliffe,” Bears said. “I was like, thanking him for taking a photo. He’s like, ‘No. Thank you for attending and thank you for coming every year.’”
