The streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., will awake to the sounds of roaring, 2.2-liter twin-turbocharged V-6 engines this weekend as the NTT IndyCar Series begins its season.
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg takes the green flag on Sunday, where 27 drivers and teams will look to kick off their season on a high note.
With storylines aplenty, here’s some of what we’ll be watching this weekend:
Scott Dixon’s Time To Finally Shine?
As hard as it is to believe, six-time IndyCar Series champion Scott Dixon has yet to win at St. Petersburg.
The Chip Ganassi Racing driver boasts four runner-up finishes and an average finish of 7.63 in 19 previous starts at the temporary, 1.8-mile street course.
Dixon has also finished in the top 10 in his last eight starts at St. Pete. After finishing second to teammate Alex Palou in the standings last year, the 43-year-old will be looking to get off to a hot start as he chases a record-tying seventh IndyCar title.
Ilott’s Golden Opportunity
Within half a year, Callum Ilott will have driven cars fielded by both the upstart Juncos Hollinger Racing team and world-renowned Arrow McLaren IndyCar team.
While the circumstances weren’t what he had hoped with full-time driver David Malukas sidelined due to surgery on a dislocated wrist, Ilott has a golden opportunity as he takes the wheel of the No. 6 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren.
After losing his ride with JHR last season, opportunities within the IndyCar paddock for the 25-year-old were non-existent. However, Malukas’ injury allows Ilott to potentially audition for Arrow McLaren, or perhaps another team down the road.
“I think it kind of goes without saying that every racing driver wants to prove what they can do, and this is a perfect opportunity to do it,” Ilott said in a conference call earlier in the week. “The test at Homestead went really well. So far gearing up to this weekend, it’s all going very smoothly. I fit in quite well in a last-minute situation.
“Again, I wish David all the best and he gets to be in the car as soon as possible, but I’ll try and do the best job that I can within that time. It’s obviously an interesting place to be and an interesting place to see what I can do, but again, I can’t really comment until I get on there, but that’s the goal, right, to do as well as possible.”
Rookie Jitters
The latest rookie class in the IndyCar Series is noteworthy. Chip Ganassi Racing fields two of the three full-time rookie drivers with Linus Lundqvist and Kyffin Simpson.
Sports car star Tom Blomqvist will also embark on his maiden IndyCar season with Meyer Shank Racing.
There will also be a handful of part-time rookies competing this weekend in St. Pete.
Last year’s Indy NXT champion Christian Rasmussen is set for his IndyCar debut on Sunday. Rasmussen will race for Ed Carpenter Racing on the road and street courses this season.
Announced as the driver this week, NASCAR driver turned sports car star Colin Braun will make his debut with Dale Coyne Racing at St. Pete.
New Faces In New Places
The offseason was full of change within the IndyCar paddock with multiple top-tier drivers changing teams.
Among the many changes:
• Marcus Ericsson joined Andretti Global after three seasons with Chip Ganassi Racing
• Felix Rosenqvist left Arrow McLaren for Meyer Shank Racing
• Romain Grosjean signed with Juncos Hollinger Racing after a two-year stint with Andretti Global
• Malukas took over Rosenqvist’s ride at Arrow McLaren
Aside from Malukas, each driver will be looking to shine in their new liveries.
Notably, Ericsson, the 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner, is the defending winner at St. Petersburg.
Herta In Need Of A Fast Start
Colton Herta’s talent has never been questioned. Since his lightning-fast start as IndyCar’s youngest winner at 18 years old in 2019, Herta is one of the sport’s finest drivers.
However, Herta has yet to mount a solid championship charge during his first five seasons. The 23-year-old has a best result of third in the standings (2020).
So, the question arises — when will Herta challenge for an Astor Cup?
The best way for Herta to do so is get off to a fast start on the streets of St. Petersburg. Herta has one win (2021) at the 14-turn course.