 |
| St. Petersburg is IndyCar's first street race of 2021 |
The second round of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series season will be on the streets of St. Petersburg, exactly six months after IndyCar raced on those Florida streets to close out the 2020 season. This will be the seventh time St. Petersburg is not the season opener in its 18-year history. The last time it was the second round of the season was 2010. This is the sixth time St. Petersburg will take place in April, but it will be the first time it has run in April since 2009. St. Petersburg is the second of three consecutive race weekends to open the 2021 season.
Coverage
Time: Coverage begins at noon ET on Sunday April 25 with green flag scheduled for 12:42 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell will be in the booth. Marty Snider and Dave Burns will work pit lane.
IndyCar Weekend Schedule
Friday:
Time: Coverage begins at noon ET on Sunday April 25 with green flag scheduled for 12:42 p.m. ET.
Channel: NBC
Announcers: Leigh Diffey and Townsend Bell will be in the booth. Marty Snider and Dave Burns will work pit lane.
IndyCar Weekend Schedule
Friday:
First Practice: 4:15 p.m. ET (45 minutes)*
Saturday:
Second Practice: 9:45 p.m. ET (45 minutes)*
Qualifying: 1:45 p.m. ET * (NBCSN will have tape-delayed coverage at 10:00 p.m. ET)
Sunday:
Warm-up: 9:05 a.m. ET (30 minutes)*
Race: 12:42 p.m. ET (90 laps)
* - All practice and qualifying sessions are available live on Peacock.
Sunday:
Warm-up: 9:05 a.m. ET (30 minutes)*
Race: 12:42 p.m. ET (90 laps)
* - All practice and qualifying sessions are available live on Peacock.
Newgarden Works on a Hat Trick
Josef Newgarden will be happy returning to St. Petersburg as the Tennessean has won the bayside street race the last two years and he will look to become the first driver to ever win three consecutive races at St. Petersburg. He could become the first driver to win three consecutive races at any street course since Will Power won three consecutive São Paulo races from 2010 to 2012.
Newgarden will be heading to St. Petersburg off a terrible start to the season after his first lap accident left him with a 23rd-place finish at Barber. It was Newgarden's worst finish since he was 30th in the 2014 Indianapolis 500. It was his worst finish on a road/street course since he was 24th at Sonoma in 2013 with a gearbox failure.
A poor result in the first race of the season is not the end of the world for a driver, but it is not how many champions start their season. The last five champions started the season with a top ten finish. The last champion to finish outside the top ten in the first race was Scott Dixon in 2015, when Dixon was 15th at St. Petersburg. Dixon's 2015 title is the only time since reunification where the championship did not have a top ten finish in the season opener.
The last champion to finish outside the top twenty in the first race of the season was Greg Ray, who started the 1999 season with a 21st-place finish at Walt Disney World Speedway before taking the Indy Racing League championship over Kenny Bräck.
This Barber result dropped Newgarden out of the top five in the championship for the first time since he was seventh after the 2018 season opener at St. Petersburg. This is the first time he is outside the top ten in the championship since he was 12th after the 2016 Grand Prix of Indianapolis.
Newgarden has finished in the top ten in every St. Petersburg race he has started with Team Penske, however, he had only one top ten result in his first five St. Petersburg appearances, a ninth in 2014. His qualifying average has also improved greatly with Team Penske. His average finish over his first five St. Petersburg trips was 15.6 with his best starting position being tenth. With Team Penske, his average starting position is 6.75 with his worst starting position being 13th.
This will be Newgarden's 150th IndyCar start. He will be the 54th driver to reach that milestone. No driver has ever won in a 150th career start. Tom Sneva was second at Michigan in his 150th start on September 24, 1984. Scott Dixon was second in his 150th start at Chicagoland in 2009.
Andretti's Shot at Redemption
Last year, Andretti Autosport entered St. Petersburg with only one victory in the 2020 season and it started the season finale in impressive fashion.
Alexander Rossi led, Colton Herta ran in second and James Hinchliffe was third. Marco Andretti and Ryan Hunter-Reay both drove into the top ten after both started outside the top fifteen. However, it all went to pieces in the final third of the race.
Rossi led 61 of the first 69 laps but got into the marbles in turn three and spun out of the race. Under that caution, Hinchcliffe spun in the final corner and clipped Jack Harvey, knocking both drivers out of the fight for the final podium spot. Andretti was then caught in an accident in turn five and was taken out of the race while in the top ten and looking at his best finish of the season. Herta took the lead, but a turbo issue cost him a few spots and as he fought to get back to the lead, he went into the tires at turn four, dropping him out of contention.
After having the top three spots for most of the race, the top finishing Andretti car was Ryan Hunter-Reay in fifth. Herta ended up 11th with Hinchcliffe in 14th. Andretti and Rossi were both retirements.
Andretti Autosport looked to get a better start to its 2021 season than it had in 2020, but it is hard to say they are on the right track after round one. At Texas last year, Andretti had two top ten finishes with Herta in seventh and Hunter-Reay in eighth. At Barber last week, Rossi was the team's only top ten finisher in ninth. Herta and Hunter-Reay were both caught in the opening lap accident and were classified outside the top twenty. Hinchcliffe was a lap down in 17th.
This weekend will not only be a chance to make up for the St. Petersburg loss last year but it is a chance to turn the 2021 season opener at Barber into a mulligan.
Rossi qualified second last year at St. Petersburg and he was second on the grid at Barber. Prior to his retirement last year, Rossi had five consecutive top five finishes on street courses and eight top five finishes in his last ten street course races. He has led laps in his last three St. Petersburg starts.
Herta's team was able to repair his car at Barber, but he only made 25 glorified shakedown laps before settling for a 22nd-place result. Herta's best finish on a street course remains his eighth-place finish at St. Petersburg in 2019, the second start of his IndyCar career. He qualified third last year. He has started in the top five in four of his last five starts and he has started in the top ten in 13 of the last 15 races.
Hinchcliffe is the only driver in the Andretti team with a victory at St. Petersburg. His first career victory came in the 2013 race. The Canadian has started in the top ten in seven of nine St. Petersburg starts. He has completed 968 of a possible 970 laps in this race.
Hunter-Reay has four top five finishes in the last five St. Petersburg races, and he has three podium finishes, six top five finishes and seven top ten finishes at St. Petersburg in the DW12-era. However, he has only led eight laps in 14 St. Petersburg starts.
Andretti Autosport failed to put a car in the top five of four races last year, both Iowa races, the Indianapolis 500 and the second Gateway race. The team failed to get a top five finish in the 2019 season finale at Laguna Seca. The last time Andretti Autosport did not have a top five finisher in consecutive road/street course races was in 2016 when the team did not have a top five finisher at Long Beach, Barber, the Grand Prix of Indianapolis nor the first Belle Isle race.
Palou's Start
The new man of the hour in IndyCar is our most recent new race winner. Álex Palou's victory at Barber Motorsports Park made him the third driver to win on their Chip Ganassi Racing debut, joining Michael Andretti at Surfers Paradise in 1994 and Dan Wheldon at Homestead in 2006. While many are excited for this emerging talent, recent first-time winners have a history of a hangover.
Prior to Palou, there have been 15 first-time winners since reunification. Eleven of the 15 winners did not finish in the top ten in the next race and seven of those finishers were outside the top fifteen. The last first-time winner to finish in the top five in his next start was Takuma Sato, who was second at São Paulo after winning at Long Beach. The only other first-time winners since reunification to get top five results in their next starts were Mike Conway and Ryan Briscoe.
First career victories are not necessarily a sign of a strong championship finish either. Only two of the 15 first-time winners since reunification finished in the top five of the championship in the season of their maiden victory. Briscoe was fifth in 2008 and Simon Pagenaud was third in 2013. Eight of the drivers finished outside the championship top ten with five of those drivers finishing outside the top fifteen, although one of those was Ed Carpenter, who was part-time in 2011.
Palou had his day in the sun in Barber and there are plenty of other drivers who could be set for a breakthrough in St. Petersburg. Eleven of the 24 St. Petersburg entries do not have an IndyCar victories. Palou became the 15th consecutive first-time winner to not have finished in the top five in the start prior to his first career victory. Graham Rahal is the last first-time winner to have finished in the top five the race before. Rahal was fourth at Mexico City in 2007 before he won at St. Petersburg in 2008.
There have not been consecutive first-time winners to open an IndyCar season since the 1996-97 Indy Racing League season when the first four races had first-time winners, starting with Scott Sharp at Loudon, with Richie Hearn following at Las Vegas, Eddie Cheever next at Orlando and Jim Guthrie concluded that stretch with a victory at Phoenix. Dating back to the previous season, Buddy Lazier's Indianapolis 500 victory extends that streak to five consecutive first-time winners.
Variety on Top
Six different teams were represented in the top seven finishers at Barber and eight different teams were represented in the top ten in the season opener.
Will Power was second to Palou and it was the 82nd podium finish of Power's IndyCar career, moving him into sole possession of tenth all-time. It was Power's best finish at Barber since his victory at the track in 2012. Power is masterful in qualifying at St. Petersburg with nine pole positions in 13 appearances. His worst qualifying position was sixth in 2009, his first race with Team Penske when he drove the #3 Dallara-Honda in place of Hélio Castroneves, as Castroneves was on trial for tax evasion.
Patricio O'Ward drew much attention at Barber Motorsports Park, especially after his pole position. However, after struggling with the alternate tires and running a three-stop strategy, O'Ward had to fight from behind and he could only finish fourth. It was his third consecutive top five finish dating back to last season, which included a runner-up finish behind Newgarden at St. Petersburg in October.
Sébastien Bourdais picked up A.J. Foyt Racing's second consecutive top five finish with his fifth-place result at Barber. It was Bourdais' third consecutive top five finish at Barber. Foyt has not had three consecutive top five finishes since 2001-02 when Donnie Beechler was fifth at Chicagoland and Eliseo Salazar ended 2001 with a fourth at Texas and Salazar opened 2002 with a fifth at Homestead and fourth at Phoenix. Bourdais has not had three consecutive top five finishes since 2007 when he had a victory at Edmonton, a fourth at San Jose and victories at Road America and Zolder.
Rinus VeeKay pulled out a sixth-place finish despite starting 14th and spinning to avoid the opening lap accident at Barber. VeeKay also pulled this off with a broken thumb. The Dutchman was 15th in his St. Petersburg debut. He won three of his six Road to Indy starts at the track.
Graham Rahal scored a seventh-place finish at Barber, only the third Rahal has picked up a top ten finish in a season opener. It was Rahal's sixth consecutive top ten finish dating back to last season. His longest top ten streak is eight races, which he has achieved on three separate occasions. His first career victory came at St. Petersburg, but he has only two top ten finish finishes in his last ten St. Petersburg starts.
Romain Grosjean ended up tenth in his IndyCar debut, the top rookie finisher and the top Dale Coyne Racing finisher. It was the fourth time in the last five seasons Dale Coyne Racing had at least one top ten finisher in the season opener. Grosjean was 21st and 17th in his first two practice sessions at Barber before ending up second in his first round qualifying group and ultimately ending up seventh on the grid.
While there were eight teams in the top ten at Barber, Chip Ganassi Racing put three cars in the top ten.
Scott Dixon was third at Barber, his ninth podium finish at the 2.3-mile road course. It was Dixon's third consecutive season opener with a podium finish and the fourth time he has opened a season with a podium in the last five years. While Dixon has made it a habit to start the season with some hardware, last year was the first time he opened a season with consecutive podium results since 2012. He has five consecutive top ten finishes at St. Petersburg with four podium finishes, six top five finishes and eight top ten finishes in the last nine St. Petersburg races.
Marcus Ericsson was eighth in car #8 for the season opener. Ericsson had to conserve fuel in the closing laps at Barber and it cost him a few positions. The Swede did make the Fast Six for the first time in his IndyCar career last week as Ganassi was the only team to have multiple participants in the final round of qualifying.
Road to Indy
All three Road to Indy series are back in action at St. Petersburg and all three series will run doubleheaders.
Linus Lundqvist is out to an early lead in the Indy Lights championship off his victory and runner-up finish at Barber. The Swede sits on 57 points, 13 points ahead of Devlin DeFrancesco. DeFrancesco was third in both Barber races.
David Malukas had contact with Kyle Kirkwood at the start of the first race, but Malukas rebounded to win race two and he sits third in the championship on 40 points, one point ahead of Benjamin Pedersen, who was runners-up in race one. Toby Sowery has 38 points after a pair of fourth place finishes at Barber. Alex Peroni is in sixth with 32 points.
Kyle Kirkwood was ninth and fifth in the opening weekend and those results have him down in seventh on 29 points, three points ahead of the 2020 Indy Pro 2000 champion Sting Ray Robb, who was eighth in both races. A left front tire puncture cost Robert Megennis a top five in the second Barber race and he enters St. Petersburg ninth in the championship on 23 points, tied with Danial Frost, who also suffered a tire failure late at Barber.
Nikita Lastochkin and Christian Bogle are tied on 22 points. Antonio Serravalle rests at the bottom with 19 markers.
Indy Lights will race at 3:20 p.m. ET on Saturday April 24 with ice two scheduled for 10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday April 25.
Braden Eves leads the Indy Pro 2000 championship into St. Petersburg with 51 points after a victory and a fourth at Barber. Eves' Exclusive Autosport teammate Artem Petrov is second in the championship with 47 points after a second and a third at Barber. Barber race two winner Hunter McElrea sits on 45 points in third.
Christian Rasmussen lost the victory in the second Barber race after being handed a blocking penalty. Rasmussen is fourth in the championship on 37 points. Reece Gold and Jacob Abel are tied for fifth with 30 points. Gold was third in the first Barber race while Abel's best finish was fifth in the second race.
Enaam Ahmed has 29 points, one point ahead of Colin Kaminsky and four points ahead of Cameron Shields. Wyatt Brichacek rounds out the top ten on 22 points. Hunter Yeany and Enzo Fittipaldi are tied on 20 points. Flinn Lazier has 17 points, one ahead of James Roe. Kyffin Simpson has 14 points. Manuel Sulaimán was disqualified from race one due to an infringement found in post-race inspection. Sulaimán has 13 points, one ahead of Jack William Miller.
The first Indy Pro 2000 race will be at 11:50 a.m. ET on Saturday April 24 with the second race at 8:00 a.m. ET on Sunday April 25.
Prescott Campbell opened the season with a second and a first in U.S. F2000 at Barber and the American has 56 points, a 12-point lead over Josh Pierson, who was third in both races. Yuven Sundaramoorthy won the first race at Barber, but he was tenth in the second race and he sits on 43 points. Nolan Siegel was 11th and second at Barber, giving Siegel 37 points.
Christian Brooks rounds out the top five on 34 points after finishing fifth in both Barber races. Michael d'Orlando is on 31 points, one point ahead of Kiko Porto. Josh Green has 26 points, two points more than Spike Kohlbecker and three points more than Billy Frazer.
Jace Denmark has 22 points, a point ahead of Thomas Nepveu. Myles Rowe and Jackson Lee are tied on 16 points. Rowe was caught in an opening lap accident in race one and finished sixth in race two. Lee had an electrical issue keep him from qualifying for the second Barber race, but he went from 26th to 14th, the biggest mover of the race.
Both U.S. F2000 races will be on Saturday April 24. The first race will be at 10:55 a.m. ET and the second race will be at 5:20 p.m. ET.
Fast Facts
This will be the fourth IndyCar race to take place on April 25 and the first since Mike Mosley won at Trenton in 1971. The other April 25 races were in 1948, when Ted Horn won in Arlington, and 1965, when Jim McElreath won at Trenton.
Both victories for McElreath and Mosley were their first career IndyCar victories.
Graham Rahal and James Hinchcliffe are the only drivers to pick up a first career victory at St. Petersburg.
Josef Newgarden is the only driver to win at St. Petersburg in IndyCar and Indy Lights.
Ed Jones, Felix Rosenqvist, Colton Herta, Patricio O'Ward and Rinus VeeKay have all won in Indy Lights at St. Petersburg. VeeKay, O'Ward and Conor Daly have all won at St. Petersburg in Indy Pro 2000.
None of the 15 drivers to win at U.S. F2000 at St. Petersburg since 2010 are entered in the IndyCar race this weekend.
The average starting position for a St. Petersburg winner is 5.823 with a median of fourth.
Three of the last four St. Petersburg races have been won from a starting position outside the top five.
The pole-sitter has not won at St. Petersburg since Will Power in 2010.
The fourth starting position has produced the St. Petersburg winner five times, including in four consecutive years from 2013 to 2016.
None of the top five starters at St. Petersburg in 2020 finished in the top ten and seven of the top ten finishes started outside the top ten.
The average number of lead changes at St. Petersburg is 6.588 with a median of seven.
The last four St. Petersburg races have had seven lead changes or more.
The driver who has led the most laps has won nine of 17 St. Petersburg races.
The most laps led for a St. Petersburg winner was 95 with Hélio Castroneves in 2007. The fewest laps led for a St. Petersburg winner was ten with Dan Wheldon in 2005.
The average number of cautions at St. Petersburg is 4.352 with a median of five. The average number of caution laps is 19.235 with a median of 20.
Every St. Petersburg race has featured at least two cautions.
Only five St. Petersburg races have featured less than 15 caution laps. The fewest caution laps were eight in 2017.
Possible Milestones:
If Scott Dixon wins this race, he will become the first driver in IndyCar history to win a race in 19 different seasons.
If Scott Dixon wins this race, he will tie Mario Andretti's record of 26 different tracks with a race victory
Will Power is one victory away from becoming the fifth driver to win 40 IndyCar races. Power would also break a tie with Al Unser for fifth all-time in IndyCar victories.
Scott Dixon needs to lead 58 laps to become the fifth driver to reach the 6,000 laps led milestone.
Sébastien Bourdais needs to lead 43 laps to reach the 2,700 laps led milestone.
Josef Newgarden needs to lead one lap to become the 23rd driver to reach the 2,500 laps led milestone.
Ryan Hunter-Reay needs to lead 51 laps to reach the 1,600 laps led milestone.
James Hinchcliffe needs to lead 19 laps to reach the 800 laps led milestone.
Predictions
Alexander Rossi makes up for last year and gets his first victory in almost two years. Will Power will exit as the championship leader. At least three teams will have multiple finishers in the top ten. There will be fewer incidents in turn three than last year. At least five drivers that did not make it out of the first round of qualifying at Barber will make it out this weekend. At least four top five starters finish in the top ten. One driver from outside the top fifteen on the grid will finish in the top ten. James Hinchcliffe will not spin under caution. Scott McLaughlin will complete more than 46 laps and finish better than 22nd. Sleeper: Marcus Ericsson.
