ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The streets of downtown St. Petersburg roar to life with the sound of racing cars zooming from 1st Street to the waterfront.
The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is back for another year, set for Feb. 25-27.
St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch gave the most famous command in motorsports — "Drivers, start your engines" — to kick off the NTT IndyCar Series' season-opening race. Cars raced down the main runway of Albert Whitted Airport and onto city streets. But the main event is just one of several happening throughout the weekend.
See below for your guide to everything you need to know about the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg:
🏁 The track
Cars line up in front of the grandstands on the airport's main runway, zoom onto Dali Boulevard adjacent to The Dalí and onto 1st Street S. They'll head north into the Progress Energy Parking Lot, where the St. Petersburg Saturday Morning Market typically is held, and around Pioneer Park.
Watch for speeds to pick up on Bayshore Drive SE. before drivers turn into Albert Whitted Park and back onto airport grounds.
It's a 1.8-mile track complete with 14 turns!
🏁 The events
The weekend of racing began early in the morning Friday with the first qualifying event for the Indy Pro 2000 series that started at 7:45 a.m. The series' first race set off just before noon.
The USF2000 series race that was scheduled for 12:50 p.m. was followed by the SRO GT America race at 2:35 p.m. and the Mazda MX-5 Cup race at 4:50 p.m.
That was four races just on the first day.
Three races are scheduled for Saturday, with three more Sunday — including the main event at 12:30 p.m., the 100-lap Firestone Grand Prix.
🏁 The tickets
Three-day grandstand tickets include a reserved seat on Saturday and Sunday, with general admission access to any grandstand on Friday, according to the Grand Prix site. They start at $155 for adults, with tickets starting at $120 for children 12 and under.
One-day grandstand tickets start at $95 for adults and $70 for kids.
General admission tickets vary by day, with Sunday tickets starting at $55 for adults — the day of the Firestone Grand Prix. Three-day general admission tickets start at $60 for adults and $35 for kids.