Thank You, St. Pete … The 22nd annual Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was a history-making weekend!
Last Thursday (Feb. 26) it all began in North Straub Park with the INDYCAR Party in the Park and a SOLD OUT 5K Run. The fees from 1,500 registered runners and walkers, along with a matching contribution from race owners Kim Green and Kevin Savoree, delivered a record donation of $101,560 to the Police Athletic League of St. Petersburg.
Another NTT INDYCAR SERIES season opened with 25 cars taking the green flag along the scenic downtown waterfront, and Alex Palou continued his reign in dominant fashion by a margin of victory of 12.4948 seconds, a new Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race record. With gates opening to fans on Friday, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series turned laps on a street circuit for the first time ever, then the 80-lap race followed on Saturday in the OnlyBulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg live on a FOX national television broadcast.
The track build team did a tremendous job once again from start to finish. All concrete blocks and fencing have been removed from the City of St. Petersburg streets … another remarkable team effort!
Jim Tario led the project which began Feb. 9th, and 26 days later it all has been put back into the storage compound. Tario was joined by equipment operators and workers Weston Bell, Kris Boatwright, Nathan Long, Spencer Prill, Dave Schwall, Nathan Young, and our fence panel specialist Justin Carter, leader of that team. Additional event operations leadership came from Craig Kersey and Chad Seufert along with support from Scott Ellsworth, Deven Keady, Brian Sipes, and Ben Valentine. A massive thank you also goes to Stepp's Towing & Heavy Transport and Ring Power for their role in making it an efficient process.
The grandstand team led by Christopher Kersey and Paul Alterio with support from Jordan Sipes and Jordan Strohl, also is in their final stages of teardown of the reserved seating and suite structures. Great crowds filled them throughout all three days.
Also, a special thanks to the 500-plus volunteers who help make the event happen each year providing assistance in numerous different specialty areas. Click to watch a special video saluting these dedicated supporters.
Finally, we are extremely grateful for the continued collaboration with the City of St. Petersburg, Mayor Kenneth T. Welch and his incredible staff - a special thanks to Tony Leno, Shawn Drouin, Greg Mitchell and Andy Chee for their support of the build. An additional note of appreciation to Beth Herendeen in her city development role for all the coordination and communication which goes into making the event happen with the support of City Council.
THANK YOU, FANS … THANK YOU, ST. PETE!
