Postcards from the Paddock - St Petersburg

What a weekend! The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has been a personal favorite event since I first attended in 2012. My affinity for the race has only grown in the subsequent years and based on the record attendance figures for this year's running it seems like I'm not alone!

When the fans starting filing in on Friday it started to become clear that it was going to be a special weekend and the enthusiasm and size of the crowd only grew from there. By Sunday, my typical ritual—walking the grid and checking to see what tires and aerodynamic settings the cars in my section of the pit lane were starting with for our IndyCar Radio coverage—had become nigh on impossible due to the press of people on the grid! After a few years of limited or no fans, it was wonderful to feel the buzz that only a large, passionate crowd can provide.

For me it was a challenging weekend wearing multiple hats between IndyCar Radio and SRO America. Friday's schedule was particularly daunting with several sessions running back-to-back, especially considering my radio duties were in the pit lane and my television job required me to be in the TV compound which aren't at all near one another! I'm grateful that both of my employers and co-workers were willing to put up with my split roles because I love being able to bounce between my open-wheel and sports car friends.

The GT America races were both remarkably clean and entertaining given the relative inexperience of most of the drivers on street courses and the fact that it was a mixed grid of GT3 and GT4 cars, with a GT2 Audi thrown into the mix as well. For fans that have followed the series since the Pirelli World Challenge days like me, this was in many ways a throwback to the series that introduced me to sprint GT racing. The mixed class, single driver, short race format is the perfect sports car compliment to an IndyCar street race and after the success of Nashville last year and the return to St. Pete this year my hope is that we'll see more of these types of events on the SRO America schedule in the future.

On the open-wheel side I found both the Indy Lights and NTT IndyCar Series components to be captivating. The Lights field is as strong as ever but deeper than it has been in years. Cutting the schedule down to single races on a given weekend rather than the doubleheaders that became customary in recent years had the effect of making the race feel more meaningful but also left me wanting more. If you didn't have a chance to catch it I encourage you to find our IndyCar Radio broadcast on iTunes or NBC's broadcast on Peacock. Let's just say no lead was safe!

Finally, Scott McLaughlin's breakthrough win was wonderful to see for several reasons. He spoke after scoring the pole on Saturday, and again after his win on Sunday, about now having gone two years without seeing his family back home in New Zealand and about the creeping doubt that has come after a winless rookie season in IndyCar. Interviewing a first-time winner is always a thrill but this victory was clearly cathartic after a challenging 2021 season.

McLaughlin’s success in St. Petersburg also marked the first win for the much-ballyhooed rookie class of 2021 which saw three drivers (McLaughlin, Jimmie Johnson, and Romain Grosjean) from three distinctly different backgrounds contesting the majority of the races. I suspect that many would have joined me in anticipating Grosjean would be the first of the trio to find victory lane in an Indy car but McLaughlin was the class of the field on Sunday. I've always been a firm believer in his talent—I'm not sure there's a more challenging road-racing vehicle to drive in than the V8 Supercar in which he excelled for so many years—but I was skeptical he would adapt so well so soon. Now that he's broken through, and with the might of Team Penske behind him, I'm forced to re-calibrate my expectations for McLaughlin who now appears to be a fixture in the championship battle. One race does not a season make but the signs are there that the Kiwi may be a contender faster than I expected.

All in all it was a challenging, exhausting, but utterly enjoyable weekend at the office. It was so enjoyable to get stuck back into the job after months of updating notes and the rest of the drudgery of my offseason. Adding to the experience, though, was having my parents in the stands and my wife helping me in the pits and in the paddock throughout the weekend. My parents were supposed to attend this race for the first time in 2020 (we all know what happened then) so this was their first chance to experience one of my favorite races and they had a blast. My wife Audrey was a great sport helping me keep track of pit stops during the IndyCar race and helping with my social media posts. If you liked the photos and videos this weekend, she's the one to thank!
We are spending this week visiting family here in Florida but head to Daytona on Sunday for the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America induction ceremony next Monday and Tuesday. I'll be involved in a live stream of that event which includes the induction of Helio Castroneves, Peter Brock, Dick LaHeie, Banjo Matthews, Denise McCluggage, Raymond Parks, Jack Roush, and Vance & Hines. More details on how you can follow along to follow on my social media channels! Thanks to everyone who watched and listened over the weekend! I couldn't be more excited about the season to come.