Postcards from the Paddock - St Petersburg

After a long wait, it finally feels like the 2023 season is off and running. True, major events like the Rolex 24, the Chili Bowl, and the Daytona 500 had already run prior to last weekend, but having Formula 1, IndyCar, and NASCAR all running on the same day last Sunday really drove home the point that the racing calendar has finally flipped from “off-season”. And being on site to cover races once again probably helped, too!

It was a double-duty weekend for me covering the NTT IndyCar Series and Indy NXT by Firestone for IndyCar Radio as well as SRO America's GT America powered by AWS for the official live stream. Those that have attended the St. Pete race before will know that the IndyCar paddock is located on one side of the track, right behind the pit lane, while every other series is across a bridge and a serious hike away. That meant a lot of long walks back and forth to talk to teams and drivers in the various series that I was covering as well as swapping my pit lane gear for the play-by-play booth every time I went from one session to the next. From my first day at the track on Thursday through the final day on Sunday, my phone tells me I put in 55,570 steps!

A fair number of those were logged during the track walk on Thursday afternoon. Track walks are crucial for teams and drivers, especially on street courses where pavement, wall placement, and reference points are liable to change one year to the next more dramatically than at a permanent circuit. While on that track walk I first heard about the repave that was done around Turn 3 which became a storyline throughout the weekend! Picking up nuggets like that, and getting a better perspective of the track, make the track walk useful tool for me, too.

Once track activity began on Friday, the challenge became staying on top of the storylines for the 27 IndyCar, 19 Indy NXT, and 22 GT America drivers I was covering over the course the weekend. The first races are always the most difficult of the year, in part because you fall out of the rhythm you acquire covering races regularly throughout the season, but also because of the many new drivers, teams, and liveries that are debuting. This year was especially challenging with the massive jump in grid size for Indy NXT in particular!

All three series struggled to have clean races with significant portions of the races running behind the pace car. The repave in the Turn 3 area seemed to be a specific trouble spot and many drivers noted that the new surface simply lacked the grip they were used to from the previous surface. Large grids probably also played a role with all three series sporting bigger fields than they had in St. Pete in 2022. And certainly in the case of Indy NXT and GT America, some inexperienced drivers learned the hard way just how fickle a street course can be.

Ryan Myrehn with 2023 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg winner Marcus Ericsson

As always, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg delivered as a can't-miss event, even if the races themselves didn't always showcase the best the series had to offer. The crowd felt very strong and the enthusiasm was palpable. This race has clearly become a staple within the community itself, something not all street races can claim. Restaurants and bars throughout the town were festooned with checkered flags and “Welcome Race Fans” signs; many of the locals wanted to know if we were in town for the race. If you haven't had the chance to attend in the past, I wholeheartedly recommend a visit. The atmosphere has built to the point that it now rivals Long Beach which is no mean feat!

I'm writing this from my hotel in Daytona Beach where I'm working on the live stream of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America's 35th annual induction ceremony. Legends like drag racer Darrell Gwynn, NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham, and racing safety pioneers Drs. Stephen Olvey and Terry Trammell and more will be enshrined. It's a privilege to be here surrounded by many of the all-time greats and a fantastic way to wrap up my first full working weekend of 2023. From here I've got a little R&R planned, but I'll be back on the road for the Porsche Sprint Challenge North America season opener at Sebring at the end of March.

Something to Chew On

One thing I want to add to my blogs this year is a mention of good restaurant finds during my travels. For St. Pete, my tried and true spot for the past several years is MacArthur's Irish Pub. It's not downtown so if you're staying by the track it is admittedly a bit out of the way, but since stumbling into the place in 2021 I've been back every year. MacArthur's opened in 2020 and persevered through the pandemic.

It's a no-frills kind of place -- bar food with an Irish twist -- but the service is good and I've enjoyed everything I've ever tried. On this trip my wife and I opted to sample multiple appetizers: wings, pretzels with beer cheese dip, and cottage skins, an interesting take on potato skins with braised beef, vegetables, and spices on top of the traditional potato skin. I've had burgers and sandwiches here in the past as well and all of it has been very good. You can find them on your next trip to St Pete at the address below and online here: https://www.mcarthursirishpub.com/

9246 4th Street N
St. Petersburg, FL 33702

I'll have more restaurant suggestions in blog posts to come this year!

--Ryan