IndyCar St Petersburg start times: The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is back and bigger than ever as the NTT IndyCar Series opener.
A field of 26 cars -- tying a St. Pete GP record set in 2008 and 2012 -- will take the green flag Sunday as the race opens the season for the first time.
Colton Herta is the defending race winner and is seeking to become the latest repeat winner, joining Josef Newgarden (2019-20), Sebastien Bourdais (2017-18) and Juan Pablo Montoya (2015-16). Herta also is trying to win his third consecutive race overall after closing the 2021 season with victories at Laguna Seca and Long Beach.
VIEWER’S GUIDE: Storylines to watch in 2022 for IndyCar
Rookies Tatiana Calderon, Devlin DeFrancesco, Kyle Kirkwood and David Malukas will be making their IndyCar debuts at St. Petersburg. Newgarden (2012), Alexander Rossi ('16), Marcus Ericsson ('19), Felix Rosenqvist ('19) and Scott McLaughlin ('20) also made their first IndyCar starts at St. Pete.
This will mark only the fifth IndyCar race held in February (the 2003 CART season opened in St. Pete on Feb. 23).
Here are the details and IndyCar start times for Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg race weekend (all times are ET):
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST PETERSBURG START TIMES
TV: Sunday, noon ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2022.
For the first time, Telemundo Deportes also will provide Spanish-language coverage of three IndyCar races this season, starting with Sunday’s season opener as well as the Indy 500 and the season finale at Laguna Seca. Omar Amador and Sergio Rodriguez will provide live commentary for the broadcasts that will air on Universo and stream on TelemundoDeportes.com and the Telemundo Deportes app.
COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 12:23 p.m. ET
GREEN FLAG: 12:30 p.m. ET
DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (180 miles) on a 14-turn, 1.8-mile street course through downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, including a runway of Albert Whitted Airport
PRACTICE: Friday, 3:40 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9 a.m. (Peacock Premium), Sunday warmup, 8:45 a.m. (Peacock Premium)
QUALIFYING: Saturday, 12:30 p.m. (Peacock Premium)
TIRE ALLOTMENT: Six sets primary, four sets alternate. One additional set is available to rookie drivers for use in the Friday afternoon practice session. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.
PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum single duration of 15 seconds. The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.
FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 73 degrees with a 3% chance of rain at the green flag.
ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 26 cars entered at St. Petersburg
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST PETERSBURG WEEKEND START TIMES
(All times are Eastern)
Thursday, Feb. 24
9 a.m.: IndyCar garage open
9-10 a.m.: Track walk
12:10-12:40 p.m.: Mazda MX-5 Cup practice
2-2:45 p.m.: GT America practice
3-3:30 p.m.: Indy Pro 2000 practice
3:45-4:15 p.m.: USF2000 practice
4:30-5 p.m.: Mazda MX-5 Cup practice
5:15-6 p.m.: GT America practice
6 p.m.: IndyCar garage closes
Friday, Feb. 25
7:45-8:15 a.m.: Indy Pro 2000 qualifying
8:30-8:45 a.m.: GT America qualifying, Race 1
8:50-9:05 a.m.: GT America qualifying, Race 2
9 a.m.: IndyCar garage opens
9:20-9:50 a.m.: USF2000 qualifying, Race 1
10:05-10:50 a.m.: Indy Lights practice
11:05-11:25 a.m.: Mazda MX-5 Cup qualifying
11:40 a.m.-12:25 p.m.: Indy Pro 2000 Race 1
12:40-1:25 p.m.: USF2000 Race 1
1:40-2:10 p.m.: Indy Lights qualifying
2:25-3:25 p.m.: GT America, Race 1
3:40-4:25 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series practice (Peacock)
4:40-5:25 p.m.: Mazda MX-5 Cup, Race 1
5:40-6:10 p.m.: Indy Lights practice
6 p.m.: IndyCar garage closes
Saturday, Feb. 26
6 a.m.: IndyCar garage opens
8-8:45 a.m.: Indy Pro 2000, Race 2
9-9:45 a.m.: NTT IndyCar Series practice (Peacock)
10-10:45 a.m.: Mazda MX-5 Cup, Race 2
11 a.m.-noon: GT America, Race 2
12:30-1:45 p.m.: NTT IndyCar Series qualifying (Peacock)
4:45 p.m.: IndyCar garage closes
Sunday, Feb. 27
6 a.m.: IndyCar garage opens
8:45-9:15 a.m.: NTT IndyCar Series warmup (Peacock)
9:30-10:30 a.m.: Indy Lights race (Peacock)
10:45-11:25 a.m.: USF2000, Race 2
11:50 a.m.: NTT IndyCar Series driver introductions
12:30 p.m.: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (100 laps, NBC)
COVERAGE ON NBCSPORTS.COM
Viewer’s guide to the 2022 season and St. Petersburg opener
Romain Grosjean’s shift to Andretti highlights driver moves in 2022
Meet the diverse 2022 rookie class
Ovals should come naturally for Jimmie Johnson
“Big Three” will face stiffer competition for championship
Alexander Rossi says fast start is key for contract year
HOW TO WATCH INDYCAR IN 2022: Full NBC Sports schedule
