7 IndyCar drivers to watch at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

ST. PETERSBURG — The IndyCar Series ends its six-month offseason Friday, when cars return to the track for the first practice session of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The three-day event culminates with IndyCar’s 100-lap season-opening race Sunday.

Here are seven drivers to watch at the 1.8-mile, 14-turn downtown street course.

Scott Dixon

The six-time series champion has won at 11 of the 15 tracks on this season’s schedule. Not St. Petersburg — despite the fact that he’s the only driver to compete in all 19 of its IndyCar events.

“I think that’s what inspires you at most places, to be honest,” Dixon said. “Sometimes defeat stings.”

He has, however, finished on the podium seven times and clinched his last IndyCar title here in the 2020 finale. Perhaps this will, finally, be the time his No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda pulls into the victory circle.

Colton Herta

Two years ago, the questions around Herta centered on how long he’d be in the series before moving to Formula One. Now they focus on how he can regain his status as a championship contender after back-to-back 10th-place finishes in points.

“I say Colton’s probably under more pressure than ever, because he’s the highest paid guy in the series and he’s got two proven IndyCar race winners in Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood as teammates,” NBC analyst Townsend Bell said.

Last year was Herta’s worst: zero wins and only one podium finish. But the 23-year-old former Belleair resident won here in 2021 and is on a team (Andretti Global) that has won the pole in two of the last three years.

“It definitely fills you with confidence going into a race you know you’ve had success at in the past,” Herta said. “You still have to execute and do everything right.”

Alex Palou

The Spaniard won his second series title last season, but that’s not the interesting part. There’s litigation around Palou, who initially was going to switch to Arrow McLaren with a potential path toward an F1 ride. A drawn-out contractual dispute followed and kept Palou at another power team (Ganassi). Can he use the Grand Prix as a springboard to a successful season — and, perhaps, more F1 interest?

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Pato O’Ward

The 24-year-old Mexican benefitted from Palou’s messy situation by securing an extension to stay with Arrow McLaren. O’Ward has finished in the top four in points in three of the last four seasons. He has four career victories in the series and a pair of runnerup finishes at the Grand Prix. Don’t be surprised if he challenges for the win this weekend.

Marcus Ericsson

The 33-year-old Swede earned his fourth IndyCar victory at last year’s Grand Prix. Since then, he has switched teams, going from one big name (Ganassi) to another (Andretti Global).

“It’s an exciting challenge for me to change teams,” Ericsson said. “Andretti, it’s a legendary team. To drive for the Andretti family is definitely very special.”

We’ll see if he can help Andretti break through for its first series title in a dozen years.

Will Power

All three Team Penske drivers — Power, Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin — have won the Grand Prix, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see any of them win it this year, either. But we’re focusing on Power because the two-time series champion failed to win a race last year for the first time since 2006. St. Petersburg is a good track for the Australia native (two wins, six podiums and eight poles), which means it’s a good chance for him to put last year behind him.

Christian Lundgaard

If you’re looking for someone outside the usual suspects, Bell suggests IndyCar’s 2022 rookie of the year. The 22-year-old Danish driver earned the pole at Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course and won from the pole at Toronto (which, like the Grand Prix, is a temporary street course).

“He’s capable,” Bell said of the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver. “They’ve figured out how to provide him the setup that he needs. They should be strong to start the season.”