By Susan Phillips
The great thing about this race was how well-attended it was. I saw a wide variety of fans—I don’t know if Florida just loves a chance to gather and party or this is a well-established race that always draws a crowd. I did not see this from a fan’s perspective—finding a place to park in the downtown area, getting to the venue, and all the other things involved with attending a race in the downtown area.
This will be somewhat abbreviated for a couple of reasons. First, I wrote about the race yesterday soon after it was over. Secondly, it is late Sunday night as I type this. We have a 9:30 am flight to catch and I’m tired. So this will be brief.
The 2019 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is in the books and Josef Newgarden was standing atop the podium after the first checkered flag of the new NTT IndyCar Season was waved.
Race Day started early for Mr. and Mrs. Oilpressure this morning. We had to be at the track early for the complimentary pace car ride offered to members of the media, which hard to believe – we qualify for. We had to be there at 7:30. With the time change, it was still dark when we got to the track. While standing in line, we met a longtime reader of this site named Steve from New Hampshire. He is a very knowledgeable fan an we had a great time talking to him. I would also like to mention another longtime reader we met yesterday – Paul and his wife, from nearby Sarasota, FL. They flagged us down when they spotted us. I always enjoy talking with people that have supported this site over the years.
Call this the first of the year jitters. Throughout the first three practices of the new 2019 NTT IndyCar Series season, it was hard to get a grasp as to who was struggling and who had the upper-hand. By the end of the day on Friday, it certainly appeared that this was not going to be the weekend for Team Penske. Felix Rosenqvist led the first practice, while Ryan Hunter-Reay led Practice Two. The highest placed Penske car on Friday was Josef Newgarden, who was seventh quick in Practice One and and ninth quick in Practice Two.
By Susan Phillips
We arrived in Tampa late-ish in the evening—we both had to work Thursday and had a mad dash to the airport during rush hour. We managed to do that without strangling each other—Oilpressure and I are both OCD, but in different ways. He is the “make it to the airport with plenty of time to spare kind” and I am the “do I have enough thread and needles to perform a minor medical procedure should one of us get a nasty cut?” kind of OCD. It often leads to overweight luggage and finding the closest, but most reasonably priced parking spot at the Nashville airport.
Good morning once again from the sunny and warm Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg! As much of a buzz as there was for a Friday morning practice yesterday, there is even more of a buzz this morning.
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