Tag: Firestone GP PRESENTED BY RP Funding

The Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding on the streets of St Petersburg in Florida takes place this weekend and is the opening race of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season.

The circuit is a temporary street circuit with construction beginning on January 31, 2022.

The venue will be torn down by March 22 with the race itself taking place on Sunday 27th February.

It typically takes 25 days for the race track to be built with the teardown being completed within two weeks of the end of the event.

An incredible 18,000 feet of steel-reinforced concrete block 12″ in length resulted in 20 million pounds of concrete being moved and 1,500 blocks placed into position with four concrete blocks per load.

More than 12,000 tires are used to construct the circuit’s tire walls. The front stretch is approxiamately 2,350 feet long.

The NTT IndyCar Series heads to the sunshine state in Florida for this weekend’s 2022 season-opening Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding.

The race this year will be like past events as for the first time since 2019, fans will be able to meet their favorite drivers and get autographs.

Temperatures this weekend will be in the region of 27 Degrees Celsius which is 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Firestone will bring a variety of their compounds this weekend which will be similar to the ones used here last season.

There will be a real carnival atmosphere at the Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding this weekend.

The race this weekend will feature a festival for fans which also have a fireworks display.

Arrow McLaren SP tweeted on Monday.

Taking our talents to the Sunshine State. ☀️#INDYCAR / #FirestoneGP pic.twitter.com/BIQnzpZYrh

— Arrow McLaren SP (@ArrowMcLarenSP) February 21, 2022

For more information on the Firestone GP presented by RP Funding click here.

The 2022 NTT IndyCar Series season gets underway next weekend with the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding in St Petersburg and while a lot of the talk leading up to the race has been about the established drivers and series veterans, this season there is a very talented rookie class.

First off, AJ Foyt Racing has undergone a restructuring over the off-season following an expansion of their partnership with ROKiT which has allowed the team to run three cars at road and street course events. Dalton Kellett returns for his third season with the team and is joined by the highly rated Tatiana Calderon, who has been extremely impressive in other forms of racing she has competed in and has shown great pace in getting up to speed with IndyCar and will make her race debut in St Pete.

Speaking to Paddock Eye last month, Calderon said that she was excited to get the opportunity to compete in the NTT IndyCar Series alongside Juan Pablo Montoya, one of her racing heroes from when she was growing up.

Montoya will compete in both the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis and the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge with Arrow McLaren SP in May.

Sticking with AJ Foyt Racing, Kyle Kirkwood will make his NTT IndyCar Series race debut with the team next weekend in St Pete having been crowned Indy Lights champion for 2021.

Canadian Devlin DeFrancesco will make his NTT IndyCar Series race debut in St Pete with Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport in the No.29 PowerTap Hydrogen Honda and speaking at the time of his announcement as an IndyCar driver he said:

“To get to race in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES with Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport and to contest the Indianapolis 500 is a dream come true and I’m so looking forward to getting started.”

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Christian Lundgaard made his series race debut with the team last season at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix of Nashville where he finished in 12th place.

Finally, David Malukas will make his NTT IndyCar Series race debut with Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports alongside Takuma Sato.

The Firestone Grand Prix presented by RP Funding takes place from February 25-27. For more information click here.