IndyCar: Entry list for the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg

The 2020 NTT IndyCar Series will begin with its highest car count for the season opener in eight years.

There are 26 cars on the entry list for Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg with an even split of 13 Chevrolets and 13 Hondas.

It ties a record for the largest field in the race that will open the IndyCar season for the 10th consecutive season.

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There have been 26 cars in twice before at St. Petersburg (2012 and ’08). There were 24 cars entered in each of the past two IndyCar races at St. Petersburg.

Click here to view the entry list for the 17th Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersbu rg.

Among the notables in the field:

Defending series champion Josef Newgarden also is the defending winner of the 100-lap race on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn course through downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.
Will Power won the pole position last year, one nine poles in the past 13 races at St. Pete for Team Penske.
Five-time series champion Scott Dixon is seeking his first victory on the circuit where he has four runner-up finishes (including last year).
There are five rookies entered, and four – Oliver Askew, Felipe Nasr, Alex Palou and Rinus VeeKay — will make their IndyCar debuts this weekend.

There will be two practice sessions Saturday at 9:45 a.m. ET and 1:30 p.m. ET. Qualifying is at 4:45 p.m. ET Saturday. All IndyCar practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on NBC Sports Gold.

The race will begin at 3:30 p.m. ET Sunday. NBCSN will carry the race broadcast, starting at 2:30 p.m. ET.

In a continuing effort to help fans keep track of the on track action, SuperMotocross is in the process of developing and implementing leader lights for the unified series.

Currently Supercross (SMX) utilizes stanchions in the infield that are triggered manually by a race official. At least two stanchions are used in each race as a way to draw the eye to the leader, which is especially useful in the tight confines of the stadium series when lapping often begins before the halfway mark in the 22-bike field. This system has been in place for the past two decades.

Later this year, a fully automated system will move to the bike itself to replace the old system. At that point, fans will be able to identify the leader regardless of where he is on track.

The leader lights were tested in the second Anaheim round this year. An example can be seen at the 1:45 mark in the video above on the No. 69 bike.

“What we don’t want to do is move too fast, where it’s confusing to people,” said Mike Muye, senior director of operations for Supercross and SMX in a press release. “We’ve really just focused on the leader at this point with the thought that maybe down the road we’ll introduce others.”

Scheduled to debut with the first SuperMotocross World Championship race at zMax Dragway, located just outside the Charlotte Motor Speedway, a 3D carbon fiber-printed LED light will be affixed to each motorcycle. Ten timing loops positioned around the track will trigger the lights of the leader, which will turn green.

SMX’s partner LiveTime Scoring helped develop and implement the system that has been tested in some form or fashion since 2019.

When the leader lights are successfully deployed, SuperMotocross will explore expanding the system to identify the second- and third-place riders. Depending on need and fan acceptance, more positions could be added.

SuperMotocross is exploring future enhancements, including allowing for live fan interaction with the lights and ways to use the lighting system during the race’s opening ceremony.

Entry list for the IndyCar Series’ 2020 season opener at St. Petersburg

SuperMotocross set to introduce Leader Lights beginning with the World Championship finals

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