IndyCar St. Pete start times: The NTT IndyCar Series roars into 2023 Sunday on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, with a packed grid and schedule for the season opener.
There are 27 cars entered, a record for St. Pete (topping 26 last year and in 2012 and ’08. Its the largest field for a season opener since 2001 (when the Indy Racing League had 27 at Phoenix, and CART had 28 at Monterrey, Mexico).
Arrow McLaren (with Alexander Rossi moving over From Andretti Autosport) and Juncos Hollinger Racing (with Argenine rookie Agustin Canapino) each have added full-time cars this season.
Scott McLaughlin enters St. Pete as the defending race winner (his inaugural career victory was the first of three in his second IndyCar season last year). Meyer Shank Racing’s Simon Pagenaud will be making his 200th start Sunday, tying him for 27th on the all-time list with Raul Boesel.
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon will be making his 369th start (tying A.J. Foyt for fourth on the all-time list) in pursuit of his first victory at St. Pete (where he has four runner-up finishes).
In addition to Canapino, Marcus Armstrong, Benjamin Pedersen and Sting Ray Robb will make their IndyCar debuts Sunday.
Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete race weekend (all times are ET):
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST PETE 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 (whose first career IndyCar victory came at St. Petersburg 10 years ago).
Marty Snider, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns are the pit reporters. Telemundo Deportes on Universo will provide a Spanish-language telecast. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.
Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying and Indy NXT races. (Click here for information on how to sign up for Peacock.)
COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 12:23 p.m. ET
GREEN FLAG: 12:30 p.m. ET
POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after the race ends.
Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for practices and qualifying.
INDYCAR RADIO NETWORK: The IndyCar and Indy Lights races and all practices and qualifying sessions will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the IndyCar app.
PRACTICE: Friday, 3 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 10 a.m. (Peacock Premium), Sunday warmup, 9 a.m. (Peacock Premium)
QUALIFYING: Saturday, 2:15 p.m. (Peacock Premium)
RACE 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
TIRE ALLOTMENT: Six sets primary, five 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 76 degrees with a 3% chance of rain at the green flag.
ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 27 cars entered in the IndyCar season opener
INDY NXT ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 19 cars entered
FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST PETE WEEKEND START TIMES
(All times are Eastern)
Thursday, March 2
9 a.m-5 p.m.: Indy NXT garage open
Noon-5 p.m.: Indy NXT tech
Friday, March 3
8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.: Indy NXT garage open
9 a.m.-6 p.m.: IndyCar garage open
10 a.m.-3 p.m.: IndyCar tech
7:50-8:20 a.m.: MX5 practice
8:35-9:20 a.m.: GT America practice
9:35-10:10 a.m.: USF Pro 2000 practice
10:25-11 a.m.: USF2000 practice
11:15-11:45 a.m.: MX5 practice
11:30 a.m.: IndyCar driver, team meeting
Noon-12:25 p.m.: GT America practice
12:30-12:45 p.m.: GT America qualifying
1-1:30 p.m.: USF Pro 2000 qualifying
1:55-2:40 p.m.: Indy NXT practice
3-4:15 p.m.: IndyCar practice (Peacock Premium)
4:30-5 p.m.: USF2000 qualifying
5:15-5:35 p.m.: MX5 qualifying
5:55-6:35 p.m.: GT America Race 1
Saturday, March 4
6 a.m.-4:30 p.m.: Indy NXT garage open
7 a.m.-noon: Indy NXT tech
7 a.m.-6 p.m.: IndyCar garage open
8 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: IndyCar tech
7:55-8:40 a.m.: MX5 Race 1
9-9:45 a.m.: Indy NXT practice
10-11 a.m.: IndyCar practice (Peacock Premium)
11:15 a.m.-noon: USF Pro 2000 Race 1
12:15-1:15 p.m.: GT America Race 2
1:35-1:55 p.m.: Indy NXT qualifying
2:15-3:30 p.m.: IndyCar qualifying (Peacock Premium)
3:45-4:30 p.m.: USF2000 Race 1
4:45-5:30 p.m.: MX5 Race 2
Sunday, March 5
6 a.m.: IndyCar garage opens
6:30 a.m.: Indy NXT garage opens
7 a.m.: IndyCar tech
7:30 a.m.: Indy NXT tech
8-8:45 a.m.: USF2000 Race 2
9-9:30 a.m.: IndyCar warmup (Peacock Premium)
10-10:55 a.m.: Indy NXT (Peacock Premium)
12:30 p.m.: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (NBC)
3 p.m.: USF Pro 2000 Race 2
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HOW TO WATCH INDYCAR IN 2023: Full NBC Sports schedule