By Joey Lachman
(Cars of the SRO GT of America class rounding turn one off the runway at Albert Whited Airport)
ST. PETERSBURG- The roar of racecars filled the air downtown Friday for the NTT IndyCar Series’ 20th Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Friday marked the first day of practice and the beginning of a picturesque race weekend. The first day of the race weekend is always an exciting one for fans, offering multiple racing classes on the track, open seating and autograph opportunities. It was hard for fans to keep smiles off their faces that morning as the roar of racecars tickled eardrums as they soared past. That’s the joy of going out to the track.
The automotive symphony began early around 9 a.m. as the GT class took to the track for practice. This class contains manufacturers such as Audi, Aston Martin, Porsche, Ford, Mclaren, and Toyota. One of the fan-favorite cars from this class was the Audi R8-LMS of James Sofronas. The No. 14 Audi was flying around the track every time you looked up. It was also hard to miss as the signature scream of the Audi’s normally aspirated V10 engine. “That car sounds like an angel singing mixed with a rocket ship taking off!” said 16-year-old James Young from Deerfield, Florida. His family made the four-hour drive to the track making them one of many families traveling from across the state to catch the big race weekend.
Later in the day, USF 2000 cars (Unites States Formula-Ford 2000) began to cruise the course. USF 2000 is one of the feeder series for IndyCar and features open-wheel racecars with drivers as young as 14. One of those 14-year-old drivers is the local boy Nikita Johnson from Gulfport. Johnson is the talk of the town leading into the race as he has a chance to earn his maiden victory of the series here at his home course. He showed much expertise in practice as he was in the top five of the time sheets. “It’s special to see a kid achieving his dreams, especially at the age he is, [Nikita] is an inspiration to all of us here in St. Pete,” said Theresa Hendricks, a family friend of Johnson’s.
And as if that were not enough, it was time for IndyCar practice, really turning the volume up to max on the city streets. The IndyCars were a sight to see boasting an ear-popping 650 horsepower and reaching speeds of up to 109 mph on the downtown streets of St. Pete. This weekend will also see the largest field of IndyCars as the field expands to 27 drivers for the season-opener. Scott Dixon would top the timesheet in the first practice before Colton Herta would surpass Dixon for the fastest time in practice session two.
The evening was capped off with a sprint race of the GT America cars as the sunset on the first day of race festivities. The aforementioned fan favorite Sofronas would challenge for the lead all race breathing down the neck of leader Jason Daskalos at every corner. The fans anxiously awaited the pair to blow past every lap, listening to the loudspeaker and wondering if the Audi of Sofronas would overtake the Mercedes of Daskalos. Try as he might the Audi of Sofronas could not catch up and Jason Daskalos, who won the first GT America Race of the weekend. A hair-raising, edge-of-your-grandstand-seat kind of race.
Friday was a day of boisterous excitement for fans and teams as the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg began, marking the beginning of a new racing season.
Love it! Excellent journalism Joey!