The 2023 NTT IndyCar Series season gets underway this weekend with the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg presented by RP Funding. There are a number of things that fans should look out for this weekend.
- Can anyone stop Chip Ganassi Racing and Team Penske this season? The teams have ten NTT IndyCar Series titles between them, six for Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon, while it is two titles each for Josef Newgarden and Will Power.
- Can Scott Dixon and the No.9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda team score their maiden Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg presented by RP Funding victory this weekend?
- Can Will Power make it to 70 career NTT P1 Awards this season? The defending NTT IndyCar Series champion is the all-time P1 winner in the history of the sport, having passed legend Mario Andretti last season.
As with all street courses on the 2023 schedule, the Firestone Firehawk alternate tire will be made with sustainable, domestically sourced guayule rubber. For the 2023 season, Firestone will supply more than 1,900 tires using a sidewall material made exclusively with rubber derived from the guayule woody desert shrub grown on the company’s own farm in Eloy, Arizona. The initiative builds on the 2022 competitive debut of guayule race tires at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville last August.
Four drivers will make their NTT IndyCar Series race debuts this weekend with Benjamin Pedersen driving the No.55 Sexton Properties AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet. Agustin Canapino will make his debut with Juncos Hollinger Racing. Marcus Armstrong will make his race debut with Chip Ganassi Racing in the No.11 Ridgeline Honda while Sting Ray Robb will make his race debut with Dale Coyne Racing with RWR.