St. Petersburg will be a Festival of Races

You gotta give it to the street races, they often have a zillion races on any given weekend. Why ovals don't do this, I have no idea. Maybe there are just more street-racing organizations. I'm no economist, but getting TEN races for your ticket price seems to be cooler than getting one or two. News release below from the St. Petersburg organizers outlining the Festival of Racing they have planned this year ...

Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg to feature record number of races in 2012
Ticket holders have access to 10 races including exotic car series and INDYCAR season starter

February 24, 2012 (St. Petersburg, FL) – Fans attending the Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg, March 23-25, will see a lot of green and checkered flags. Event organizers announce today that the weekend race will feature 10 races – a record for the event that is only in its eighth year. The on-track schedule for the Honda Grand Prix includes the much-anticipated season starter of the IZOD IndyCar Series and will add a new race to this year’s line-up: the Ferrari Challenge.

The event will also feature the Mazda Road to Indy, INDYCAR’s official developmental ladder system for drivers and teams seeking to compete in the IZOD IndyCar Series, which allows fans to see the future leaders of the sport along with the current champions Dario Franchitti, Will Power, Tony Kanaan and former St. Pete winners Helio Castroneves, Graham Rahal and Ryan Briscoe. The ladder system includes Firestone Indy Lights, Star Mazda Championship and the USF2000 National Championship. The Pirelli World Challenge rounds out the competition with a double-header weekend featuring the Acura Sports Car Challenge of St. Petersburg and three returning classes of racing, GT, GTS and Touring Car, along with the introduction of the new Touring Car B-Spec class.

“Race fans in St. Petersburg expect the best and so we’ve been hard at work securing the most entertaining lineup in racing,” said Tim Ramsberger, Vice President and General Manager for the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. “Staging 10 races is a record high for us and we’re excited to be bringing our fans the best on-track schedule yet. This year, our event will deliver the perfect mix of superstar drivers, fierce competitors and promising young talent, you will not want to miss it.”

On-track schedule:

 

Friday, March 23	Saturday, March 24	Sunday, March 25
IZOD IndyCar Series practice	IZOD IndyCar Series practice, qualifying	IZOD IndyCar Series warm-up, race
Firestone Indy Lights practice	Firestone Indy Lights qualifying, race	Pirelli World Challenge race #2
Star Mazda Series practice, qualifying	Pirelli World Challenge qualifying, race #1	Star Mazda race #2
USF2000 practice, qualifying	Star Mazda Series race #1	USF2000 race #2
Pirelli World Challenge practice	USF2000 race #1	Ferrari Challenge warm-up, race #2
Ferrari Challenge practice, qualifying #1	Ferrari Challenge race #1, qualifying #2

Tickets to the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg are on sale now and can be purchased online at www.gpstpete.com or by phone at 1-877-283-5385.

Comments

[redcar]

St. Pete's doing a great job.

As far as ovals, didn't Milwaukee offer quite a few support races last year?

Could one reason that street races (festivals) are doing better now is because you can watch, listen, wander, mingle, go to a restaurant or your hotel room at any time? It's an event, similar to the Superbowl party in downtown Indy. But at an oval you're sort of trapped in the country for a specific period, getting sunburnt and eating cold hot dogs, and are ready to go home after one race? (Okay--a bit of an exaggeration to make a point.)

[BRIAN MCKAY]

As redcar said, GPSP is doing a heck of a job since ALMS decided it didn't want to race in SP.

"a zillion races on any given weekend. Why ovals don't do this, I have no idea."

Ferrari World Challenge, Pirelli World Challenge, Continental Tires sports car series, Trans Am, and American Le Mans Series doesn't race on ovals. And North American Touring Car Championship didn't race on ovals.