ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WSVN) — Fans packed the stands over the weekend, for the IndyCar Series Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
It was a big victory for reigning champion Alex Palou.
Confetti covered the 28-year-old racer Sunday after winning the race for a second year in a row.
“There’s a lot of stuff that needs to happen for you to win an IndyCar race nowadays,” said Palou. “You need to have the car, the team, the crew, like you need to have the perfect strategy, some luck, and we got everything today.”
Palou, along with 24 other IndyCar drivers, raced in front of a large crowd for the season opener of the NTT IndyCar Series.
“You can smell the fuel, you feel the wind rush by as the cars go by,” said racing fan Don Webb.
The race was a 1.8-mile street course that was 100 laps with 14 turns.
“This is my first of four races this year, it’s my third St. Pete race,” said a fan.
That Palou fan stood feet away from his favorite driver, who signed autographs before the start of the race.
They were then off for a thrilling race filled with pit stops, cautions and incidents that ended the race early for some.
But all everyone could talk about is number 10 and his return to Victory Circle.
“It’s been a tremendous start of the season, very early on, but we could not have started on a better note, so yeah, I’m super happy, super pumped, and we’re back,” said Palou.
When asked how this race sets the tone for the rest of the season for him and his team, Palou replied, “I mean, it’s going to give us some momentum, but at the same time, we have another race in a couple days, like, it’s coming up quick so, although we need to enjoy this one, because wins don’t come very often, we need to start focusing on Phoenix as soon as we wake up tomorrow.”
No rest for him, as that next race is taking place Saturday.
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