Streets of St. Petersburg

Lore & Background

The inaugural 1985 event was organized by William T. McVey, president of the McBri Corporation in Tampa, Florida and a member of IMSA and the SCCA. The SCCA Trans-Am Series held a race on a St. Petersburg downtown waterfront circuit from 1985 to 1990. Can-Am also competed in 1985. Local residents and businesses complained about noise, and the event was eventually put on hiatus. Driver Jim Fitzgerald was killed in a crash during the 1987 race. From 1996 to 1997, the St. Petersburg race was revived on a different course around Tropicana Field. Along with the Trans-Am Series, support races included USF2000, Speed World Challenge, Pro SRF and Barber Dodge. The event subsequently went again on hiatus for several years. In 2003, the event was revived again for the CART Championship Series. A new, modified version of the original 1985 waterfront circuit was created. For 2004, the event was cancelled due to a dispute between the promoters, furthermore, the bankruptcy and liquidation of the CART series into the new Champ Car World Series saw a shakeup of the calendar. When the race returned in 2005, it switched to the IndyCar Series, marking the first non-oval event for the Indy Racing League. In 2007, the race weekend was expanded to include an American Le Mans Series event. In 2026, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series joined IndyCar with their own event.

In Their Own Story

The air tasted of hot tar and diesel. Marcus pulled his cap low and pressed his back against the concrete barrier, the vibration already humming through his spine. Three rows of fans packed the grandstand behind him, a wall of noise that swelled and dropped with each passing car. The first IndyCar of the day roared down the bay straight, its turbo whining like a held breath released, and for a half-second the whole street shook. Then it was gone, swallowed by the tight left-hander where the buildings leaned in so close you could almost touch the signage. A kid beside him—maybe twelve, maybe fifteen—was screaming, not at the car, but at the idea of it, the sheer improbability that a machine that fast could be threading a needle made of city blocks. Marcus smiled. He had come every year since the first one. The season was open. The year was real again.

Reader's Guide

The Streets of St. Petersburg course is a street circuit connecting existing roads with one of the two runways of Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg, Florida. It also dips into the parking lot at Al Lang Stadium. St. Petersburg is classified as an FIA Grade Two circuit. The original 1985 Trans-Am course utilized a similar layout to the course used today. For the first year the track actually ran out to the pier, made a 180 degree turn and returned. At the end of Bayshore Drive, rather than diverting off to the airport runways, the course circled around 5th Avenue Southeast around Bayfront Arena, and the start/finish line was located just south of the paddock (the parking lot of Bayfront Arena). In addition, the old course traveled further up Beach Drive Northeast, all the way to 5th Avenue Northeast. 5th Ave. NE was a very narrow segment. The course came south down Bayshore Drive Northeast, and passed by The Pier. The second course at Tropicana Field was located about a mile west of the waterfront location. The circuit used the roads around the perimeter of the parking lot of the stadium. When the course was reconfigured, the northbound segment turned at Central Avenue instead, and did not go as far as The Pier. The pits and main straight were moved to the airport, and a purpose-built paddock area was paved next to the runway. The Albert Whitted Park was reconfigured/relocated, and the entire course layout was repaved. The pits and paddock areas, as well as link from Dan Wheldon Way to the airport runway (turns 11, 12, and 13) were constructed specifically for the circuit in 2003, and are considered permanent features of the otherwise temporary circuit. After the crash at the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship that killed Snell Isle resident Dan Wheldon, who won the 2005 race and two Indianapolis 500 titles, the straight following Turn 10 (the turn from Bayshore Drive to Albert Whitted Park) was renamed 'Dan Wheldon Way' in his memory. The sign and commemorative plaque was unveiled by St. Petersburg mayor Bill Foster on March 6, 2012. A permanent Dan Wheldon Memorial is located next to the Salvador Dalí Museum on the opposite side of Turn 10, where race winners have their names placed on the memorial.

Did You Know?

• IndyCars first competed at this circuit in 2003.
• The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series first competed here in 2026.
• Driver Jim Fitzgerald was killed in a crash during the 1987 race.
• The straight following Turn 10 was renamed 'Dan Wheldon Way' in 2012 after Dan Wheldon, who won the 2005 race and two Indianapolis 500 titles.