Old faces in new places: Storylines from INDYCAR and NASCAR’s first day on the Streets of St. Petersburg

Jeffrey Hrunka - INDYCAR Contributor

Marvin Hernandez Jr. (Motorsports Today, 2026)

For many fans, the Streets of St. Petersburg have welcomed a refreshing change, with many drivers in new seats, the start of a three-race stretch, weather troubles and the addition of a new series on track. All the on-track action began on Friday, Feb. 27.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will race on a street course for the first time. It also marks NASCAR's first attempt at racing at the street circuit. However, for many NTT INDYCAR SERIES fans who are new to watching the series, the crossover weekends have allowed for unexpected names to appear in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series’ entry list.

Four-time INDYCAR champion Dario Franchitti and eight-time INDYCAR winner James Hinchcliffe will take to the track. Their experience around St. Petersburg is expected to give them an advantage. They will make their starts with two of the series’ premier teams, as Franchitti and Hinchflfe will pilot the No. 1 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra and the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado, respectively.

Road course ace Colin Braun will make his return to the series after a 15-year hiatus in Kaulig Racing’s “Free Agent Truck”, piloting the No.25 Ram 1500, to round out a loaded field. One of the biggest concerns entering the weekend was how the Firestone rubber, used by both the INDYCAR and INDY NXT SERIES, would react to the Goodyear rubber used by the truck series. Fans will have to wait until Saturday when the crossover starts to take shape.

Several drivers had mixed feelings on the matter.

“It does make it a little bit interesting on the tire rubber side of things, with our rubber not necessarily meshing with their rubber,” Kyffin Simpson, driver of the No.8 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, said.” I don't know what it’s like for [the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series], but for us it can be a little bit of an issue… It’s just another element that makes it interesting.”

“They’ve repaved a good part of this track too…I just think any rubber that’s laid down will be pretty good,” Santino Ferrucci, driver of the A.J Foyt Racing No.14 Chevrolet, said. “The best rubber for us to go after is the Indy NXT rubber, but even after that, and we run on it a little bit, it gets worse for us.”

Rain is set to hit the circuit sporadically throughout Friday and early Saturday, Feb. 28. While NASCAR’s integration has already introduced some unpredictability, weather should set back teams by a session or two as they prepare setups. All three series are set to have rain interfere with each of their qualifying sessions.

Over the offseason, there were several changes to teams on the grid and to the INDYCAR schedule. The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will mark the start of a three-race streak, for a total of four in March.

“Getting into that flow of the season, it’s almost like riding a wave, you just ride out the wave until the end of the month,” Rinus VeeKay, driver of the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, said. “I think it’s going to be very good for the series to have back-to-back weekends to keep everybody engaged.”

This strays from the typical slow start to the season as the series looks to carry its momentum from its season-opening race to its return to Phoenix Raceway and the new street course around AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“You’re going to have five or six races done by April,”  Graham Rahal, driver of the No.15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda, said. “Ithink it’s good to get the season going rather than ‘start, stop, start, stop”

Then, the weekend’s typical talking point revolved around all the driver changes over the offseason, which are several. The two biggest moves over the offseason were Will Power to Andretti and David Malukas filling that seat at Team Penske. 

“I didn’t know much about Dave [Malukas] and we’ve had our ups and downs… we’ve honestly worked really well together, and I’ve enjoyed having him on board,” Scott McLaughlin, driver of the No.3 Team Penske Chevrolet, said.

“It’s been great so far, he’s one of the legends of the sport and super fast.” Marcus Ericsson, driver of the No.28 Andretti Global Honda, had to say about Will Power. “He’s already had some really good ideas on how to set up the cars… I think that’s really going to drive the team forward.”

However, several others went under the radar, such as Rinus Veekay moving to Juncos Hollinger Racing and Romain Grosjean returning to the grid. Mick Schumacher, Dennis Hauger, and Caio Collett join the grid as INDYCAR’s three newest rookies for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Dale Coyne Racing and A.J Foyt Racing, respectively.

“I’ve been waking up pretty early every day myself just because I’m so eager to get going,” Dennis Hauger, driver of the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing Honda, said. “I can definitely feel it in my body that I just want to get out and drive.”

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES and  INDY NXT Series return to the track on Saturday, Feb. 28, on FS1 for each series respective practice and qualifying sessions. The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series makes its street course debut in the Only Bulls Green Flag 150 at St. Petersburg on FOX.