INDYCAR: Scott Dixon and Colton Herta Top Opening Practice Session at St Petersburg

Scott Dixon led the opening practice session for the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg.

The 2023 INDYCAR season begins this weekend on the streets of St Petersburg.

Teams and drivers were finally able to hit the track today for the first practice session of the season. Race weekend has arrived as 27 cars hit the streets of St Petersburg. Nearly half of those cars had some sort of on-track issue, consisting of either spins or wall taps that brought out several red flags throughout the session.

Scott Dixon was fastest in practice, laying down the quickest lap of the session in the final minutes. “The first session was a little messy,” Dixon said. “The session ran really long, an hour and 15 minutes, which was good. A couple sets of tires for most of the field. We ended up at the top, which is a nice way to start the weekend. Now the tough part is trying to stay there.”

Colton Herta, who led a 1-2-3 for Andretti Autosport late in practice, held on to finish 2nd with Dixon’s teammate Alex Palou completing the top three. It was a rough afternoon for RLL Racing, as Christian Lundgaard and Graham Rahal (25th, 26th) had several issues with their cars. Defending race winner Scott McLaughlin found the wall twice during practice, bending the toe link on his Chevrolet.

The 20th edition of the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg opens the 2023 campaign with storylines around every turn.

Team Penske has their sights set on another title, as Will Power enters the year as the reigning champion. The all-time leader in poles certainly knows his way around this street course. Power has nine poles at St Pete, and no other driver has more than one. He has led the most laps (269) here and has started on the front row 12 times. Penske cars were 8th, 10th, and 22nd in practice today.

One driver that has not been to victory lane here is Dixon. The six-time series champion has six podiums and 120 laps led in this event, but has been a bridesmaid four times. Alexander Rossi is another driver searching for his first win at St Pete. After finishing 20th or worse in his last three starts here, the 2016 Indy 500 winner will make his first start with the Arrow McLaren team, but was 21st on the timing sheet today.

All eyes will be on Penske and Ganassi this weekend but the real focus should be on Andretti. Herta is the only driver in that stable that has ever won an IndyCar race. Romain Grosjean and Kyle Kirkwood could finally break out and snatch their first win, or the team could be in for another disappointing season. In today’s early returns, it looks like it could be a solid weekend for Michael Andretti’s group.

The Rookie of the Year battle will be interesting to watch as the season unfolds. The contenders are Benjamin Pedersen (Foyt), Agustin Canapino (Juncos), Marcus Armstrong (Ganassi), and Sting Ray Robb (Coyne). Armstrong will not be driving in the five oval events this season, as two-time Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato will take over the No. 10 Honda in those races.