ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The party is revving up in downtown St. Petersburg, where an event kicked off the first Indycar race of the season. Hundreds of thousands of visitors are expected in the city, giving the community a chance to showcase the unique course through the city and next to the waterfront.
Local perspective:
Thursday evening, from 4-7 p.m., Firestone held a “Party in the Park,” where fans could see race cars up close, and chat with the drivers.
READ: Firestone Grand Prix expected to bring more than 100K fans to St. Pete this weekend
“Anyone who is into open-wheel racing loves anything that goes through city streets,” said a father and son fan-duo, Dan and Christopher, attending the event. “It’s like the American Monaco, so it’s just a really cool experience. You get to get up close and personal with the drivers.”
Dig deeper:
And there wasn’t a break in the fun. At 5 p.m., there was a 5K race where runners got the chance to run on the actual racetrack before the cars tear it up. The runners – slower than the racecars – but still breaking records. The winner finished in 15 minutes.
“The race was really cool. It was good running on the course. I feel tired. I ran Gasparilla too this weekend, but feels good,” said Trevor, the first-place finisher.
Fans are continuing to gear up for a fun weekend ahead.
“It’s really cool to watch from the stands, but the coolest experience is when you are arriving you can hear the cars from miles away, and up close actually seeing how fast they fly by… it’s a great experience,” said fans Dan and Christopher.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered through interviews with those attending Firestone Grand Prix festivities on Thursday.
WATCH FOX 13 NEWS:
STAY CONNECTED WITH FOX 13 TAMPA:
