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IndyCar: Who won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg?

By Eric Treuden

Chip Ganassi Racing driver Marcus Ericsson (8) of Sweden drives during qualifying for the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022.Nashgrandprix D2 080622 An 023
Chip Ganassi Racing driver Marcus Ericsson (8) of Sweden drives during qualifying for the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022.Nashgrandprix D2 080622 An 023 /
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The IndyCar Series opener at St. Petersburg is finally here. Who won the race?

At long last, the 2023 IndyCar Series season is upon us.

Defending champion Will Power entered the race looking to improve on a third-place finish at last year’s season opener and Scott McLaughlin, last year’s winner, was looking to make it two in a row.

36-year-old Romain Grosjean won the pole with Colton Herta, Pato O’Ward, Marcus Ericsson, Kyle Kirkwood and McLaughlin rounding out the top five.

The series has four full-time rookies in the field; Benjamin Pedersen (AJ Foyt Racing), Marcus Armstrong (Chip Ganassi Racing), Agustín Canapino (Juncos Hollinger Racing) and Sting Ray Robb (Dale Coyne Racing w/Rick Ware Racing).

IndyCar: Who won the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg?

The race was everything a fan of the IndyCar Series could hope for. There was a ton of passing, clashing and crashing. Two cars went airborne and a driver was sent to the local hospital (Jack Harvey, who is in stable condition).

Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin were two of the dominant cars in the field, however, they could not seem to stay away from the other and ultimately wrecked racing for the lead with just 27 laps to go in the event.

At the end of the day, 32-year-old Marcus Ericsson from Kumla, Sweden, took home the trophy. He made a late pass on Pato O’Ward and is coming off of two years in a row with a sixth-place finish in the standings, winning for the fourth time in his career.

O’Ward and six-time series champ Scott Dixon also earned podium finishes behind Ericsson.

Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg results

  1. Marcus Ericsson
  2. Pato O’Ward
  3. Scott Dixon
  4. Alexander Rossi
  5. Callum Ilott
  6. Graham Rahal
  7. Will Power
  8. Alex Palou
  9. Christian Lundgaard
  10. David Malukas
  11. Marcus Armstrong
  12. Agustín Canapino
  13. Scott McLaughlin
  14. Conor Daly
  15. Kyle Kirkwood
  16. Sting Ray Robb
  17. Josef Newgarden
  18. Romain Grosjean (OUT – Accident)
  19. Felix Rosenqvist
  20. Colton Herta (OUT – Accident)
  21. Rinus VeeKay (OUT – Accident)
  22. Jack Harvey  (OUT – Accident)
  23. Helio Castroneves  (OUT – Accident)
  24. Santino Ferrucci  (OUT – Accident)
  25. Devlin DeFrancesco  (OUT – Accident)
  26. Simon Pagenaud  (OUT – Accident)
  27. Benjamin Pedersen  (OUT – Accident)