IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Pete: How to watch, start times, TV, schedules, streaming Daytona Supercross by the numbers: Is Eli Tomac untouchable?

IndyCar start time in St. Petersburg: The NTT IndyCar Series begins roaring Sunday 2023 on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida with a tight grid and season opening schedule.

27 cars were entered, which is a record for St. Petersburg (26 best last year, as well as in 2012 and 2008). It is the largest opener field since 2001 (when the Indy Racing League had 27 in Phoenix and the CART had 28 in Monterrey, Mexico).

Arrow McLaren (with Alexander Rossi from Andretti Autosport) and Juncos Hollinger Racing (with Argentine rookie Agustín Canapino) have added stock cars this season.

Scott McLaughlin enters St. Petersburg as the reigning race winner (his first career win was the first of three in IndyCar’s second season last year). Simon Pagenaud of Meyer Shank Racing starts on Sunday for his 200th time, which puts him in 27th place overall along with Raoul Bösel.

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon will start 369th (tying A.J. Foyt for fourth on the all-time list) in pursuit of his first win at St. Pete (where he was runner-up four times).

In addition to Canapino, Marcus Armstrong, Benjamin Pedersen and Sting Ray Robb will make their IndyCar debut on Sunday.

Here are IndyCar details and start times for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Pete (all times are ET):

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FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST PETE START TIMES

TV: Sunday noon ET on NBC and broadcast on Peacock. NBC Sports app and NBCSports.com. Lee Diffie is the announcer along with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe (whose first career IndyCar victory came in St. Petersburg 10 years ago).

. Marty Snyder, Kevin Lee and Dave Burns are reporters. Telemundo Deportes on Universo will host a TV broadcast in Spanish. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.

Peacock will also be broadcasting both practice sessions as well as Indy NXT qualifiers and races. (Click here to find out how to register with Peacock.)

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 12:23 pm ET

GREEN FLAG: 12:30 pm ET

LAST SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race is over, Peacock will air an exclusive post-race show with driver interviews, post-race analysis and a podium presentation. To watch the extended show after the race, click on the special post-race broadcast on Peacock.

Peacock will also be broadcasting practices and qualifications.

INDICAR RADIO NETWORK: IndyCar and Indy Lights races, as well as all practice and qualifying races, will be streamed live on SiriusXM 160 network affiliates, racecontrol.indycar.com and the IndyCar app.

EXERCISE: Friday, 15:00 (Premium Peacock); Saturday, 10:00 am (Premium Peacock), warm-up on Sunday, 9:00 am (Premium Peacock)

QUALIFICATION: Saturday, 2:15 pm (Peacock Premium)

RACE DISTANCE: The race consists of 100 laps (180 miles) on a 14-turn, 2.8-mile street course through downtown St. Petersburg, Florida, including the Albert Whitted Airport runway.

PURPOSE OF TIRES: Six sets of main, five alternating. One additional kit is available for beginner riders to use during Friday afternoon practice sessions. Teams must use one set of main tires and one set of new (labeled) spare tires for at least two laps of the race.

CLICK TO GO: 150 seconds total time with a maximum single duration of 15 seconds. A pass is not possible at the initial start or any restart, unless it occurs in the last two laps or three minutes of the time trial. This feature increases engine power by about 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it is expected to be 76 degrees with a 3% chance of rain on a green flag.

LIST OF INPUTS: Click here to see the 27 cars featured in the IndyCar season opener.

INDY NXT INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS LIST: Click here to see 19 vehicles.

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FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST PETE WEEKEND START TIME

(All times eastern)

Thursday, March 2

9:00-17:00: Indy NXT Garage Opening

Noon-17:00: Indy NXT Technology

Friday, March 3

8:30–17:30: Indy NXT Garage Opening

9:00-18:00: IndyCar garage open

10:00-15:00: Technology IndyCar

7:50-8:20 am: Practice MX5

8:35-9:20: Practice GT America

9:35-10:10: USF Pro 2000 Practice

10:25-11:00 USF2000 practice

11:15-11:45: Practice MX5

11:30: IndyCar pilot, team meeting

Noon-12:25: Practice GT America

12:30-12:45: GT America Qualifier

13:00–13:30: USF Pro 2000 Qualifier

13:55–14:40: Indie NXT practice

15-16:15: IndyCar Practice (Peacock Premium)

16:30-17:00: USF2000 qualification

17:15-17:35: MX5 qualification

17:55-18:35: Race GT America 1

Saturday, March 4

6:00–16:30: Indy NXT Garage Opening

7am-noon: Indy NXT Technology

7:00-18:00: IndyCar garage open

8:00-12:30: Technology IndyCar

7:55-8:40 am: MX5 Race 1

9-9:45: Indie NXT practice

10-11 am: IndyCar Practice (Peacock Premium)

11:15-noon: USF Pro 2000 Race 1

12:15-13:15: Race GT America 2

13:35–13:55: Indie NXT Qualifier

14:15-15:30: IndyCar Qualification (Peacock Premium)

15:45-16:30: USF2000 Race 1

16:45-17:30: MX5 Race 2

Sunday, March 5

6 a.m: IndyCar garage opens

6:30: Indy NXT Garage Opened

7 am: Technology IndyCar

7:30 am: Indy NXT Technology

8-8:45 am: USF2000 Race 2

9-9:30: Warm-up IndyCar (Peacock Premium)

10-10:55: Indie NXT (Peacock Premium)

12:30 pm: Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg (NBC)

3pm: USF Pro 2000 Race 2

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HOW TO WATCH INDYCAR IN 2023: Full schedule of NBC Sports

Daytona Monster Energy Supercross numbers suggest Eli Tomac could be practically untouchable after winning six of the last seven races on this route, including the last four in a row.

For years, Ricky Carmichael’s five Daytona Supercross wins were thought to stand the test of time until Tomac equaled five in 2021. Tomac single-handedly took the record last year with his sixth win, and now there’s a chance history could repeat itself. this weekend. Tomac set another Carmichael record in Oakland with his 48th Stadium Series win and could push this rider back to position if he can score a fifth straight win at this motocross-mixed Supercross track.

How likely is this? Tomac tripped twice in 2023 ahead of Arlington and came back with the win each time. His sixth place in the second race in Anaheim was followed by a victory in Houston. Tomac defended the points lead the following week with a safe race in Tampa. He won the next round in Oakland.

Last week there was another uncharacteristic finish for Tomac. He was on the podium, but a rare tunnel jump crash while he was leading race three of the Arlington Triple Crown allowed Cooper Webb to close within two points of her. Webb has yet to win at Daytona, but last year he led 15 of 18 laps to finish second. Just as importantly, he has been on the Daytona podium in each of his five starts.

Third-place finisher Chase Sexton will make his third appearance at Dayton after finishing last on the podium last year.

It’s fair to bet that these three riders can get back on the podium because they’ve teamed up for 16 of the 21 podiums available so far in 2023. With six, Sexton is ahead of Tomac and Webb, who each have five.

Webb and Sexton remain the only riders to finish in the top five in the first seven rounds.

A rider leaving Daytona will have a clear advantage as the series approaches the middle. The points leader after this race won the title 78% of the time. Supercross statistician Clinton Fowler of Three Laps Down. Since 1990, the leader after Daytona has 88 percent of championship wins. The latest exception belongs to Ken Roczen in 2021, when he was just two points clear of eventual champion Webb.

Notably, the current gap between Tomac and Webb this weekend is two points.

The five points between Tomac and third-placed Sexton are now the closest in history at this point in the season.

With so many new faces in the 250 East class, we’re used to seeing new winners every week, but Jordon Smith and Jeremy Martin would like to say something about it. Smith won at Daytona in 2018; Marin won in 2016. Both riders showed good results last year…