ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) – The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is finally within reach. The race will serve as the season-opening race for the NTT IndyCar Series in March.
8 On Your Side’s Gabrielle Shirley spoke to two of the drivers on Tuesday morning. They are excited to start racing.
“It is a long offseason,” said 21-year-old Kyle Kirkwood of Jupiter, “so there is a lot of training that is involved especially for this track. It is typically the hottest and you are coming into a street course where you have to be on your game and, at the start of the season, it is tough so we do a lot of simulated work, a lot of training to make sure we are fit as drivers to come onto the street course and be ready.”
“To finally be here is surreal but it is calming at the same time,” added Oliver Askew, who is also from Jupiter, “because I have reached that goal I have been working towards for so long.”
Askew is a rookie driver. He will make his first full NTT IndyCar Series debut with Arrow McLaren SP this year in St. Petersburg.
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