Today’s Schedule:

All Times Eastern. Warmup and Indy NXT race on FS1. IndyCar race on FOX with pre race beginning at noon.

After 167 long days, IndyCar races again this afternoon with the 21st Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Drivers predictions for the race range from interesting to chaotic. Tires are the major concern. Firestone has created the wider gap between alternates and primary tires that the series requested. Some drivers aren’t sure the alternates can last a full fuel stint, and others say the primaries are degrading faster than usual.

Marbles could be an issue on track andfit should be fun for the fans watching how the different strategies play out.

Pato O’Ward will be coming from 23rd and will have to pick his way through field to get to the front. Will Power in 13th will be another driver to watch.

In the end, I like Colton Herta to end up in Victory Lane.

FOX Debut

FOX begins its coverage of IndyCar today. I am eager to see the replay later this week. I watched the replay of qualifying last ight, and I liked much of what I saw, but the still have some work to do.

I thought the booth was great. Will Buxton did a fine job, an James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell seemed to have stepped their game a notch too. I really like the telemetry graphic, which appeared as a faux dashboard. I like that it showed the car’s track location and he distance to the next turn. The driver portraits were a nice touch, although some were a bit cartoonish.

I thought Jack Harvey had a fine debut as a pit reporter. I could sense his nervousness, and he asked safe but good questions. I’m sure he will grow into the role and relax as the season goes along, but he is off to a great start.

For qualifying FOX needs to indicate which tire a driver is using, and also display the pace in comparison to other drivers. The scoring pylon wasn’t even on during McLaughlin’s last lap in the Fast Six. I wanted to see if he was on track to get the pole.

I will be back later with warm up results and tire selections in a bit, then a quick race summary after the race. Look for a more detailed analysis tomorrow.