The 2020 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was IndyCar Series event held on October 25, 2020. It made up the fourteenth and final round of the series' 2020 season. Will Power won pole for the race with Josef Newgarden taking victory. Scott Dixon finished third to secure his sixth IndyCar Series Championship, holding off Newgarden by 16 points.
Background
In a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic, the new Roger Penske-led IndyCar was forced to move the St. Petersburg Grand Prix from the season opener to the season finale. The race proved to be a championship-deciding showdown between Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden, the latter of which won the 2019 race and the former never having won at St. Petersburg. Dixon had to finish ninth or better to win the championship, while Newgarden had to both win the race and finish at least nine positions better than Dixon to clinch the championship.
Entrants
Team Penske announced that Scott McLaughlin, then the two-time reigning champion and active championship leader of Supercars Championship would make his IndyCar Series debut in the #3 car at St. Petersburg in the season finale. He became the first driver to drive the #3 car other than Hélio Castroneves since Will Power subbed for Castroneves at St. Pete on April 15, 2009. Leading up to the race, Penske confirmed McLaughlin would compete in IndyCar full-time in 2021 as the team expanded to four cars.
KeyMeaningRookiePast winner DriverTeamEngine1 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet3 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet4 Charlie Kimball A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet5 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet7 Oliver Askew Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet8 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda9 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda10 Felix Rosenqvist Chip Ganassi Racing Honda12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet14 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet15 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda18 Santino Ferrucci Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda20 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet21 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet22 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet26 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda28 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda30 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda55 Álex Palou Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda59 Max Chilton Carlin Chevrolet60 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda88 Colton Herta Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport Honda98 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian Honda
Practice
A single practice session was held on Saturday, October 24 at 10:55 AM ET.
+Top Practice SpeedsDriverTeamEngineLap Time188 Colton Herta Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 01:01.1306226 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda 01:01.2279355 Álex Palou Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda 01:10.3857 Source:
Qualifying Qualifying classification
Qualifying began at 3:05 PM ET on Saturday, October 24th. The field was split into two groups of twelve drivers, with the top 6 of each group progressing to the Fast 12. The top 6 of the Fast 12 proceeded to the Firestone Fast 6.
Driver Team Engine Time 1 12 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet 01:01.0369 1 2 27 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda 01:01.1730 2 3 88 Colton Herta Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport Honda 01:01.1815 3 Source:
Race
Josef Newgarden won his fourth race of the season from eighth place on the grid, while Scott Dixon finished third to secure his sixth IndyCar Series Championship. Although Penske's Will Power qualified for a record ninth pole at St. Petersburg, it was Andretti Autosport's Alexander Rossi who led most of the race before he suffered an unforced error and crashed into the walls. In the final stint, Newgarden managed to pass Pato O'Ward for the race lead, forcing the normally calm Dixon to drive aggressively into third position and finish there to win his sixth IndyCar championship.
Race classification Driver Team Engine Laps Time/Retired PitStops Grid LapsLed 11 Josef Newgarden Team Penske Chevrolet1002:06:12.5948282151 25 Pato O'Ward Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet1002:06:16.735726-40 39 Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda1002:06:18.7509211-35 414 Sébastien Bourdais A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet1002:06:20.008037-32 528 Ryan Hunter-Reay Andretti Autosport Honda1002:06:22.3477219-30 622 Simon Pagenaud Team Penske Chevrolet1002:06:23.1721212-28 78 Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda1002:06:23.6644315-26 84 Charlie Kimball A. J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet1002:06:28.4528220-24 915 Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda1002:06:28.9691217223 1030 Takuma Sato Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda1002:06:29.3696213-20 1188 Colton Herta Andretti Harding Steinbrenner Autosport Honda1002:06:36.809723920 1259 Max Chilton Carlin Chevrolet1002:06:43.0672324-18 1355 Álex Palou Dale Coyne Racing with Team Goh Honda1002:06:56.1739516118 1426 James Hinchcliffe Andretti Autosport Honda1002:07:16.660944217 1521 Rinus VeeKay Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet98+2 Laps49-15 167 Oliver Askew Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet98+2 Laps310-14 1720 Conor Daly Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet98+2 Laps514-13 1810 Felix Rosenqvist Chip Ganassi Racing Honda98+2 Laps522-12 1960 Jack Harvey Meyer Shank Racing Honda97+3 Laps35-11 2098 Marco Andretti Andretti Herta Autosport w/ Marco Andretti & Curb-Agajanian Honda74Contact323-10 2127 Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda69Contact226112 223 Scott McLaughlin Team Penske Chevrolet46Contact221-8 2318 Santino Ferrucci Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Honda40Contact118-7 2412 Will Power Team Penske Chevrolet35Contact1148Fastest lap: Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi Racing) – 01:01.2384 (lap 93) Source:
Championship standings after the race
By securing the championship, Scott Dixon became one of the few drivers to lead the IndyCar Series championship standings from the start of the season to its conclusion.
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points1 Scott Dixon5372 Josef Newgarden5213 Colton Herta4214 Pato O'Ward4165 Will Power396 Source:
Engine manufacturer standings Manufacturer Points1 Honda11222 Chevrolet1099 Point standings
Note: Only the top five positions are included.
References