ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – One of the key members to the success of the annual NTT IndyCar season-opening race, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, is Mayor Rick Kriseman. He presides over one function to the next, serving as the top elected official of this Florida Gulf side community and welcoming INDYCAR to the Florida Gulf Coast.

For Kriseman, this is a great week to be Mayor of St. Pete.

“This week is huge for the city,” Mayor Kriseman told the NTT INDYCAR App. “We have tens of thousands of people from all over the country and the world that come to St. Pete to see the race and visit our city. Then, we have a three- to four-hour TV commercial about our city with the race.

“It’s huge. The economic impact to our city has been outstanding.”

The annual street race that incorporates city streets and the Albert Whitted Airport along the shores of Tampa Bay was first held in 2003 as part of the Champ Car Series schedule. It was not held in 2004 but was revived in 2005 as part of the current IndyCar Series.

It has been on the schedule ever since and has turned into one of the highlights of the season. It signals the beginning of another campaign of exciting NTT IndyCar Series action. It gives the teams based in Indianapolis a chance to get out of the bitter March chill and enjoy the sunshine and warm temperatures against a spectacular scenic backdrop.

The event has grown over the years and receives tremendous support from the Mayor’s office as well as other civic leaders in the community. Area businesses are also strong supporters of the event that kicks off the Spring Break season.

“The community has really embraced this race,” Kriseman said. “We have a whole program called ‘Embrace the Race’ working with our business community so that everybody in our community benefits from having the race here.

“We want the race to be successful and we want the businesses to be successful and I think we have accomplished that.”

It was former Mayor Rick Baker who envisioned having a street race in St. Petersburg in the early 2000s. His dream was realized in 2003. In 2005, it became an annual event.

“We wouldn’t have the race and if had not wanted to pursue it,” Kriseman said. “It’s been built on, every year since then and it has gotten better and better and better. We have great promoters and that makes a big difference.

“We have a great city team, but if you don’t have good guys running the race that know how to put a first-class operation together, it doesn’t happen.”

Green Savoree Promotions is the team that serves as track promoter and organizes the big race. Street races are very complicated and time consuming because of the barriers, fencing and grandstands that have to be built.

There is always a small part of any community that believes such events disrupt their daily lives and routine as streets are shut down and rerouting.

“The noise that we used to hear from some in the community has really gone away,” Kriseman said. “Part of it is as a city, we started ‘Embrace the Race’ about five years ago to involve the community and let people know, we are still open for business as this race is going on.

“The promoters have done a great job where the impact on the community is minimized. Setup is a shorter period of time and breakdown is a shorter period of time and the business community has really embraced this thing.”

The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has transformed this city.

St. Petersburg, Florida in the 1970s and 1980s didn’t have much going for it other than the weather and its location. Today, it is a vibrant city that has become one of Florida’s premier destinations for visitors and vacationers.

According to Kriseman, St. Petersburg has also turned into the No. 1 city for Millennials in Florida.

“Look at the city from when the race first came here and where we are today,” Kriseman said. “The beauty is as the city has grown, the race has grown and as the race has grown, the city has grown.

“It has really changed.”

According to Kriseman, the race has one more year left on its current contract with the city, but he is working on a three-year extension beyond that ensuring this event remains one of the great weeks of the year to be in St. Petersburg.