The 2023 IndyCar season began with one of the most chaotic races in the history of the series. The race began with a red flag, multiple cars went airborne, one car caught fire, several drivers received penalties, one lost the race with a perplexing issue, and two drivers crashed while leading the race. Emotions were high as half of the 27-car field failed to finish the race.

In the end, it was 2022 Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson that came away with his fourth career victory. It was just the second win at St Petersburg for Chip Ganassi Racing, and their first since 2011. His teammate Scott Dixon recorded his seventh career podium at St Pete, despite never winning here. It is the 193rd top-five for Dixon, which ties him with Mario Andretti for the most all-time.

Joining the Ganassi drivers on the podium was Pato O'Ward, who essentially had this race wrapped up before an electrical issue caused his No. 5 Chevrolet to hiccup with three laps remaining. That allowed Ericsson to get by him, and the Arrow McLaren driver was not able to get back to the top spot. It was a heartbreaking moment for O'Ward and the team. They did have two cars finish inside the top-four as Alexander Rossi delivered in his team debut. Callum Ilott scored his first career top-five finish as the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver improved 17 positions from his 22nd place starting spot.

One of the biggest moments came at the start of the race, when cars began checking up after light contact from Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist. As cars began stacking up, Devlin DeFrancesco came to a stop in the middle of the track. Rookie Benjamin Pedersen was not able to slow down in time and struck Devlin's Honda, sending it spinning high into the air. Fortunately, all of the drivers were able to escape without serious injury.

The other big moment in the race came after Romain Grosjean and Scott McLaughlin made their final pit stops. As McLaughlin came out of pit lane, the two were side-by-side battling for the lead when McLaughlin lost the rear end of his Chevrolet entering the turn. Both cars ended up in the tires and saw their hopes of winning go out the window. Each driver was extremely frustrated, but McLaughlin took blame for the incident after the race.

While the majority of the garage was upset about how the race played out, none were more frustrated than Andretti Autosport. After sweeping the front row in qualifying, and having three of the strongest cars in the field, their four drivers finished 15th, 18th, 20th, and 25th. Colton Herta was primed for another St Petersburg win, but contact with Will Power put him into the tires halfway through the race.

Previous St Petersburg winners

2022 - Scott McLaughlin

2021 - Colton Herta

2020 - Josef Newgarden

2019 - Josef Newgarden

2018 - Sebastien Bourdais

2017 - Sebastien Bourdais

2016 - Juan Montoya

2015 - Juan Montoya

2014 - Will Power

2013 - James Hinchcliffe

2012 - Helio Castroneves

2011 - Dario Franchitti

2010 - Will Power

2009 - Ryan Briscoe

2008 - Graham Rahal

2007 - Helio Castroneves

2006 - Helio Castroneves

2005 - Dan Wheldon

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pL7ArJ9nppWpfKq6w7Kamqpfp7K0wcutqmhpYGd%2BeH2QaGhoamBngG61zZ2wnJmiYrOqvsSsq6imlWK0s63NnWSpqpmterTAjKmcrZ2iqK%2B2vsZmna6knGK%2Foq%2FEZqmeq6WhwbQ%3D