After a long offseason that lasted over six months, the Verizon IndyCar Series is ready to kick back into action on the streets of St. Petersburg. The offseason has lasted since the checkered flag at the 2014 finale at Fontana when summer was beginning to become fall. It was at Fontana, that final race of 2014 that Will Power of Team Penske officially became the 2014 series champion, edging out the clear underdog entering the 500 mile race, his teammate, Helio Castroneves. 

So much has gone on since the checkers flew at Fontana. Rather than outlining every piece of news that has gone on as 2014 became 2015 and the season drew nearer, including drivers changing teams, tracks cancelling their races, and aero kits by Chevy and Honda, read this previous article: IndyCar 2015: News, Notes, the Teams, the Races, and More. It outlines every single bit of news that has gone on since the last race of the 2014 season, as well as outlines the drivers of each team; to get completely up to date as the opening race is finally upon us, visit that article. 

Notes

St. Petersburg has hosted an IndyCar race, held on the streets of the city, every year since 2005 - the last four of those serving as the season opener (as well as 2009). The inaugural GP of St. Petersburg was a CART sanctioned race where Paul Tracy was victorious on February 23, 2003. This weekend's race marks the 10th consecutive Grand Prix of St. Petersburg as an Indy car event. 

Team Penske's Helio Castroneves hold the record for most victories at St. Pete, having one the race three times in 2006, 2007, and 2012. His aforementioned teammate who won the championship over him last year, Will Power, is the only other driver with multiple wins at St. Petersburg, having won in 2010 and last year. Tony Kanaan of Chip Ganassi Racing and the winner of the last IndyCar race, the finale at Fontana, has seven top-5 finishes at St. Pete, but is yet to win at the circuit; his best finish to date is a second in 2005.

The winner of the St. Petersburg race has gone on to win the championship that year on three occasions: Dan Wheldon (2005), Dario Franchitti (2011), and Will Power (2014). That is quite an impressive few drivers. 

The race has been won from pole position only twice: Castroneves (2007) and Power (2010). Will Power earned the pole position at St. Petersburg four years in a row, from 2010-13. This streak was broken up by A.J. Foyt Racing's Takuma Sato last year. 

As an interesting fact, Graham Rahal is the youngest driver to win an IndyCar race after winning the St. Petersburg race on April 6, 2008. He was 19 years and 93 days of age when he scored his first career victory. that day - and is still the youngest to win in the series. 

Watch for

Keep an eye on the top teams of the series, mainly Penske and Ganassi, to have their eight (combined) drivers get their seasons off to a great start. For Ganassi, their fourth car will be piloted by young American driver Sage Karam, but he has only been confirmed for the season opener - not yet any other races. The same goes for Simona de Silvestro, who will be making a return to the Verizon IndyCar Series with Andretti Autosport, although she's also only been confirmed for the St. Petersburg opener. These two are also cars you should keep an eye on; a good drive this weekend could earn them a seat at more races in 2015. More specific drivers to watch for that have moved to new teams are all noted in the aforementioned IndyCar 2015 article. 

How to follow the race

As you will find throughout all races of this 2015 season, there are a variety of ways to keep up with each of the 16 races - as they are happening. VAVEL will have a LIVE for Sunday's race, and tweeting will also be going on live on the official Twitter account of this Racing section of VAVEL. Whether you prefer a LIVE article with minute-by-minute coverage here on the website or live tweeting with updates being tweeted out as they happen, VAVEL has you covered.