The big event on the other side of the bay this weekend is the annual Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Prominent among the crowd favorites in Sunday’s 100-lap IndyCar race is Snell Isle resident Dan Wheldon.
The Emberton, England native, 30, has already won the Indianapolis 500 and would love to win the race in his adopted back yard. It’s like a “home race” for him, he says.
He could give chamber of commerce testimonials. He loves the venue that much.
“I could live anywhere,” notes Wheldon. “I choose here. If you ever lived in England, you’d really appreciate this area. It’s pretty; the weather is nice; there are a lot of good restaurants.”
And some intersections that even a professional IndyCar Series hotshot needs to be wary of.
“I’m relatively relaxed on public roads,” says Wheldon. “Also careful. Especially in St. Pete at night. People try to time the lights. I wait.”
Oh, and if you ever see someone tooling around St. Pete in a Corvette Pace Car, that’s Wheldon. It’s the world’s most unusual trophy. It’s the official pace car from his 2005 Indy 500 victory. Every winner gets one.