St. Petersburg, Florida - Streets of St. Pete

--NBC Broadcast--

An epic theme song began playing as a live picture of St. Petersburg was shown.

"It's the start of the new season, and many changes have been made. Rookie drivers, returning drivers, and veteran drivers all competing for a grand prize in American Open Wheel Racing. Welcome everyone to the season opener of the NTT IndyCar Series, the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, here in on the streets of St. Pete in Florida."

The screen then cut to three commentators in the commentary box.

"Hi folks, Leigh Diffey here, alongside Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Guys it's the start of a new season. What is there to look forward to?"

"There's certainly is a lot to look forward, Leigh. First of all, IndyCar is planning to debut hybrid engines to the series, now they were suppose to debut here in St. Pete, but the introduction has been delayed until after the Indy 500. Second of all, new drivers, you got Kyffin Simpson, Tom Blomqvist, and Linus Lundqvist all competing for rookie of the year this year."

"Well Townsend, I've got my eye on several of the returning drivers. Pietro Fittipaldi is running in the IndyCar series full time this year. He hasn't run an IndyCar since 2018, and has spent that last few years as the reserve driver for the HAAS Formula 1 team. Also Romain Grosjean has moved to Juncos Hollinger after spending the past 2 years at Andretti. Let's see what he can do."

"So much to look forward to. Let's get down to pit road and meet up with Marty Snider."

Mike got in his car and strapped himself in. He let out a huge sigh as he put on his racing gloves.

"Radio check?"

"Yeah, all good."

Meanwhile, up in the pit box, Rara watched on as Mike strapped himself in his car. She looked around and spotted several of the IndyCar drivers she met at the Andretti shops in Indianapolis. Knowing Mike was racing against them, she smiled.

"St. Petersburg race fans, ARE. YOU. READY!!!"

The crowd cheered.

"Drivers. START YOUR ENGINES!!!"

The cars roared to life, however, unlike the NASCAR stock cars and the IMSA sports cars, Rara saw that these cars need to be switched on by some sort of strange looking contraption that is connected to the back of the car. 'Hmm, I'll have to ask Mike about that later,' she thought. As the cars set out on their formation lap.

--NBC Broadcast--

Leigh Diffey: "For 2024, the NTT IndyCar Series is Underway here in St. Pete. Josef Newgarden leads the field, BUT WATCH THAT ORANGE AND BLACK CAR, Pato O'Ward on the inside. COULDN'T QUITE GET THERE!!!"

Townsend Bell: "OH, BUT 4-WIDE FURTHER BACK WITH ROMAIN GROSJEAN DROPPING BACK THERE!!! THERE'S CONTACT WITH SOME OF THOSE GREEN AND BLACK CARS!!! That's Marcus Armstrong as well and Rinus VeeKay comes out the lead of the 3 green and blacks!"

James Hinchcliffe: "THIS IS WHERE WE HAD ALL OF THE ISSUES LAST YEAR, THE TOP OF THE SCREEN, TURN 3!!! It looks like it's all clear. You see Alex Palou trying to go down the inside of Christian Lundgaard into Turn 4, a LITTLE BIT contact there, everybody gets-"

Townsend Bell: "Oh, no! I think Lundgaard has got a flat right rear on the 45."

Leigh Diffey: "Will Power, Marcus Armstrong, Scott Dixon."

Radio Communications from Christian Lundgaard: "Puncture! Puncture!"

Leigh Diffey: "Puncture, puncture is the call. Well spotted T Bell, this is the number 45 HyVee Honda. Problems for Christian Lundgaard.

Townsend Bell: "And he's jamming up the back of the field! They are desperate to get by, but Lundgaard desperate to get to pit lane and see if he can stay on the lead lap."

James Hinchcliffe: "Now, Alex Palou trying to defend from Alexander Rossi behind Kyle Kirkwood. Callum Ilott in line there as we see all the cars trying to get around the wounded HyVee Honda of Christian Lundgaard."

Leigh Diffey: "What a shame, he got his first IndyCar win last year, the talented Danish driver. Up front though, look at Felix Rosenqvist in that pink and white, AutoNation, SiriusXM, Bon Jovi Radio car! He is trying to rock and roll around the streets of St. Pete, and take the lead away from Josef Newgarden."

Lap 12

Mike was currently running 10th. So far he has had no trouble.

"Stay in line there," said his race strategist.

Mike was trying to overtake Will Power. As he neared Turn 10, he pressed the push-to-pass button on his steering wheel and made his move.

"There you go. Good job!"

Mike smirked at himself and continued in the race. Up in the pit box, Rara saw Mike's move and clapped at his job well done.

Lap 27

--NBC Broadcast--

Leigh Diffey: "Under caution for the first time on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida. Unfortunately, it is for the 23 year old New Zealander, Marcus Armstrong in the Ridgeline Lubricants Honda, this is what happened. Watch the green car."

Townsend Bell: "Ahhh, Turn 10, just a little hot on the brakes, locks the left front."

Leigh Diffey: "Ohhhh!"

Townsend Bell: "He thinks about trying to maybe take the overshoot, and he just runs out of room. And unfortunately, that contact was too much and chews up the right front."

James Hinchcliffe: "And then that orange and blue car that was right behind him, Scott Dixon, his teammate. You said it off the top of the show, so good at avoiding calamity and avoiding chaos. We saw at Turn 1, going inside of that curb. We saw it here, very heads up driving from Dixon."

The cars made their pit stops. Mike was among them. He made his way towards his pit box and his pit crew got to work. After changing tires and adding more fuel, he was released.

"Colton Herta got the lead there," said Mike's race strategist.

"Really?" Mike asked in surprise.

"Yeah."

Mike smiled. He always considered his teammates his friends so whenever one of them takes the lead of a race, he couldn't help but feel happy.

Lap 30

--NBC Broadcast--

Leigh Diffey: "We're back racing here in St. Pete!"

Townsend Bell: "LOOK AT THIS, RINUS VEEKAY GOES TO THE INSIDE OF SCOTT DIXON!!!"

James Hinchcliffe: "This shows that the Ganassi cars are struggling a bit as Newgarden makes the move on Colton Herta takes that position back that he lost on pit lane, very decisive on those softer tires, now Colton has switched to the black-side walled primary tires. And you saw that grip advantage right there."

Leigh Diffey: "A big battle here. Pato O'Ward, then Scott McLaughlin. HERE WE GO, HERE WE GO, HERE WE GO!!! O'WARD ON THE INSIDE OF HERTA!!!"

James Hinchcliffe: "Again, that tire advantage, and now Scott McLaughlin taking advantage of a slow exit from Colton."

Townsend Bell: "There are pouncing now on Colton Herta. He can not get tire temperature anywhere near as quickly as the Firestone green shot cars."

Lap 34

--NBC Broadcast--

Leigh Diffey: "Under caution again. What is it for?"

James Hinchcliffe: "Oh, that's what. Sting Ray Robb, in the 41 for AJ Foyt Racing looks like he's stopped in Turn 1."

Townsend Bell: "Oh, there's some smoke coming out of the brake rotors."

Leigh Diffey: "Looks like he's getting out of the car, he is done for the day."

Lap 38

--NBC Broadcast--

Leigh Diffey: "Second full course caution out of the way. Let's go racing again, a couple of Chevy powered cars up front. Josef Newgarden leads Pato O'Ward back to green! Here down the runway at Albert Whitted Airport! Rosenqvist tucked in behind his old teammate, their good friends too. Then, the white and red DEX Imaging machine, Scott McLaughlin ahead of Colton Herta. His teammate, Marcus Ericsson then Rinus VeeKay. Here they come!"

Mike continued running in P9, he was trying to keep himself out of trouble, considering how much chaos was going on in the restarts. During the pit stop on Lap 27, he lost his position back to Will Power, meaning Power was back ahead of him. So far, all of the Andretti cars appear to be in the running. Which was great considering what happened last year. Mike neared Will Power in Turn 9 and like on Lap 12, he pressed the push-to-pass button on his steering wheel and made his pass.

--NBC Broadcast--

Leigh Diffey: "Here we go, HERE WE GO!!! HE'S GOING FOR IT!!! MIKE ROGERS GETS BACK AHEAD OF WILL POWER!!!"

Townsend Bell: "VERY AGGRESIVE MOVE ON ROGERS AS HE'S TRYING TO GET BACK IN THE TOP 5!!!"

James Hinchcliffe: "Power's going to need a new strategy if he wants to stay in contention."

Mike got ahead of Will Power and chuckled to himself at a job well done.

"There you go, good job," his race strategist said on the radio.

35 Laps to Go

Mike made his last pit stop for the race. He parked his car in his pit box. A change of tires and a fill of fuel later, and he was off. He exited where he was in P8, ahead of Will Power, but now he was under attack from Rinus VeeKay.

"Watch your outside, watch your outside. There you go."

Fortunately, VeeKay thought better of it.

Final Lap

--NBC Broadcast--

Leigh Diffey: "Through the last chicane, round the last 2 turns. What a way to start a new championship season. INDY 500 WINNER, ROLEX 24 AT DAYTONA WINNER, ST. PETE WINNER FOR THE 3RD TIME!!! THE FIRESTONE GRAND PRIX OF ST. PETE BELONGS TO JOSEF NEWGARDEN!!!"

Mike crossed the line. By now he was exhausted.

"P7! GREAT JOB!!!"

"Whew! Thanks guys, good job today."

Mike parked his car on the pit lane along with all of the other cars. He got out of his car, took off his helmet and let out a sigh of relief. Rara came out to him and hugged him.

--NBC Broadcast--

"From Ryan Blaney's NASCAR Cup Series championship, the Rolex 24 win, the win at the FIA World Endurance Championship season opener in Qatar, and now Josef Newgarden's win here in St. Pete, there is no stopping Roger Penske. Can their domination be stopped. Well, be sure to follow the rest of this season. From all of us here at NBC Sports, I'm Leigh Diffey we thank you all for watching and we'll see you next time at the Thermal Club $1 Million Challenge. Thanks for watching."

Mike and Rara were walking back to their hotel, holding hands. "So, we have stay here for your next race?" Asked Rara.

"Yes, for the next 2 weeks, actually," replied Mike.

"Right, I do recall your schedule having 3 different races for 3 weeks in a row."

"Exactly, although it's only gonna get more difficult over the summer."

"Still though, I kinda had fun," said Rara.

Mike looked at her very quizzingly before smiling at her. "I'm glad you did," he said as the two continued walking to their hotel.

To Be Continued.

Author's Note

This is a fictionalized version of the 2024 St. Petersburg Grand Prix. If you want to see what happened in the ACTUAL St. Petersburg Grand Prix, you can do so by watching this video here.