Pre-Race Notes: Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg
Firestone Racing will usher in the 2026 INDYCAR season with Firehawk race tires that integrate Bridgestone global ENLITEN™ Technology. Beginning at this weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, both the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone will compete on race tires that demonstrate the power of the sustainability-focused suite of technologies.
- ENLITEN Technology is designed to deliver customized performance while promoting a focus on enhanced sustainability across the Bridgestone and Firestone tire portfolios. This includes consumer products, such as the new Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 V2 ultra-high performance summer tire, as well as commercial and race tires. (See attached press release.)
- Firestone Firehawk primary and alternate race tires will incorporate key ENLITEN Technology components[1], including:
- Renewable soybean oil: Replaces petroleum-based oils traditionally used in tire compounds
- Recycled steel: Used for the bead wire that anchors a race tire to a wheel
- Recycled carbon black: Reinforcement material recovered from end-of-life tires
- This season the Firestone Race Tire Engineering (RTE) team will design, develop, and deliver approximately 32,000 Firestone Firehawk ENLITEN Technology race tires to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. spanning 60 different specifications to meet the diverse demands of oval, road, and street course configurations on the 18-race schedule.
- This weekend Firestone is supplying 1400 race tires to NTT INDYCAR SERIES teams for practices and qualifying on the streets of St. Pete. This includes the Firestone Fast Six and Sunday’s 100-lap (180 miles) race on the 1.8-mile, 14-turn (5 lefts, 9 rights) temporary street circuit that features part of the Albert Whitted Airport runway as its front stretch.
- Firestone Racing provides a real-time tire tracker at Livetiming.net/firestone for media and fans to follow track tire strategies in qualifying and the race. As per INDYCAR rules, each entry must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.
Each NTT INDYCAR SERIES entry will receive the following allocation of Firestone Firehawk race tires:
- Primary (black sidewall): 5 sets per entry (1 extra sets for rookies)
- Alternate (red sidewall): 5 sets per entry
- Rain (gray sidewall): 5 sets per entry
Notes from Cara Krstolic, Chief Engineer and Director of Race Tire Engineering and Production:
“The construction and compound for the primary Firestone Firehawk tires you’ll see on the streets of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg are based on 2025 primaries but with the addition of sustainable materials, including soybean oil in the tires. These are the tires that were tested by teams at Sebring earlier this month.
The red-sidewall alternate tires are expected to show an increase in grip and increase in drop-off from the primary compound. They are expected to have improved compound durability as compared to the alternate tires we had at St. Pete in 2025.”
INDY NXT by Firestone Notes
- This season, Firestone will provide 5,000 tires across 18 different specifications, to support the next generation of drivers competing in INDY NXT by Firestone. These tires provide critical driver development experience over a 17-race schedule and on a competitive platform closely aligned with the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.
- This weekend, Firestone is supplying close to 400 race tires to INDY NXT by Firestone teams for practices, qualifying, and the 45-lap (81 miles or 55 min.) race.
Each INDY NXT by Firestone entry will be provided with the following allocation of Firestone Firehawk race tires:
- Primary: 3 sets per entry (plus one carryover set from testing)
- Rain: 2 set per entry
