IndyCar stars set for St. Pete’s Kart4Kids race and charity auction

The seventh annual pro-am event will be held on the Andersen RacePark at Turn 1 of the street/airport course for this weekend’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Co-chairmen of the Wednesday, March 7 event are last year’s St. Pete IndyCar winner Sebastien Bourdais, and Pirelli World Challenge, IMSA and WEC star Pat Long.

Aside from Bourdais, IndyCar stars in the race include Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Takuma Sato, Spencer Pigot, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Gabby Chaves and two of this year’s rookies, Zach Veach and Jordan King.

Other pro stars include RC Enerson along with sportscar aces Jan Heylen, Lawson Aschenbach, Shea Holbrook, Spencer Pumpelly, Kyle Masson, Parker Chase, Trent Hindman and James French.

The silent auction has begun already, and items include Bourdais’ winning race gear from the 2017 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona – firesuit, shoes and gloves –  and his IndyCar firesuit from last year. Other signed clothing and memorabilia include items from Long, Kanaan, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Ed Jones, Alexander Rossi, Marco Andretti and James Hinchcliffe.

The Pro-Am kart race begins at 6.45pm ET, with the live auction and raffle running from 8.15 to 8.45 and the silent auction closing at 9pm.

A 501(c)3 organization, Kart 4 Kids Inc. raises money for Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, which receives all proceeds net of direct race expenses. Last year’s event raised $81,000.