Vautier lands sponsorship for St. Pete race

The Florida Lottery, which currently sits at $260 million, is the primary sponsor this weekend of the No. 55 Schmidt Peterson Motorsports car driven by St. Petersburg resident Tristan Vautier.

"I played the lottery a few times this winter hoping it would help me get my first ride in an IndyCar," joked Vautier, who won the Firestone Indy Lights race on the street circuit in 2012 and will make his IZOD IndyCar Series debut in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

Target Chip Ganassi partnership at 99 and counting: The Target Racing Program, which began with Minneapolis-based Target and Chip Ganassi Racing in 1990, is one win shy of 100. The first victory came in 1994 with Michael's Andretti's Indy car victory at Surfers Paradise, Australia.