The original St. Petersburg event was organised by William T. McVey of the McBri Corporation and debuted in 1985 as a Trans-Am Series race on a waterfront circuit near St. Petersburg's downtown bayfront area. Can-Am also competed that inaugural year. The event drew complaints about noise from local residents and businesses, and it ran in that form through 1990 before being suspended. The 1987 race was marked by tragedy when driver Jim Fitzgerald was killed in a crash.
A second attempt at reviving street racing in the city was made between 1996 and 1997 using a different course looping around the parking lots of Tropicana Field, roughly one mile west of the original waterfront course. This iteration featured Trans-Am alongside support series including USF2000 and Speed World Challenge, but the event again went dormant.
The circuit was revived a final time in 2003 for the CART Championship Series, using a new version of the original 1985 waterfront layout. Following the collapse of CART and its reorganisation into the Champ Car World Series, the 2004 event was cancelled. When the race returned in 2005 it joined the IndyCar Series, becoming the first non-oval race held by the Indy Racing League. This was a significant milestone in the series broadening its schedule beyond ovals.
From 2007, the event expanded to include an American Le Mans Series race held on the same weekend, bringing prototype and GT machinery to the streets alongside open-wheel cars. The ALMS element continued through 2009.
In 2026 the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series joined the weekend, further expanding the event's reach across American racing series.
The current course, classified as an FIA Grade Two circuit, connects existing downtown St. Petersburg roads with one of the two runways of Albert Whitted Airport. The pit complex and paddock infrastructure, along with the link connecting Dan Wheldon Way to the airport runway through turns 11, 12, and 13, were constructed as permanent features when the course was reconfigured in 2003. The circuit also dips into the parking area at Al Lang Stadium.
The northern boundary of the circuit was shortened compared to the original 1985 layout; the current version turns at Central Avenue rather than continuing to The Pier. The straight following Turn 10, transitioning from Bayshore Drive into Albert Whitted Park, was renamed Dan Wheldon Way after the British-American IndyCar driver who won the 2005 race and two Indianapolis 500 titles. Wheldon was killed in a crash at the 2011 IndyCar World Championship finale. A permanent Dan Wheldon Memorial stands next to the Salvador Dali Museum on the opposite side of Turn 10, where the names of race winners are displayed.
The St. Petersburg race holds the distinction of being the event at which the Indy Racing League first ran on a street circuit, in 2005, broadening the series beyond its oval-centric identity. The commemoration of Dan Wheldon gives the venue a particular emotional weight in IndyCar culture. The race has traditionally served as the season opener for IndyCar, making it the first points-paying event of the year and a closely watched indicator of championship form.
St. Petersburg has become one of the anchor events of American open-wheel racing, combining the atmosphere of a street circuit with a downtown waterfront setting. The event's longevity across three separate era revivals — 1985, 1996, and 2003 — reflects persistent local and commercial interest in hosting top-level motorsport in the city despite the logistical challenges of a temporary street circuit.