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A bit late to the party - and I know the next 'event' happened yesterday - but I thought I'd jump in and share my thoughts after attending raceday at St Pete.
Overall, the spectator experience was better than I expected.
Most of the corners are accessible with just general admission and, while the crowd was large, it never felt overwhelming and people were very cordial. There were plenty of opportunities to get right up to the fence - people generally watch for a few minutes, take some pictures and then move on, and the crowd wasn't big enough to be multiple 'layers' deep of people.
There are plenty of big screens, concession stands - the usual fare at American motorsport events. Another common trait (at least from my experience) is how easy everything is - okay, I did arrive quite early (around 6am) on raceday, but parking in nearby Tropicana Field ($15) was a breeze, followed by a short shuttle bus ride to the main gates where I was able to buy a ticket. From parking up and being trackside was around 20 minutes.
Having never been to a street circuit, there was certainly a different atmosphere and it was bizarre (but wonderful) to see the high-rise condos, stop signs/traffic signals - and just being in a city park in the middle of the track was a new one for me!
The weather was great, low humidity, and the day trackside finished early enough (around 3pm) to go off and enjoy the rest of the day in and around the St Pete area.
There was a long line for the shuttle buses after the race, as you'd expect with everyone leaving at the same time, but there were plenty of buses and it 'only' took around 30 minutes of waiting to get on one. From there, I drove straight out of Tropicana Field with no traffic issues whatsoever.
I walked around downtown St Pete for a few hours in the evening - it's a nice place, not the most lively on a Sunday evening but there's enough going on, quite a few race fans still around, plenty of good restuarants, bars and some upmarket shopping potential for those that way inclined!
Overall, I enjoyed it, and it was great to see IndyCar in person for the first time. Would I go for more than the 1 day? Probably not. I felt like just the raceday, despite there only being three races plus IndyCar warm-up, was enough to get around the entire track (multiple times if you want) and enjoy the other stuff going on.
I didn't have a paddock pass - quite frankly I've spent enough times in (free) paddocks over the years, to know that paying $$$ to see some spec single-seaters up close is not worth it for me. So that's really down to personal preference.
I can't comment on the stands but I was more than happy with general admission. Perhaps they might be worth checking out if you're going for more than 1 day!
Finally, bag searches - they weren't quite as strict as I was expecting, so I could have taken more food in and who knows, maybe drinks too! It's also worth noting that - rightly or wrongly - cameras are a no-no.
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