Route change for entrepreneurial Grand Prix driver

In town for a car race that didn't happen, a team owner and vintner made the most of an opportunity to promote his new wine brand.

By Business Observer Staff
| 6:00 a.m. March 20, 2020
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Race car team owner and driver Kevin Buckler also serves as CEO of Adobe Road Wines. Courtesy photo.

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The cancellation of the March 13-15 Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg because of — what else? — coronavirus outbreak concerns slammed the brakes on racing in the streets, but teams and sponsors did their best to carry on with the business of marketing and promotion.

The Racing Group, headed up by driver/owner Kevin Buckler, and Adobe Road Winery held a wine-tasting party Saturday night at the opulent, 30th-floor penthouse residence of Carlos and Beverly Yepes, which overlooks St. Petersburg’s downtown waterfront and Tampa Bay. Carlos Yepes, a property developer, splits time between his luxurious Beach Drive residence in St. Pete and a super yacht that travels between St. Kitts and Nantucket.