Detroit Grand Prix a hit for city, business, IndyCar Series

1 Comment

By both local and national measures, “take two” at the reincarnated Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix was a smashing success. And knowing the propensity of a Penske-led organization to want to improve, plans are already underway for further developments in 2014 at The Raceway on Belle Isle.

The Windsor Star reported a three-day attendance number north of 100,000 with 45,000 of that on Sunday at the 2.35-mile street course. Saturday’s tripleheader of racing – Pirelli World Challenge, GRAND-AM Rolex Series and IndyCar’s first of its twin races – saw an increased crowd number for that day as well.

Attendance numbers may have been higher if not for the early week forecast, that projected rain anywhere from 60 to 90 percent possible for Saturday – nary a drop of rain fell on the second or third day of the weekend.

“Last year, I sat at the bridge apologizing for what had happened (track disintegrated) for an hour,” race chairman and Penske executive Bud Denker told the Star. “No apology necessary this year. I got texts from all over the world asking (if those overhead shots) were really Detroit. We blew it out of the park today.”

Circuit changes already planned for 2014 include a repaving of the backstraight and also to straighten out the bend from Turn 6 into Turn 7, so rather than the jink left before a right, it will be a longer straight that flows into the right-handed turn.

The double-decker corporate suites were packed betweens Turn 8 and 11. Former IndyCar security chief Charles Burns, now the Detroit Grand Prix general manager, explained the importance of having such a strong amount of corporate support.

“It’s expensive, but it adds a special touch when you can build relationships with 75 people on Saturday and perhaps 75 different people on Sunday during IndyCar races,” Burns told the Associated Press.

According to the Detroit Free Press, those suites will move to pit lane next year, replacing the grandstands currently there. Further suites may be built elsewhere to accommodate the corporate demand.

Drivers raved about the track changes, as well, with the revised layout a return to the one CART had from 1998 to 2001. Only Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves and Alex Tagliani had prior experience on that layout before this weekend.

Denker enjoyed the doubleheader aspect of the weekend and would prefer IndyCar keep it for 2014.

“I’ve already petitioned for that,” Denker told the Detroit Free Press. “I want it because it is good for the fans and our sponsors. This (race) series right now needs to be shaken up a little bit. Doing the same old things is not enough anymore. We have to move the needle on the dial.”

IndyCar results, points after Detroit Grand Prix

0 Comments

DETROIT — Alex Palou topped the results of an NTT IndyCar Series race for the second time this season, extending his championship points lead with his victory in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

The Chip Ganassi Racing driver, who also won the GMR Grand Prix (and the Indy 500 pole position) last month, holds a 51-point lead over teammate Marcus Ericsson (ninth at Detroit) through seven of 17 races this season.

Ganassi, which placed all four of its drivers in the top 10 at Detroit, has three of the top four in the championship standings with Scott Dixon ranked fourth after a fourth at Detroit.

FLAVOR FLAV POWERS UP: Iconic rapper hangs out with Team Penske

Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden is third in the standings after taking a 10th at Detroit. Pato O’Ward slipped to fifth in the points after crashing and finishing 26th

Here are the IndyCar results and points standings after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:


RESULTS

Click here for the official box score from the 100-lap race on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile street course in downtown Detroit.

Lap leader summary

Full lap chart

Best section times

Full section data

Event summary

Pit stop summary

Here is the finishing order in the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix with starting position in parentheses, driver, engine, laps completed and reason out (if any):

1. (1) Alex Palou, Honda, 100, Running
2. (7) Will Power, Chevrolet, 100, Running
3. (9) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 100, Running
4. (4) Scott Dixon, Honda, 100, Running
5. (13) Alexander Rossi, Chevrolet, 100, Running
6. (12) Kyle Kirkwood, Honda, 100, Running
7. (2) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 100, Running
8. (11) Marcus Armstrong, Honda, 100, Running
9. (6) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 100, Running
10. (5) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 100, Running
11. (24) Colton Herta, Honda, 100, Running
12. (17) Devlin DeFrancesco, Honda, 100, Running
13. (8) Simon Pagenaud, Honda, 100, Running
14. (20) Agustin Canapino, Chevrolet, 100, Running
15. (15) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 100, Running
16. (18) Christian Lundgaard, Honda, 100, Running
17. (25) Jack Harvey, Honda, 100, Running
18. (14) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 100, Running
19. (23) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 100, Running
20. (19) Benjamin Pedersen, Chevrolet, 97, Running
21. (22) Santino Ferrucci, Chevrolet, 97, Running
22. (26) Sting Ray Robb, Honda, 97, Running
23. (21) David Malukas, Honda, 85, Contact
24. (3) Romain Grosjean, Honda, 80, Contact
25. (27) Graham Rahal, Honda, 50, Contact
26. (10) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 41, Contact
27. (16) Callum Ilott, Chevrolet, 1, Contact

Winner’s average speed: 80.922 mph; Time of Race: 02:01:58.1171; Margin of victory: 1.1843 seconds; Cautions: 7 for 32 laps; Lead changes: 10 among seven drivers. Lap Leaders: Palou 1-28; Power 29-33; O’Ward 34; Palou 35-55; Power 56-64; Palou 65; Rossi 66; Newgarden 67-68; Kirkwood 69; Ericsson 70-76; Palou 77-100.


POINTS

Click here for the points tally in the race.

Here are the points standings after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:

Drivers

Entrants

Engine manufacturers

Pit stop performance

Top 10 in points: Palou 273, Ericsson 222, Newgarden 203, Dixon 194, O’Ward 191, Rossi 176, McLaughlin 175, Power 172, Herta 149, Rosenqvist 148.

Rest of the standings: Grosjean 145, Kirkwood 142, Lundgaard 136, Ilott 116, VeeKay 108, Ferrucci 105, Armstrong 101, Rahal 99, Malukas 91, Daly 88, DeFrancesco 81, Castroneves 80, Harvey 78, Canapino 77, Pagenaud 72, Pedersen 61, Robb 55, Takuma Sato 37, Ed Carpenter 27, Ryan Hunter-Reay 20, Tony Kanaan 18, Marco Andretti 13, RC Enerson 5, Katherine Legge 5.

Next race: IndyCar will head to Road America for the Sonsio Grand Prix, which will take place June 18 with coverage starting at 1 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.