For Stefan Wilson, it’s all about surviving deep end in IndyCar debut (VIDEO)

Stefan Wilson (IndyCar Photo)
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Stefan Wilson used a swimming analogy – and then expanded on it – to describe his debut in the IZOD IndyCar Series this weekend after his first practice session at the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT (2 p.m. EST, Sunday, NBCSN).

“Going into the weekend I thought it was getting thrown in the deep end of the pool with no armbands. After my first session, now I was thrown into the ocean with no armbands!” he said.

The younger Wilson, 24 next month, teams with older brother Justin at Dale Coyne Racing this weekend and Stefan will race in the No. 18 Nirvana Tea Honda, that has had four other drivers (Ana Beatriz, Pippa Mann, Mike Conway, James Davison) take the wheel this season.

In the opening practice session, Stefan had a minor off course excursion at Turn 5, but otherwise spent the 45 minutes learning the car and learning the track. He actually completed the most laps of anyone in the session, 19, with a best lap of 1:25.2797 on a set of new tires to end the session.

“It’s a huge learning curve, and it doesn’t take much to find yourself in a tricky position,” he said. “But you try not to take too many risks. Earlier today I chose the safer option. Without any testing, I needed to make sure to get the next session in.”

Of all the different elements between an Indy Lights car – Wilson last raced one at Fontana last year, where he finished sixth – and an IndyCar, Wilson said something beyond the typical differences of grip, brakes, and downforce stood out to him.

“I spoke to James Hinchcliffe and Josef Newgarden (fellow Indy Lights alumni) a lot,” he said. “There’s the gap in downforce, brakes and power. But the electronics to me are the biggest thing. It’s a 10-year-old car and it’s very raw. So now there are so many electronics to get used to. The clutch is on the steering wheel. You have all these switches; the pit lane speed limiter. You get a little bit of a feeling on it, but it still feels a little alien to me.”

Justin, 35, took a similar measured approach to the weekend. He has to view his younger brother as a teammate and another competitor.

“It’s mixed emotions for me, because I really want to help, but not compromise him or possibly compromise my own setup. We haven’t had a chance to debrief yet; I don’t even know where we finished,” Justin Wilson said. “I have to race him as I would anyone else. It’s only way to do it.”

For what it’s worth, Justin clocked in 14th in the session in the No. 19 Boy Scouts of America Honda.

Stefan took a lighter note on the whole brother dynamic. The two are the first to race in the same IndyCar race since Buddy and Jaques Lazier in the 2007 Indianapolis 500.

“I want to separate myself from him as a brother and look at him as a teammate. He’s a lot of good ones over the years. I don’t want to be known as the bro that’s ragging on him!”

IndyCar results, points after Detroit Grand Prix

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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.

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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.