Jeff Gordon caps nice week with Top-5 finish - MotorSportsTalk

Two Top-5 finishes to start the season and setting the Internet ablaze once more in between. This week was a pretty good one for Jeff Gordon.

The four-time Sprint Cup champion ran with the leaders throughout Sunday’s The Profit on CNBC 500 at Phoenix International Raceway before finishing fifth, a nice follow-up performance after a fourth-place result at the Daytona 500.

And of course, between those two solid outings, he and sponsor Pepsi released “Test Drive 2,” in which Gordon (disguised as an ex-con cab driver) took Jalopnik’s Travis Okulski hostage as part of a fake police chase.

The full-length video of the prank has already cruised past 12 million views on YouTube; for comparison’s sake, the original “Test Drive” prank that Gordon and Pepsi pulled off last year has over 41 million views.

“What a week it has been for this No. 24 team,” he said yesterday. “From that top-five in Daytona, the Pepsi Max ‘Test Drive 2’ and then here we are with another top-five here at Phoenix. Great way to start the season.”

While winner Kevin Harvick quickly gained notice for his charge to the front in the early laps, Gordon was also doing the same. Starting 17th, he moved into the Top 10 by Lap 17 of 312.

Late in the race, Gordon pitted under the green flag with 71 laps to go but was caught out a few laps later by a caution. A subsequent wave-around put him back on the lead lap but stuck in traffic within the Top 15.

But Gordon began to work his way back up and was in the Top 10 with 21 laps remaining. He would peel off three more spots before the final caution of the day and then made his way to P5 shortly after the last restart with nine laps to go.

“You know when Ryan Newman is in front of you on a restart, it’s going to get interesting,” Gordon said. “I didn’t know if it was going to get interesting because me and him were side-by-side or because he got side-by-side with somebody else. We were able to capitalize on it.”

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The NTT IndyCar Series will return to the Motor City for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix but with start times in a new location for 2023.

After a 30-year run on Belle Isle, the Detroit GP has moved a few miles south to the streets of downtown on a new nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit that runs along the Detroit River.

It’s the first time single-seater open-cockpit cars have raced on the streets of Detroit since a CART event on a 2.5-mile downtown layout from 1989-91. Formula One also raced in Detroit from 1982-88.

The reimagined Detroit Grand Prix also will play host to nightly concerts and bring in venders from across the region. Roger Penske predicts the new downtown locale will be bigger for Detroit than when the city played host to the 2006 Super Bowl.

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race weekend (all times are ET):

CHEVROLET DETROIT GRAND PRIX INDYCAR START TIMES

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Dave Burns, Marty Snider and Kevin Lee are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2023.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying.

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:23 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 3:30 p.m. ET

PRACTICE: Friday, 3 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 9:05 a.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 10 a.m. (Peacock Premium)

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session I l Session II l Combined

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 1:20 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Alex Palou captured the first street course pole of his IndyCar career; click here for where everyone will begin Sunday’s race

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 100 laps (170 miles) on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile temporary street course in downtown Detroit.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate. Rookie drivers are allowed one extra primary set for the first practice.

PUSH TO PASS: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation (Indy NXT: 150 seconds total, 15 seconds per). The push-to-pass is not available on the initial start or any restart unless it occurs in the final two laps or three minutes of a timed race. The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 80 degrees with a 0% chance of rain.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 27 drivers racing Sunday at Detroit

INDY NXT RACES: Saturday, 12:05 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 12:50 p.m. 45 laps/55 minutes (Peacock Premium)

INDY NXT ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 19 drivers racing at Detroit