Detroit — The Detroit Grand Prix has the enviable or unenviable position of following the Indianapolis 500.
Organizers from Penske Corp. want to have the race on the streets of Detroit before school lets out for the summer and those in the city begin taking summer vacations. That doesn’t give it a lot of time when the weather would be good enough to race and after the 500.
The timing of the event hasn’t bothered Kyle Kirkwood, who won last year on the nine-turn, 1.645-mile street course that has a section along the Detroit River with Canada across the bay.
The 100-lap race goes green Sunday at 12:51 p.m. ET, with FOX coverage starting at 12:30 p.m.
Kyle Kirkwood looks to defend his title at the Detroit Grand Prix.
Here’s what to know about the race:
What are the keys to this race?
It’s a tight street circuit, partly the result of the limitations of the city street layout, as there aren’t many more options to expand. So it’s tight and passing takes ultimate precision.
So qualifying, track position and not making mistakes seem like the keys.
“It’s knowing what your limits are, not making mistakes, not hitting the walls,” Kirkwood told me Thursday in Detroit. “It’s also having a good car. It’s an important thing in every circuit we go to, and it’s still true at street courses — if you have a good car, it goes over the bumps well, has good balance, makes grip, you’re going to be fast.
“That’s kind of the name of the game. Get all those together, then drive well, and you’ll typically have a good weekend.”
Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin, who finished 12th last year, told me that the strategists will play a pivotal role.
“I think strategies can be a little bit different, too [to make a difference],” McLaughlin told me Thursday. “I’m excited — I think our cars are normally pretty good on street circuits.”
Isn’t This Where Will Power …?
Yes, this was the track last year when Will Power became Will “Plower” as he pushed Kirkwood out of the way during practice. It was a NASCAR move but certainly one that bordered on dangerous in an INDYCAR.
Power and Kirkwood are now teammates at Andretti Global.
Kirkwood laughed when recalling the incident.
“Any time you talk to him, like I bring it up or somebody’s joking about it, it’s always in funny humor style,” Kirkwood said. “But he’s just like, ‘Yeah, I don’t really know what I was doing there. Yeah, I hit you, and I was just kept pushing you, I guess.”
“And he was like, “I wasn’t angry, because I understood that everyone just backing up … I hit you and I just kept pushing you and next thing you know, I had a clear lap. So I’d do it again.”
Will Power became Will “Plower” last year in Detroit.
Are there new rules for street courses?
Yes. This race will have two of the new rules that started or were instituted this year:
–In qualifying, the final round (“Fast Six”) will not be in a group format for a timed session but instead single-car, single-lap qualifying. That gives each driver a little more of a spotlight. This rule was finalized last month for all street courses.
–In the race, teams must use two sets of soft tires and one set of primary tires. Last year, it was one set of each.
What else is unique about Detroit?
Detroit has a double-sided pit lane, just as Arlington had earlier this year. That means there are pits on both side of pit lane.
Is Alex Palou running away with the championship?
No. He is the leader by 37 points over David Malukas and 49 points over Kyle Kirkwood. There are 11 races left this season.
Kirkwood isn’t looking at this race as one he has to win to make sure he stays in contention.
“We want to win here,” Kirkwood said. “We won last year. This is one of our top-on-our-list that we feel like we need to win. But at the same time, it’s not like previous years, where it’s like we have to win street courses to have any chance at winning championships. We’re pretty good at all circuits now.”
Alex Palou didn’t win in Indy but remains the INDYCAR points leader.
Wasn’t Palou penalized after Indy?
Yes he was. Palou lost five points (and the team was fined $10,000) for the front wing not meeting the minimum height measurement.
The INDYCAR Independent Officiating Board determined it was an unintentional assembly error as it delivered a relatively light penalty.
What do Palou’s competitors think?
“I think it’s probably the right call because it’s probably one of those situations where you set the wing height, you add a few turns of wing in the race, and next thing you know, it’s barely under,” Kirkwood said. “So that’s what I assume it was, which it’s kind of not a performance gain. … I would have loved it for him to go to the back, but quite honestly, I’d think that would be unfair.”
Does Penske have chance in its home race?
Certainly Team Penske has a chance in the race near the Penske Corporation headquarters.
But even if it doesn’t win, at least there is a better vibe around the organization than a year ago.
David Malukas sits second in the standings (after experiencing Indy 500 heartbreak), McLaughlin is sixth and Newgarden is eighth.
All three drivers (Malukas is new to the team) have different strategists than they did a year ago, and McLaughlin and Malukas have new engineers.
“I feel like as a team we’re working really well together,” McLaughlin said. “I thought my stand with TC [Tim Cindric as strategist] and my engineer, I’m getting used to every race with Raul [Prados], I feel like we’re just building a stronger combination as the year goes on, and that’s been a lot of fun.”
Is Josef Newgarden hurt?
Not enough to keep him out of the race, but he did show up at the Indianapolis 500 Victory Celebration with his left foot in a walking boot, the result of his hard crash in the Indianapolis 500.
He said the foot doesn’t look very good, and he will have the boot on “”until the cosmetics are complete.”
And how is Rossi?
Alexander Rossi might be hurting but he isn’t letting on how much his right ankle is bothering him after surgery last week following a crash in 500 practice.
He said he was never concerned about being able to race Detroit and he didn’t have pain after the race at Indianapolis.
“I felt great in the car,” Rossi told me and other reporters Monday night. “I don’t think I once have been concerned about [driving].”
Finally, how is Felix Rosenqvist doing?
Rosenqvist is doing quite well, thanks for asking. The Indianapolis 500 winner has been on a media tour since his big win. He did get home Wednesday night to see his wife and their three-week-old daughter Stella.
He threw out the first pitch at the Detroit Tigers game Thursday.
Who needs sleep?
“Apparently, sleep deprivation was a good ingredient already before the month [with a new baby] and I’m sure will be just as good there,” Rosenqvist told me Wednesday afternoon as we chatted while overlooking New York City from near the top of the Empire State Building.
