The NTT IndyCar Series teams and drivers have only had a single 90-minute practice session to get to know the new downtown Detroit street circuit so far, but early impressions are that it’s unlike any other venue on the calendar.

Short, narrow and bumpy, the track already promised to be one of the most challenging for passing or trying to find a clear piece of road during qualifying. But one of the big question marks is how the unique split pitlane will factor into the race.

“When the sessions started, there were quite a lot of cars coming in, four-wide, into the funneling section,” said Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist, who was fifth-fastest on Friday.

“It’s kind of unique in that way because the pit speed limit off section is way further, like after the funnel. We’re going to have to figure out who’s going first in there. I think there’s going to be some situations where people probably don’t want to lift.

“I mean, that’s kind of what IndyCar is, that we battle it out on track. I think that’s pretty cool. Let’s hope it doesn’t crash us in pit lane.”

Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood, who finished Friday’s session one place ahead of Rosenqvist, had no concerns about pitlane itself, but believes drivers will need to tread carefully when rejoining the track.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1408]

“In my mind, (pitlane is) very safe,” he said. “That’s the most important part. It seems like pit exit was a concern for everyone yesterday, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to be that big of an issue. I think everyone’s pretty calm though on exit. It’s pretty easy to see a car coming out.

“To be honest, you can’t really see the car that’s on track, so you’re very reliant on the car that’s on track to kind of give way, for you to just kind of stay out of the way. That was more the concern than the double pit lane. I think the double pit lane has been absolutely fine.”

The other takeaway from Friday’s session was that the new layout will give the teams’ damper programs a chance to shine.

“You’re not using the wings of the car really here,” said Rosenqvist. “It’s a very mechanical grip track. Pretty much every corner is first gear except for the one leading onto the back straight. The car is always doing something weird. It’s dancing around, bouncing around, and at the same time you’re trying to keep it off the wall. It’s busy from the driver’s standpoint. It’s probably going to catch people out in the race.

“I think this track is probably the most important in terms of damping. That’s pretty much the biggest tool we have to work with mechanical grip. I don’t think I’ve even talked about aero today with my engineer — front wing, anything like that — because there’s only one corner where you really feel it.

“It’s a different challenge. These cars have quite a lot of downforce. Normally there’s a lot of emphasis on making the things efficient with downforce and drag and such things. But here it’s just like the more mechanical grip, the better. It’s kind of back to go-kart days in that sense.”

What: Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix / Race 7 of the 2023 NTT IndyCar Series

Where: Streets of downtown Detroit, Mich.

When: Sunday, June 4, 3:00pm ET

The contrast couldn’t be greater. After the 220mph-plus, momentum-is-everything challenge of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the NTT IndyCar Series is back to stamping on the brakes, arm-wrestling the steering wheel, and mashing the throttle for a full-on street fight at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

But after 16 years on Belle Isle’s parkland roads, it’s all change and all new as the brawl heads west a couple miles to downtown Motown and a 1.645-mile, nine-turn track that wraps around the Detroit skyline-defining GM Renaissance Center and skirts the Detroit River. It’s a return to some of the same city streets that hosted Formula 1 from 1982 to ’88 and CART from ’89 to ’91, with some familiar challenges and a few new twists. And for the teams and drivers of the IndyCar Series, no matter how many miles they’ve run in the simulator, it’s a journey into the unknown.

Based on the city’s street grid, the track has its fair share of 90-degree bends, but a long, near-200mph blast on Jefferson Avenue’s back straight followed by massively heavy braking into Turn 3’s double-90 “hairpin” and prime passing spot means setup will be a compromise and a puzzle that teams will have only two sessions and 150 minutes to unlock before diving into Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session. 

Throw in the unforgiving walls that wrap around the track and it’s going to take a zero-mistake weekend to have even a chance of challenging for the pole or for the win in Sunday’s 100-lap, 164.5-mile race.  

“(It’s) going to be interesting because there’s no previous data for us on this new track,” notes Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta. “It looks like this updated layout has some good overtaking opportunities, and the track also consists of mostly 90-degree left and right turns.”

Adds Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who heads to the Motor City off the back of his last-lap victory in the 107th Indianapolis 500: “I think you’re going to have five or six lanes wide to make (a pass into Turn 3) happen. I think the racing action is going to be very intense in that point, but also the technique (necessary) will be important; trying to figure out how to get the most out of the car around that type of corner. That’s going to be a critical part for our first year here.”

And in another fascinating twist, with space at a premium in downtown Detroit, the pit lane is split into two, with half of the 27-car field pitting on the left and half on the right, before merging again at pit exit. Will two into one go? We’ll find out on Sunday afternoon…

You can follow all the practice and qualifying action on Peacock on Friday, June 2, and Saturday, June 3, with NBC taking over for race day on Sunday, June 4. And to get even closer to it all, grab the best seat in the house with the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA and its 14 race day live onboard cameras.

TUNE IN

Friday, June 2 / 3:00pm – 4:30pm ET – Practice 1 – Peacock

Saturday, June 3 / 9:05am – 10:05am ET – Practice 2 – Peacock

Saturday, June 3 / 1:20pm – 2:50pm ET – Qualifying – Peacock

Sunday, June 4 / 10:00am – 10:30am ET – Warmup – Peacock

Sunday, June 4 / 3:00pm – 6:00pm ET – RACE – NBC, Peacock

• All sessions and the race are also available as audio commentary on SiriusXM and INDYCAR Radio.

Ride along with the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA

Taking you inside the action, 14 drivers will be carrying in-car cameras. During the race, you can live-stream every one of them with the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA. You choose who you ride along with, and you can switch drivers at any time. The App’s free to download for fans worldwide and you can find out more HERE. If you’re not already onboard, take your viewing experience to a whole new level HERE.

Bringing you the onboard action from the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix are…

Josef Newgarden / No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet

First of all, forget any talk of Indy 500 winner’s “hangover” – Newgarden will be even more motivated by his victory at the Brickyard (below) and, getting right back down to business, will be looking to close the 37-point gap to championship leader Alex Palou. The Team Penske ace is a six-time street-course race winner, and if the No. 2 Chevy can unload strong, he could become the first Indy 500 champion since Arie Luyendyk, way back in 1997 at Texas Motor Speedway, to win his next race start.

Colton Herta / No. 26 Andretti Autosport Honda

Six races in the books, but with no podiums and only 10th in points to his name, Detroit could be a pivotal weekend for Herta. The Andretti Autosport driver knows he has a car that’s up to the job on road and street courses, but as he told RACER, “We’ve been fast, but nothing’s really played into our hands.” He qualified on the front row in St. Pete’s 2023 season opener and ran strongly until tangling with Will Power, then turned seventh on the grid into a fourth-place finish at Long Beach. If he puts a complete weekend together in the third street race of the year, Herta could be one of the drivers to beat.

Alexander Rossi / No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

A strong month of May at Indy was further confirmation that Rossi’s assimilation into Arrow McLaren after seven seasons with Andretti Autosport is working well, with a third place in the Indy GP and fifth in the “500.” Last year, he put on a late-race charge to finish just 1.0027s behind winner Will Power in Detroit-Belle Isle’s swan song. Can he go one place better in 2023?

Pato O’Ward / No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

O’Ward loved the challenge of Detroit’s Belle Isle street circuit, and one gets the impression that he’ll thrive between the walls of its downtown successor, too. The Arrow McLaren ace only lost out on a win in the St. Pete season opener after a late-race, momentary engine glitch, and should be a major factor again this weekend. After three second-place finishes in the first six races, we’re putting the spectacular Mexican as favorite to grab his first victory of 2023.

Will Power / No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet
Power’s only victory of his mega-consistent, championship-winning 2022 campaign came at Detroit-Belle Isle’s final race (below), when he started 16th, yet ended up leading 55 of 70 laps. With the switch to downtown, can the Aussie take up where he left off in Motown and start to put momentum into a title defense that sees him only ninth in points after six races?

Romain Grosjean / No. 28 Andretti Autosport Honda

Grosjean’s street-course stats so far in 2023: pole and 31 laps led at St. Pete, prior to a coming together with Scott McLaughlin, then third on the grid and a second-place finish at Long Beach. We’re still waiting for the Frenchman to confirm the seemingly inevitable and take his first NTT IndyCar Series race win, and the streets of Detroit could well be the place he finally does it.

Scott McLaughlin / No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet

He led a race-high 37 laps at St. Pete, before enduring a somewhat lower-key weekend on the streets of Long Beach, but McLaughlin knows how to win an NTT IndyCar Series race on a street course (see St. Pete, 2022) and has the proven ability to start strong and stay strong at tracks that are new to him. Expect race engineer Ben Bretzman and the No. 3 Team Penske crew to give him a strong car straight off the hauler, and watch for the sixth-in-points Kiwi to take care of the rest.

Felix Rosenqvist / No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet

It was “coulda, woulda, shoulda” for Rosenqvist at the Indy 500, the Arrow McLaren driver leading 33 laps before hitting the wall on lap 184 and being collected by Kyle Kirkwood in the day’s scariest incident. But putting that behind him, the Swede heads into Detroit on a wave of momentum – including three consecutive top-10 finishes prior to the “500” – and could be right up there with teammates Pato O’Ward and Alexander Rossi in the battle at the sharp end.

Kyle Kirkwood / No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda

Can Kirkwood make it consecutive street course wins after his first NTT IndyCar Series career win in April’s Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach (below)? The Andretti Autosport driver will definitely be a factor on the series’ first visit to downtown Detroit – and if you want a past precedent, check out Kirkwood’s ultra-dominant 2018 USF2000 season and his impressive ability to be quick right out of the blocks on tracks he’s never raced at before.

Conor Daly / No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet

Another strong run in the Indy 500 might reinforce the perception that Daly’s at his best on the NTT IndyCar Series’ ovals, but don’t underestimate his street and road course prowess. His career-best result came just a couple miles east of this weekend’s venue – second at Belle Isle in 2016 – and the level playing field of a new track could see him and the No. 20 ECR Chevy putting themselves somewhere in the frame.

Graham Rahal / No. 15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

After making plenty of storylines at Indianapolis Motor Speedway – mostly for the wrong reasons – Rahal is back in RLL’s No. 15 Honda following a brief foray with Dreyer & Reinbold’s No. 24 Chevy. A brand-new racetrack could play to some of Rahal and his team’s relative strengths – notably, a recurring ability to make strong strategic calls on the fly – while narrowing the gap to the championship-chasing teams when it comes to finding an effective setup right out of the box. Motown’s been a happy hunting ground for Graham in the past, so here’s hoping the switch of venues will continue the theme.

Christian Lundgaard / No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda

Sixth at Barber for Lundgaard, followed by pole position and a fourth-place finish on the IMS road course speaks to progress at RLL. Continue the trend line and this weekend could be a big one for the 2022 Rookie of the Year. Same as for his teammate, Graham Rahal, an all-new racetrack and RLL’s strategic chops at a place where multiple cautions are likely on the cards could be a boon for the Dane (below). Let’s call it for a top-five finish here…and perhaps even more?

Simon Pagenaud / No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda

Sitting 25th in points, and with a season-best finish of only 15th, Pagenaud and his No. 60 MSR Honda crew are still looking for any sort of result that hints at a turnaround in their collective fortunes. Will an all-new track be a help or a hindrance? We’ll start to get our answers on Friday afternoon. Fact is, the Frenchman is still one of the best street course hustlers out there, and MSR hasn’t forgotten how to go racing. But until things start to click again, a top-10 in Detroit would be a relative win for the combo.

Agustin Canapino / No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet

Recent results don’t tell the full story of just how well Canapino is making the transition from tin-top racing to one of the fastest and most-demanding open-wheel series on the planet. The Argentinian driver’s poise and speed during the month of May was a revelation, and this weekend’s leveler of a new track for everyone could set the stage for a breakout weekend. Don’t be surprised to see the Juncos Hollinger Racing rookie vying for a top-10 finish.

The INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA is free to download and access, so don’t miss out – CLICK HERE to get started.