After a thrilling Indianapolis 500 last weekend, it’s time for the NTT IndyCar Series to return to action this weekend on the streets of Belle Isle. The annual doubleheader Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix (3 p.m. ET/NBC/INDYCAR Radio Network) will feature not just one race, but two this weekend.

Here are five storylines surrounding Saturday and Sunday’s race.

Grueling Stretch

This weekend is far from easy for the teams in the paddock. They went from an oval test at Indy on April 24 to having to turn the cars over to the road course cars for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 10-11. Then, it was back over to an oval configuration for two weeks on the famed 2.5-mile oval and now back to a street course program for this weekend.

INDYCAR Grand Prix, Indy 500 qualifying, Indy 500, now a doubleheader on the roughest surface on the schedule at Belle Isle. That’s a lot of work on these crews.

The best will rise to the top this weekend.

The Start Of The Championship Push

The Indy Car season is really broken down into three parts – the build up to the ‘500, the ‘500 itself, then the championship push after. We’re in that moment now.

The real push for the 2019 title begins this weekend. The first six races were all about positioning yourself to be in a prime position for Belle Isle. Currently, Simon Pagenaud leads Josef Newgarden by one point. Alexander Rossi (-22), Takuma Sato (-47) and Scott Dixon (-47) are also within striking distance.

With two races totaling full points in each this weekend, this is a critical moment for all these teams.

Winners For Whatever Reason Come From Outside Fast Six

It seems like starting position matters more in Indy Car now than ever before. Heading into this weekend, all but one race has been won from the first 2 Rows. Three of the last six have been won the pole while 10 of the last 13 overall from the top four starting positions.

For whatever reason, Belle Isle has been the complete opposite. Five of the last eight winners on the street circuit have come from eighth or worse.

20th, 9th – 2015

13th, 8th – 2016

1st, 3rd – 2017

2nd, 10th – 2018

But, we’ve also had three of the last four from the top two Rows though too. So, will starting position matter this weekend?

Honda vs. Chevy

This is a big weekend for the Chevrolet camp since this race is in their own backyard. Plus, Chevy is the title sponsor of the weekend too. But, last year was a black eye for the bowties. The pace car, a Chevy obviously, crashed pulling out of the pits to start the second race on Sunday. Then, Honda drivers swept the weekend in winning both races. It was the second straight year that Honda swept the the doubleheader event in Belle Isle.

Honda rides a four race win streak in Detroit and has won three of the six races in 2019 and 12 of the last 17 overall. That comes after Chevy won four of the first six races last year. Honda has claimed a 12-5 advantage in victories since Belle Isle last year.

Don’t Expect Many Cautions

Despite being a bumpy street course, Belle Isle doesn’t produce a ton of caution flags. Since 2016, we’ve had three or fewer in each race.

2, 3 – 2016

2, 1 – 2017

2, 1 – 2018

As you can see, we’ve had two stoppages in race No. 1 in each of the last three years. We’ve only had one caution in race No. 2 in each of the last two years. That means strategy may not come in play this weekend.

Parity

We’ve seen five different race winners in six races this season. We’ve also had eight in the last 10 overall. Will we see two more new winners this weekend?