DETROIT, Mich — Coming into Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, the prospects of the 100 lap race wasn’t met with high expectations. In two practice sessions, we witnessed 11 red flags. It was honestly rare to see a lap turned without someone either spinning, getting into the run off or even crashing.

Most were thinking that Sunday’s race would look a lot like the carnage that we’ve seen the last two years on the streets of Nashville.

The first two years of the Music City Grand Prix each saw nine cautions in both races. 9 cautions for 33 laps in 2021 and 9 for 36 laps in 2022. 

“I think it’s going to race similar to Nashville,” second place starter, Scott McLaughlin, says.

“Everyone says we crash a lot in Nashville. I think it’s going to race very well. It’s just going to be up to us with the etiquette of the drivers to leave it up to us and figure it out along the way.”

Championship rival, Pato O’Ward agreed. 

“I think it’ll be about survival,” O’Ward said. “Is it going to be as crazy as Nashville, I don’t know. Does it have the potential to be as crazy as Nashville? Absolutely.”

Scott Dixon said that this race would be somewhat similar to Nashville and the last man standing is the one who gets the victory.

“Honestly, I agree with all the drivers, or most of the drivers. It’s too tight for INDYCARs,” pole sitter Alex Palou admitted. “It’s too short for INDYCARs. There’s too much traffic. It’s too bumpy.”

In saying that, McLaughlin said be careful what you say. He defended his bosses venture back to the downtown Detroit streets.

“We’ll be all right. With the track, there’s been a lot of noise I’ve seen in Twitter, from other drivers and stuff,” he said. “At the end of the day this is a new track, new complex. I think what everyone has done to get this going, like the vibe is awesome. Belle Isle was getting old. We had to do it.

“Yeah, first-year problems. It’s always going to happen. It’s just going to get better from here. The racetrack for the drivers is a blast. We don’t even know how it races yet. Everyone is making conclusions already. They probably just need to relax and wait for tomorrow. I just had to get that in. Sorry.”

He was right.

No crashes in warmup. Just four crashes in the race and only one was for a multi-car crash.

We saw 10 lead changes among seven different drivers and a race that looked nothing like Nashville.

If you wanted to pass, you could. It was 2 hours of action packed racing that most felt would be a display of chaos.

“We had more grip than I expected,” said Palou. “The track kept evolving with our sessions and with other series, like Indy NXT and Trans-Am cars. You could see the driving lane — it was black, all full of rubber. That allowed for some more overtaking. I was able to pass some cars that were a lap down or on the back. I was able to pass Will (Power). He was able to pass me, as well. Was able to pass (Alexander) Rossi, as well.

“I thought there was going to be zero passes, honestly, without a crash. So, yeah, it was better than I expected. Obviously we had quite a lot of yellows, but everywhere you go, if there’s a street course, you’re going to have a lot of drama.”

Second place finisher, Will Power never doubted that this would be a success.

“Yeah, I did,” he said if he thought this would be a great race. “I said it coming up the elevator, It’s a pretty good race from the outside. Some pretty big moves in there from people. I can’t imagine what it was like back in the pack. Looked like it was a great race.”

Third place finisher, Felix Rosenqvist agreed.

“Yeah, that was an awesome race,” he said. “I have to say, I was really impressed what GM and Chevy have done to make this happen. There was some criticism to start the weekend, but it all played out really nicely. I have to say it was a fun racetrack, it raced really well.

“That long straightaway, we picked a low downforce option and we were able to pass on cars at the end of the straight. Yeah, it was awesome. I thought it wasn’t going to be a lot of passing, but it raced super well. Big thanks to GM and Chevy.

“I think the track really came alive during the race. It seems like this track, every session the track goes more slippery. As you do more laps it gets grippier and grippier, more than other street courses.

“I thought during the race it really came alive. It was cool. The steering was heavy, you’re carrying a lot of speed. Even on full tanks, we were doing like qualifying lap times.

“This is cool, you’re doing some good corner speeds. You have to be so focused. Bouncing between the walls, it’s insane how much effort goes into it mentally to do a hundred laps out there, especially when you have to race other guys around you.

“I think it was a cool challenge and awesome show for everyone.”

Power says that he thinks next year if they resurface the second half of the straight you would have more passing.

This weekend is the first race back on the downtown side of Detroit since 1991. 

I mean the first time there ever was a race in the Motor City was in 1982 and it was on these streets of downtown. That was for a F1 race. That lasted until 1988. In 1989, CART came to town to replace F1 and they raced on the street course in downtown for three years.

A year later, CART moved from downtown to Belle Isle and would remain there through 2001. They didn’t go back in 2002 and wouldn’t again until Roger Penske got involved. Thank the Super Bowl at Ford Field for that.

Penske, was on the Super Bowl XL committee and strived to bring an INDYCAR race back to his hometown in 2007. That worked. Then came the economy drop out which greatly affected the Detroit area.

INDYCAR stopped going again in 2009 but returned in 2012. With the current contract ending at the end of 2022, Penske Corp, who not only run the series but also promotes the race, is wanting a fresh start and that’s to move the race back downtown.

This layout though is only 1.7 miles in length. The thing is, .9 miles of that is a straightaway. That’s .8 miles for the rest of the track with 9 turns in it. 

“It’s a different track. It’s a new track. It’s going to be a great event,” said O’Ward. “I mean, I feel like Belle Isle has a lot of very different corners that get the circuit together. Here we’ve got nine corners, one chicane, a lot of very similar kind of first speed corners I’d say, one hairpin, yeah.”