DETROIT — Alex Palou, the most vocal critic of the tight and bumpy Detroit street course, may have to re-evaluate his criticism after winning an exciting Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on Sunday.
Palou — who entered the race on the pole but said the 1.645-mile, nine-turn street course was too short and too bumpy for the NTT IndyCar Series — was in charge for most of the race, holding off a charging Will Power of Team Penske to score the victory.
Palou’s Honda defeated Power’s Chevrolet by 1.1843 seconds.
“The car was on point today,” Palou said. “We were super proud of the effort. We had an issue (with the gearbox) that was probably my fault. We got it back and we got another win this year. I’m happy we are in victory lane again.”
All in all, it was one of the better IndyCar street races so far this season.
“It’s a pretty good race from the outside,” Power said. “Some pretty big moves in there from people. I can’t imagine that it was like back in the pack. It looked like it was a great race.”
Before the race, Palou was one driver who believed the track was too short and too bumpy for IndyCar.
He modified his comments after scoring the victory.
“Honestly, it was tight,” he said. “We saw that. It was a really fun race. It was a lot better than I expected. We had a lot more grip today than what we did. I think the track evolve a lot during the weekend. I will watch the race obviously because I had a clean race, let’s say. But honestly Detroit did a tremendous job. The fans were amazing.
“I was mind blown of how many fans we had today being a first-time event. Also, the podium on victory lane was really fun. Hopefully we can tweak some stuff and make it even better for next year. I cannot wait.”
The victory gives Palou a 51-point lead over Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson, who finished ninth.
Felix Rosenqvist of Arrow McLaren was third in the No. 6 Chevrolet, who was involved in some fierce racing with teammate Alexander Rossi at the end of the race.
“We’ll discuss it internally,” Rossi said of his battle with his teammate.
Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing was fourth in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda with Rossi finishing fifth in the No. 7 Chevrolet.
“The car was the quickest, but track position was the key,” Dixon said. “The first pit stop exchange; we pitted early and had that overlap. Huge congrats to Alex on the 10 car side. They did a great job. It’s wild. I had a lot of fun. The track was difficult and had a lot of character. These things aren’t supposed to be easy, and I had a lot of fun.”
Power said he didn’t know Dixon was there.
“He went in deep, it is slippery there, I made sure I got back up the inside of him on the second one,” Power said. “I didn’t think someone would get into me. That’s racing, man. IndyCar. It’s tough. It’s a great job.”
There were 10 lead changes among seven drivers and seven cautions with 189 total passes.
Palou won the race at an average speed of 80.923 miles per hour. But the first race on the streets of Detroit since 1991 was a commercial success with a large crowd, especially in the massive pit road suits that cost $75,000 for the 25-person suites and $125,000 for the 50-person suites.
The corporate community of Detroit turned out, and so did the spectators, giving the NTT IndyCar Series another big event after this race had been held at Belle Isle Park from 1992 to 2022, except for 2009-2011 because of the Great Recession.
Palou’s 51-point lead over Ericsson is a sizable one as the series takes next weekend off before reconvening at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on June 18.
“We’re in the hunt, P2, I’m very excited about it,” Ericsson said.
Palou gained 20 points in the championship in one race.
“Alex was complaining about the track yesterday, but I think it’s his new favorite track,” team owner Chip Ganassi said.
As for the racing on the track, it was fierce, especially on the restarts.
Although the winner was Palou, it was Team Penske’s Power that put on the show. He started seventh and found ways to pass to get up to the lead. Power’s No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet was in front for 14 laps in the 100-lap contest.
“I’m very satisfied,” Power said. “Good strategy. Starting on the blacks, everything played out as we thought. I guess we were worried when the yellow came. Everyone packs up. But then we got a yellow again, so that kind of helped us. We had 10 laps to push hard. I got Palou on the restart. Then they went off, he got me back. Yeah, I couldn’t get him. I tried everything.
“I think my one chance was when Dixon got into me a little bit, I was trying to switch back and get a run, get him into four. Apart from that, yeah, the next restart was in third, so I didn’t have another shot at him. Very good job. Man, you’re never looking back on seconds as a bad day. Although the guy I was needing to close points to, was the guy that won. We limited the damage.”
Power was cheered on all weekend by his newest fan, Flavor Flav of Public Enemy.
The rapper even came to the Team Penske office motorhome, known as P1, and met with team owner Roger Penske, president Tim Cindric and Power on Saturday.
“I was just sitting and talking to Roger and Tim yesterday, we were watching an interview an interview of Flavor Flav,” Power recalled. “I said, if he’s here, he’s got to come over. I got to meet him. Then he came on to my truck. He had the Will Power shirt on. His girlfriend had the same. A couple of my boys from Toowoomba said, ‘You have made it.’
“We all listened to Public Enemy in the ’90s. Flavor Flav was someone I thought I would never meet. He is the most positive dude you will ever meet. I thought he was going to come to the podium. I think if I won, he would have. Pretty cool experience. Pretty cool to put it on your personal Facebook. All your friends that you went to school with, ‘This man is big-time, he’s hanging out with Flavor Flav.’
“I sat next to Ice-T at dinner. I have also had dinner with Slash from Guns N’ Roses. No one cares about race cars, or I won the Indy 500, it’s like, ‘You had dinner with Slash, you know Flavor Flav.’
“I said this morning to Flavor Flav, ‘People today are going to have to fight the power.’ That’s what I said. It was true.
“They have to fight the power.”
Power fought the fight, but it was Palou that won the race.