2024 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix

Race Notes

• The 2024 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix was 100 laps on the 1.645-mile downtown Detroit street circuit totaling 164.5 miles. The pit road speed was 45 mph and the race started the fourth time by the start-line flag stand. Pole sitter Colton Herta gridded drivers' left.
• All cars but those of Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood, Théo Pourchaire, Christian Lundgaard, Pietro Fittipaldi and Agustin Canapino started the race on primary black tires. Each car was required to use one new set of alternate green tires and one set of primary black tires during the race, unless rain tires were used in the race due to weather.
• At 12:30 p.m. EDT, 15 minutes before the scheduled green flag, the ambient temperature was 71 degrees with cloudy skies. The track temperature was 76 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• At 12:36 p.m., Marissa West gave the command, "Drivers, start your engines." All engines fired and all cars rolled off the grid.
• On Lap 1, Herta led the field out of Turn 2 to the start line. The race's first yellow flag came out shortly after for a multi-car incident in Turn 3.
  • The contact involved the cars of Pato O'Ward, Alexander Rossi, Linus Lundqvist, Will Power, Santino Ferrucci, Jack Harvey and Tristan Vautier.
  • The yellow-flag period lasted until Lap 4.
• Herta led the Lap 4 restart chased by Palou, who was 0.5526 of a second behind the leader on Lap 7.
• Palou, who started the race on used alternate green tires, experienced falloff and pitted on Lap 11, giving up second position to Scott McLaughlin.
• On Lap 15, the race's second full-course caution began.
  • The No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Helio Castroneves and the No. 4 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of Kyffin Simpson made contact in Turn 5 after Castroneves' race car was hit from behind by the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Ferrucci, causing Castroneves to spin and collect Simpson.
  • Leaders under the second caution were Herta, McLaughlin, Kirkwood, Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon.
  • The pits opened under caution on Lap 17 with multiple drivers taking advantage.
• Herta led the Lap 22 restart and remained in front of McLaughlin until Lap 33, when the second-placed driver brought out the race's third full-course caution.
  • The No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet of McLaughlin made contact with the barrier in Turn 1.
  • Leaders under the third caution were Herta, Newgarden, Kirkwood, Dixon and Marcus Ericsson.
  • During the caution, the leaders made pit stops which cycled Lundgaard to the lead on Lap 35.
  • During the extended caution, which lasted for a total of eight laps, many cars switched to rain tires with rain reported around the circuit and increasingly slick conditions. Several cars, including Dixon, remained on racing slicks.
• Lundgaard led the field on Lap 41 but the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda of Kirkwood completed a pass for the lead in Turn 3. Behind, the race's fourth full-course caution period began due to an incident in Turn 3 involving the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet of Will Power and the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet of Rinus VeeKay.
  • During the five-lap caution, several cars made pit stops.
  • Lundgaard hit his inside front tire and changer on entry while Newgarden hit the wheelgun on exit. Both drivers were later penalized.
• Green-flag racing resumed on Lap 46 but slowed again when the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda of Herta made contact with the Turn 5 barrier, brining out the fifth caution of the race.
• Racing resumed on Lap 52 but the circuit was yellow flagged again for a multi-car incident in Turn 3 involving Lundqvist, Marcus Armstrong, Lundgaard and Romain Grosjean.
  • Yellow-flag pit stops on Lap 56 included Dixon, Lundgaard and Newgarden. Notably, Dixon's strategy was to make it until Lap 100 without stopping again.
  • The race's sixth caution was seven laps long.
• Kirkwood led the Lap 60 restart and continued at the front of the field until Lap 64 when the race's seventh caution period began.
  • The No. 41 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Sting Ray Robb was stopped in Turn 5 after contact with the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet of McLaughlin.
  • Leaders at the time of the seventh caution were Kirkwood, Ericsson, Rossi, Palou and O'Ward.
  • Following pit stops under caution, Dixon assumed the race lead on Lap 66.
• On Lap 70, Dixon led the field out of Turn 2 to the start line. Green-flag racing was short lived due to the race's eighth and final caution for contact involving the cars of Palou and Newgarden in Turn 3. Lasting four laps, the caution ended on Lap 73.
• Dixon led the restart on Lap 74 and went on to lead a race-high 35 laps en route to his 58th career IndyCar victory with a 0.8567-second margin of victory over Ericsson, who passed Armstrong for the second position on Lap 99.
• The effort marked Dixon's second win of 2024 and his fourth Detroit victory. He won the races on Belle Isle in 2012, 2018 (Race 1) and 2019 (Race 2). His four Detroit wins are an event record.
• Ericsson scored his first podium finish for Andretti Global while Armstrong earned his first career IndyCar podium.
• Points after the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix:
  1. Dixon 216
  2. Palou 198 (-18)
  3. Power 185 (-31)
  4. O'Ward 160 (-56)
  5. Rossi 150 (-66)
  6. Kirkwood 148 (-68)
  7. Herta 147 (-69)
  8. McLaughlin 141 (-75)
  9. Rosenqvist 140 (-76)
  10. Newgarden 128 (-88)
      

Session Notes

• The first on-track action for the NTT IndyCar Series on Detroit race day was morning warm-up at 9:30 a.m. EDT. Following overnight rain, the racing line was dry but there were some damp spots on track.
• The 30-minute session almost ran without stopping until a red flag in the final minutes.
• At 9:58 a.m., the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Théo Pourchaire stopped in the Turn 1 runoff and required assistance from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team.
• The session resumed at 9:59 a.m. but was quickly checkered. After all laps were completed, the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet of Josef Newgarden was fastest overall with a lap time of 1:02.0463.
  

• Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award consists of three segments. In the first round, each group receives 10 minutes of track time with the clock starting when the first car hits the alternate start-finish line. The fastest six cars from each group advance to Round 2 while the remaining cars are assigned positions 13 to 27. Group 1 drivers will occupy the odd-numbered positions while Group 2 drivers will occupy the even-numbered positions based on their fastest lap times. During Round 2, the 12 advancing cars receive 10 minutes of track time with the fastest six cars advancing to the Firestone Fast Six while the remaining cars are ranked in positions seven through 12 based on their fastest laps. During the Firestone Fast Six, the six cars receive six minutes of guaranteed green-flag time. At the end of session, cars are ranked one through six based on their fastest laps.
• At 12:05 p.m. EDT, 10 minutes before the start of qualifying, the ambient temperature at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix circuit was 75 degrees. The track temperature was 103 degrees according to Firestone engineers.
• The first segment of qualifying featured two penalties:
  • In Group 1, the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet of Romain Grosjean was issued a drive-through penalty for causing a local yellow condition that impacted another competitor.
  • in Group 2, the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Felix Rosenqvist was penalized its fastest lap to the point of the infraction for causing a local yellow condition that affected another competitor.
• During Round 2, the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Pato O'Ward stopped off course in Turn 5, bringing out a red flag. O'Ward was stripped of his two fastest laps and the ability to advance.
• Colton Herta, Kyle Kirkwood, Scott Dixon, Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou and Josef Newgarden advanced to the Firestone Fast Six. Notably, Herta's lap time of 1:00.2304 marked a new qualifying lap record for the current layout of the Detroit street circuit.
• In the final minute of the Firestone Fast Six, the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda of Kirkwood stopped on course in Turn 1. For causing a red flag, Kirkwood was stripped of his two fastest laps and was unable to continue on track.
• Following the red-flag condition, the five remaining cars were given ability to compete one timed lap.
• At the conclusion of Round 3, Colton Herta's 1:00.5475 earned the Andretti Global driver his 12th career NTT IndyCar Series pole.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 2 kicked off Saturday morning in Detroit for the NTT IndyCar Series with a 45-minute session that started at 9:10 a.m. EDT and went until 10:10 a.m., allowing the clock to stop for up to 15 minutes for red flags.
• The session went for almost its full duration until 9:55 a.m., when the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet of Théo Pourchaire made contact with the barrier in Turn 9. Pourchaire was later checked and released from the INDYCAR Medical Unit.
• Practice resumed with 1:14 remaining on the clock. At the conclusion of the session, the Colton Herta's 1:01.5726 in the No. 26 Andretti Global Honda was the fastest lap.
  

Session Notes

• Practice 1 began on time at 3 p.m. EDT. The first 45 minutes of the session was reserved for all cars, while the final 30 minutes saw the field broken into two groups with 10 minutes of track time each.
• The all-cars portion proceeded without incident.
• Each of the group segments experienced a red flag.
  • Group 1 paused at 3:55 p.m. for the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet of Christian Rasmussen. Green-flag running resumed at 3:58 p.m.
  • Group 2's red flag came out at 4:15 p.m. when the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda of Jack Harvey made contact at the exit of Turn 7. The race car came to a stop between Turns 7 and 8. Harvey was later seen and released from the INDYCAR Medical Unit. Group 2 resumed at 4:21 p.m.
• At the conclusion of Practice 1, Alex Palou was fastest with a 1:01.7210 in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.