2026 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix

Palou Wins Detroit for 23rd Career Victory as Rahal Surges from 12th to Podium

Alex Palou led 71 of 100 laps to claim victory at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, his second triumph on the Streets of Detroit and the 23rd of his NTT IndyCar Series career — pulling level with the legendary Tommy Milton for 20th on the all-time wins list. Kyle Kirkwood was a persistent but ultimately unable runner-up, and Graham Rahal completed the podium in a result few outside the Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing pit box anticipated when the 100-lap, 164.5-mile race began. With the win, Palou stretches his championship lead to 62 points over Kirkwood with 10 races to run.

The field took the green flag at the start line in double-file formation, with Palou immediately using the inside of a street circuit he knows intimately to assert control. By Lap 8 the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda had opened a 1.7810-second gap over Scott McLaughlin in the No. 3 Clarience Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet — the fastest lap of the race, 1:03.0794, also set by Palou on that lap — before the first caution arrived on Lap 9 when Christian Rasmussen made contact with the barrier in Turn 1 in the No. 21 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevrolet. Rasmussen was seen and released from the INDYCAR Medical Unit.

The restart gave Will Power his opening. On Lap 17 the No. 26 TWG AI Andretti Global Honda cleared Palou through Turn 3 to become the race's second leader, a position he held for 18 laps while the field sorted itself into its pit-stop cycle. Palou, meanwhile, found himself briefly in the wrong part of the strategy as the lap-35 pit window opened.

"I made a bad decision and put myself in a bad scenario and lost two or three places instead of gaining one," he said afterward. The team responded with an undercut that proved decisive. Power, McLaughlin, Siegel and Ferrucci all pitted together on Lap 35, handing the lead to Lundgaard and then Armstrong before Palou re-emerged from the pit cycle in front.

A second caution complicated matters further at Lap 39, when Kyffin Simpson made contact with Rahal in Turn 3 in the No. 8 Sunoco Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, spinning the RLL driver and drawing a drive-through penalty for Simpson. Under the resulting yellow, Rosenqvist — who had not yet pitted — briefly led the race before cycling in with the field on Lap 41, returning the top spot to Palou. Marcus Armstrong's No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda was also sent to the back of the field after pitting while the lane was closed under emergency service conditions. The caution that could have ended Rahal's afternoon had instead quietly placed him in a tactical position he would not relinquish.

From the Lap 44 restart, Palou controlled the race front with the patience and precision that have become the hallmark of his championship season, leading by more than three seconds at the halfway mark and managing a decisive tire strategy built around two stints on the alternate compound followed by a final run on primaries. "We kind of figured that the crossover was about 15 green laps before the primaries were better," said team manager Barry Wanser.

The third caution arrived on Lap 66 — a Turn 5 incident between Ferrucci and VeeKay drawing a drive-through penalty for Ferrucci — and it was under this yellow that the Palou-Kirkwood battle reached its pivot: Palou, pitting to primes, handed the lead to the No. 27 Sam's Club Andretti Global Honda driver, then took it back at Lap 69 when pits opened and Kirkwood followed suit. "He pit off of reds, he was starting to deg bad," Kirkwood said. "He realized that gap was closing so he realized he needed to get on primes."

The final quarter of the race offered no respite. Dixon, who had been running fourth from his front-row start, retired on Lap 69 with mechanical failure in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. A fourth caution on Lap 73 brought Kirkwood and the field back together when Schumacher and Malukas made contact with the tire barrier in Turn 5 — Schumacher assessed a drive-through for pitting while the lane was closed, Malukas eventually classified 18th after running four laps down. Ferrucci then stopped in Turn 3 with mechanical failure on Lap 80, drawing a fifth caution. Power, who had been fighting through the field after his strong early showing, made contact with McLaughlin and was classified 22nd after 79 laps. McLaughlin, who started third and had been in podium contention for much of the afternoon, required a lengthy pit stop to address the contact damage and took the checkered flag 19th and four laps down.

A sixth and final caution flew on Lap 91 when Rossi made contact with Grosjean in Turn 3. Rossi was assessed a 15-second stop-and-hold penalty for avoidable contact, dropping him to 17th. The restart on Lap 93 gave Kirkwood one last opportunity to pressure the leader, but Palou, carrying more push-to-pass and fresher tire performance, opened the gap back to 2.5234 seconds at the white flag. "At the end I think he just didn't have enough grip on the tires," Kirkwood said of the margin between them.

Rahal crossed the line third — 5.1803 seconds off Palou's pace — capping a three-stop strategy that turned a 12th-place starting position into his best Detroit result since back-to-back wins at Belle Isle in 2017 and the team's third podium of 2026. "We weren't the only ones" to anticipate the yellows, he acknowledged, crediting fuel mileage, pit execution and smart timing on the final stop window.

O'Ward finished fourth in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet ahead of Lundgaard in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. Rosenqvist delivered on his warm-up pace to finish sixth in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda, leading one lap and gaining 10 positions from where he had qualified. Foster was seventh in the No. 45 Droplight Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, with Ericsson eighth, Simpson ninth and Newgarden — who overcame a left foot injury to advance 11 positions from 21st on the grid — completing the top 10 in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet.

The win was Palou's fourth of 2026 and his second from pole on the Streets of Detroit, matching the result of his 2023 visit to this circuit. "It feels great to be back here on Victory Lane," he said.

"It was not an easy day at all." Rahal offered the afternoon's most candid assessment of the championship leader. "They do everything to a very, very high level," he said. "It's hard to beat people that operate like that."

The championship picture heading into St. Louis has sharpened considerably. Palou leads at 327 points, with Kirkwood's runner-up result vaulting him past Malukas into second at 265 — a gap of 62 points to the front. Malukas, limited to 12 points from 25th in the backup car, drops to third at 248. Lundgaard's fifth place keeps him fourth at 226, with O'Ward fifth at 220 after his fourth-place run. Rosenqvist's charge from 16th to sixth lifts him to sixth in the standings at 205 — the Indy 500 winner's momentum is very much carrying over into the second half of the season. McLaughlin holds seventh at 192, Newgarden eighth at 187. Perhaps the most striking individual movement belongs to Rahal, whose podium pushed him to ninth at 186 — one point behind Newgarden and within striking distance of the top eight — with Armstrong 10th at 174. With 10 races remaining, Kirkwood's own words frame the title fight clearly: "It's not done and lost by any means."

The race was contested over six cautions for 23 laps and featured seven lead changes among six drivers, with 172 passes for position across 173 total passes. Ambient temperature at the start was 69 degrees with sunny skies and a track temperature of 99 degrees.

Kirkwood Leads Warm-Up as Race Day Storylines Take Shape in Detroit

Kyle Kirkwood set the pace in Sunday morning's 30-minute warm-up ahead of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, posting a 1:02.4051 in the No. 27 Sam's Club Andretti Global Honda on his 18th lap. The defending race winner, starting sixth following his Firestone Fast Six struggles on Saturday, showed the kind of race-day pace that makes him a threat regardless of grid position. A debris red flag at 9:50 a.m. briefly interrupted proceedings before the session resumed two minutes later and ran to its conclusion without further incident.

The morning's most striking subplot belonged to David Malukas. One day after his Turn 7 qualifying crash and the grid penalty that followed, the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet driver ran fifth-fastest in warm-up in a backup car — an encouraging sign for a driver starting 25th with championship aspirations in mind. Felix Rosenqvist was second at 1:03.0140 in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda, underlining that the Indianapolis 500 winner's 16th qualifying position may significantly understate his race-day threat.

Several Chevrolet-powered entries — those of Pato O'Ward, Nolan Siegel, Christian Lundgaard, Josef Newgarden and Malukas — ran with replacement engines Sunday morning after two Chevrolet failures during Saturday's sessions. All five completed the session without reported issues. Newgarden, who posted his best time across the entire weekend in this session at 1:03.6541, ran 10th despite managing a left foot injury sustained in the Indianapolis 500. Alexander Rossi, also carrying a foot injury from an Indy 500 practice crash, completed the session in 21st.

Championship leader Alex Palou was eighth at 1:03.5794 and front-row companion Will Power 11th — both appearing to prioritize race setup over outright lap time ahead of the afternoon's 100-lap contest. Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. EDT on FOX, with the green flag set for 12:52 p.m.

Palou Claims Third Straight Pole in Detroit as Turn 7 Derails Malukas and Schumacher

Alex Palou tightened his grip on the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series championship picture on Saturday afternoon, claiming the NTT P1 Award at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear with a 1:01.9017 in the Firestone Fast Six — his third consecutive pole, spanning three different track types in as many races. Will Power put the No. 26 TWG AI Andretti Global Honda on the front row alongside the championship leader with a 1:02.1249. The day's defining subplot, however, belonged to Turn 7, which claimed two prominent victims across the group sessions and most painfully derailed championship contender David Malukas.

Qualifying opened at 63 degrees ambient with a track temperature of 101 degrees and sunny skies. Group 1 had been underway for just eight minutes when Mick Schumacher made contact with the wall in Turn 7 in the No. 47 ENVE Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda, drawing a red flag at 1:08 p.m. Race Control assessed the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year a penalty under Rule 8.3.6 — loss of his two quickest laps and no advancement to Segment 2. Schumacher was seen and released from the INDYCAR Medical Unit. The session resumed at 1:14 p.m. with 2:30 remaining. Marcus Armstrong ultimately topped Group 1 with a 1:02.2309 in the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda, with Pato O'Ward, Scott Dixon, Christian Lundgaard, Louis Foster and Marcus Ericsson joining him in advancing. Schumacher, left with a best of 1:07.4493 after the penalty, was assigned 23rd on the grid.

Turn 7 struck again in Group 2, and with far greater championship consequences. Kyle Kirkwood led the group with the session's fastest qualifying lap of 1:01.4887 in the No. 27 Sam's Club Andretti Global Honda, with Palou, Scott McLaughlin, Power, Graham Rahal and Christian Rasmussen also advancing. Just as Group 2 reached its conclusion, David Malukas made contact with the wall in Turn 7 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, producing a simultaneous red flag and checkered flag at 1:33 p.m. The penalty mirrored Schumacher's — loss of his two quickest laps and no advancement — leaving the second-place championship driver stranded in 25th on the grid with a best of 1:04.6118. For a driver who arrived in Detroit just 37 points behind Palou and in urgent need of a strong result, it was a devastating outcome.

Segment 2 saw all 12 advancing cars push well beyond their group-session pace, with McLaughlin leading the way at 1:01.3334 in the No. 3 Clarience Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet — just 0.0220 seconds ahead of Power at 1:01.3554. Kirkwood, Palou and Lundgaard followed, with Dixon just squeezing into the Fast Six at 1:01.5486, 0.0480 seconds clear of O'Ward in seventh at 1:01.5966. Armstrong, Rasmussen and Ericsson — all fast enough to have led their group sessions — also fell narrowly short of the cutoff. Rahal, who had spoken optimistically about his Detroit prospects before the weekend, was unable to improve on his Group 2 time in Segment 2 and finished last among the 12, starting 12th.

The Firestone Fast Six produced the session's most dramatic moment. McLaughlin, running first, set a provisional pole of 1:02.3559. Power, second out, pushed it to 1:02.1249. Kirkwood, the third car on track, could only manage a 1:03.0303 — the slowest of the six shootout laps and 1.1286 seconds off the final pole time, a stark inversion from a driver who had been fastest of anyone during group qualifying. Palou, fourth to run, sealed the session with a 1:01.9017 that included a brief brush with the wall. "You never know," he said. "You just hope for the best. You enter the corner and you're like, I hope it's going to be okay." Lundgaard ran 1:02.7870 in fifth before Dixon closed out the shootout at 1:02.6085, taking fourth. Notably, O'Ward and Armstrong — who start seventh and eighth — each posted faster Segment 2 times than Palou's pole lap; the single cold-lap format of the Fast Six effectively resets the competitive order.

The pole was Palou's 16th of his IndyCar career — third in a row — and Power noted the achievement with a mixture of admiration and competitive frustration. "I was close to pole, man. Damn," he said. Palou, who also started from pole here in 2023 and won, was measured about its value. "Poles are cool, yeah," he said. "It doesn't pay as much as tomorrow. Sadly we haven't won any of the last two races that we started on pole."

The two front-row starters offered candid views on tire strategy ahead of Sunday's race. Power leaned toward the alternate compound. "I would say the red is probably a better tire for the race because it's not really degging and slightly softer," he said. "Probably is a red race." Palou agreed but pointed to the regulations as the decisive factor. "I think it's going to be a red race basically because of the rules of running two reds," he said. "I think if we didn't have that rule, it would be different for sure."

The championship lens sharpens considerably for Sunday. With Malukas starting 25th after his Turn 7 misfortune and Kirkwood sixth following his Fast Six struggles, Palou's pole carries implications well beyond track position. The moderator offered a final note to close the press conference: the last time Palou started from pole on the Streets of Detroit, he won the race. "Hopefully it's the same," he said.

Kirkwood Tops Practice 2 as Andretti Global Asserts Itself on the Streets of Detroit

A sharply cooler Saturday morning brought markedly improved lap times to the Streets of Detroit, and Kyle Kirkwood made the most of the conditions to head the Practice 2 order and stake an early claim as the driver to beat ahead of afternoon qualifying. The No. 27 Sam’s Club Andretti Global Honda driver posted a session-best 1:01.8145 on his final lap of Group B — nearly a full second quicker than his own Practice 1 benchmark — doing so despite incurring a five-minute time penalty for causing a red flag during the earlier all-cars running. Andretti Global teammate Will Power was second overall at 1:01.9453, with the session reinforcing the team’s growing hold on the weekend.

The 40-minute all-cars segment that opened the morning required patience before it found its rhythm. Debris in Turn 2 triggered a red flag just two minutes in, and the session was neutralized again at 9:13 a.m. when smoke trailed from Rinus VeeKay’s No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet through Turn 5 before the car stopped in Turn 6 — a mechanical setback that limited the Dutch driver to just two laps all session. Sting Ray Robb, meanwhile, collected a drive-through penalty during all-cars running for a pit lane speed violation at Pit Center in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet. Kirkwood’s own morning took a complicated turn when he made contact on course at 9:31 a.m. and brought out the session’s third red flag, earning a five-minute time penalty in the process. He responded by topping the all-cars segment regardless, setting a 1:02.5115 on his 20th lap with Scott McLaughlin close behind at 1:02.6737 in the No. 3 Clarience Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet.

Group A ran first in the reversed group-session format and was red-flagged almost immediately at 9:53 a.m. when smoke trailed from Christian Lundgaard’s No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet on the Jefferson Avenue straight, the car coming to rest in the Turn 3 runoff. The session resumed at 9:58 a.m., and Alex Palou took full advantage of the remaining time to top the group at 1:02.2573 on his 11th and final lap. David Malukas was second in the group at 1:02.3805 in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet, with Scott Dixon third at 1:02.4913 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and Marcus Armstrong fourth at 1:02.5419 in the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda. Lundgaard posted no time in the group following his incident, leaving his best across both practice sessions as the 1:03.2390 he set during Friday afternoon’s all-cars running. Robb also recorded no Group A time.

Group B, which followed at 10:17 a.m., was where the session’s definitive lap arrived. Kirkwood’s 1:01.8145 — set on his 11th and final circuit — stood as the day’s fastest time by 0.1308 seconds over Power, who ran 1:01.9453 on his eighth lap. Pato O’Ward was third in Group B at 1:02.1949 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, followed by McLaughlin at 1:02.2922 and Felix Rosenqvist at 1:02.3047 in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda. The Indianapolis 500 winner continues to show consistent speed in the No. 60, now sixth in the combined two-session standings.

Marcus Ericsson was seventh in the No. 28 Siemens Andretti Global Honda at 1:02.3614, giving Andretti three drivers in the Practice 2 top seven. Malukas and Dixon completed the top 10, with Santino Ferrucci 11th at 1:02.5291 in the No. 14 Homes for Our Troops AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet — a meaningful step forward for a driver who came into the weekend focused on improving the car’s single-lap pace after a difficult qualifying effort here in 2025. Armstrong was 12th at 1:02.5419, and Louis Foster delivered an eye-catching ninth overall at 1:02.4764 in the No. 45 Droplight Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda.

Across the combined two-session standings, Kirkwood leads with a best of 1:01.8145, followed by Power, O’Ward, Palou and McLaughlin. VeeKay, whose mechanical issue left him 25th in the Practice 2 order, is 18th in the combined standings — his best of 1:03.2580 dating back to his Group B run on Friday afternoon. Lundgaard is 17th in the combined order for the same reason. Both drivers will need a swift turnaround ahead of qualifying. More striking still is the position of Josef Newgarden, who sits 23rd in the combined standings at 1:03.7333 — nearly two seconds off Kirkwood’s benchmark in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet. Graham Rahal, who set his Practice 2 best during all-cars running and finished 16th on the session, spoke with quiet confidence during the pre-race media bullpen. “I think we’re in a good spot to actually maybe even win this thing,” he said.

The 21-degree drop in ambient temperature between sessions — 60 degrees ambient and 71.5 degrees track on Saturday morning compared to 81 degrees ambient and 116 degrees track on Friday afternoon — contributed significantly to the improved lap times across the field, and both figures are expected to rise by the 1 p.m. qualifying start. How teams balance the cooler-session learnings against warmer qualifying conditions will be one of the key tactical questions as the Firestone Fast Six approaches.

Qualifying begins at 1 p.m. EDT on FS1, with the single-car format in effect for the street circuit.

Palou Sets Practice 1 Pace in Detroit

The NTT IndyCar Series opened its Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear weekend on the Streets of Detroit on Friday afternoon, and Alex Palou wasted no time making his intentions clear. Working through a session interrupted by three red flags, the championship leader posted the fastest time of Practice 1 — a 1:02.7722 — on his eighth lap of the Group A segment to head the combined session order. Kyle Kirkwood, the defending race winner, was just 0.0192 seconds back in second after topping Group B with a 1:02.7914 on his fourth lap of that segment.

Before the group sessions got underway, Will Power gave an early indication of his weekend intentions by leading the 40-minute all-cars segment with a 1:02.9433 on his ninth lap. The No. 26 TWG AI Andretti Global Honda driver — a three-time Detroit Grand Prix winner whose victories came on the former Belle Isle circuit — never improved on that effort in his Group B running but finished third overall. "Car was very good," he said after the session. "Never got a lap on reds. That was my black tire, which is encouraging."

The all-cars segment was briefly interrupted at 3:12 p.m. when Marcus Ericsson shed fluid on track, forcing a red flag and an eight-minute stoppage. Race Control assessed the No. 28 Siemens Andretti Global Honda driver a five-minute time penalty for causing the red flag. Running resumed at 3:20 p.m. and continued without further incident until the checkered flag at 3:47 p.m.

Group B followed at 3:55 p.m. and was itself neutralized when Romain Grosjean came to a halt in Turn 9 in the No. 18 BMax Dale Coyne Racing Honda at 4:06 p.m. Race Control extended the session to guarantee all Group B drivers at least one timed lap following the stoppage, and racing resumed at 4:08 p.m. Kirkwood made his mark despite the disruption, with his 1:02.7914 setting the group benchmark. Rinus VeeKay was second in Group B at 1:03.2580 in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, with Scott McLaughlin third in the group at 1:03.2834 in the No. 3 Clarience Technologies Team Penske Chevrolet.

Group A ran from 4:15 p.m. and produced the day's fastest lap. The session was briefly halted at 4:25 p.m. when Sting Ray Robb came to a stop in Turn 8 in the No. 77 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet — the car continued under its own power — before Palou's 1:02.7722 was confirmed as the session benchmark following the restart. Marcus Armstrong was second in Group A at 1:03.1743 in the No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda.

In the combined order, Armstrong's Group A effort placed him fourth overall, just 0.0082 seconds ahead of O'Ward, who was fifth at 1:03.1825 with his best coming during the all-cars segment on Lap 11. David Malukas, second in the championship, was sixth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet at 1:03.2111 — also from the all-cars running. Christian Lundgaard was seventh at 1:03.2390 in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, completing a closely matched top seven: the gap from Palou to Lundgaard was just 0.4668 seconds.

VeeKay's Group B best of 1:03.2580 placed him eighth overall, ahead of McLaughlin in ninth. Ericsson, who recovered from his opening penalty to post a competitive effort in Group B, rounded out the top 10. Felix Rosenqvist, the Indianapolis 500 winner arriving in Detroit with considerable momentum, settled for 11th overall after his best of 1:03.4064 came during the all-cars segment. Scott Dixon also found his session-best — a 1:03.4245 — in the all-cars running and finished 12th.

Power and O'Ward offered candid assessments of the tire picture after the session, with both noting that Detroit's concrete surface presented unusual challenges for building tire temperature. The red compound offered only marginal gains, Power said — "not a couple 10ths type thing" — while O'Ward pointed to the circuit's layout as a fundamental limiting factor. "I think we struggle to get a carcass temp in the car much more," he said. "It doesn't help that 80 percent of the track layout... we don't actually gain too much speed from Turn 3 to Turn 7. I mean, one, two, three, four, five corners that you're just in first and second gear." Both drivers suggested that running order in Saturday's Firestone Fast Six could carry unusual weight as a result, with those going first on track holding an advantage before brake and tire temperatures deteriorate.

Despite sitting 17th in the championship standings heading into the weekend, Power's pace offered an early sign that his first season with Andretti Global could yet deliver the results his speed has suggested are within reach. "Andretti is generally very good around these sort of tracks," he said. "I really want a good weekend."

The session was held in 81-degree ambient temperatures under mostly sunny skies, with a track temperature of 116 degrees according to Firestone engineers. Practice 2 runs Saturday morning from 9:05 to 10:25 a.m. EDT on FS1.