IndyCar’s Detroit GP – facts, figures, schedule, entry list
All you need to know ahead of the seventh and eighth rounds of the 2021 NTT IndyCar Series – the double-header Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, around Belle Isle Park.
For full weekend schedule – IndyCar, IMSA and Indy Lights – click here
Event date: Friday, June 11 – Sunday, June 13
Track: 2.35-mile, 14-turn street course in Belle Isle, Detroit, MI.
Race distance: 2 x 70 laps / 164.5 miles
Push-to-pass parameters: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation (for each race)
Firestone tire allotment: Across the weekend, each car is granted 8 sets primary (9 sets for rookies), 5 sets of alternate and 7 sets of rain tires.
IndyCar schedule (local/Eastern Time)
Friday, June 11
5.00-6.15pm – Practice – Peacock Premium
Saturday, June 12
11.00-11.45am – Qualifying for Race 1 (two rounds of knockout qualifying, 10mins each) – NBCSN and Peacock Premium
1.58pm – “Drivers, start your engines”
2.05pm – Green flag: Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 1 (70 laps) – NBC
Sunday, June 13
9.15-10.00am – Qualifying for Race 2 (two rounds of knockout qualifying, 10mins each) – NBCSN and Peacock Premium
12.43pm – “Drivers, start your engines”
12.50pm – Green flag: Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 2 (70 laps) – NBC
Leigh Diffey is play-by-play announcer for NBC's coverage of the NTT IndyCar Series, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy.
IndyCar Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is chief announcer alongside analysts Davey Hamilton and Nick Yeoman. Jake Query and Michael Young are the turn announcers, while Ryan Myrehn and Joel Sebastianelli are in pitlane. The Detroit GP double-header will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 205, indycar.com, and the IndyCar Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT IndyCar Series practices and qualifying are available on SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the IndyCar Mobile app.
Race Notes
2019 race winners: Race 1 - Josef Newgarden (Team Penske-Chevrolet); Race 2 - Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda).
2019 NTT P1 Award winners: Race 1 – Alexander Rossi (Andretti Autosport-Honda) 1m14.1989sec (114.018mph); Race 2 – Josef Newgarden (Team Penske-Chevrolet) 1m14.8607sec (113.010mph).
Qualifying lap record: Takuma Sato (Andretti Autosport-Honda), 2017, 1m13.6732sec (114.831mph).
This weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix will feature the 28th and 29th IndyCar races at Belle Isle Park, although there were three more Detroit GPs held on a 2.5-mile track downtown in 1989-’91.
Of the drivers entered for this weekend’s race, Scott Dixon has won here three times, Sebastien Bourdais, Will Power and Graham Rahal have won here twice, and Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud have won here once. Since it became a double-header event in 2013, Rahal is the only driver to have won both races in the weekend.
Remarkably, there have been 17 different pole-winners in the previous 25 Detroit GPs. Four of this year’s entrants are two-time pole-sitters here – Dixon, Simon Pagenaud, Takuma Sato and Rossi. Other pole winners are Newgarden, Power and Rahal.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic causing this event to be canceled in 2020, no less than seven drivers will be encountering the 2.35-mile course for the first time – Romain Grosjean, Jack Harvey, Jimmie Johnson, Dalton Kellett, Scott McLaughlin, Rinus VeeKay and championship leader Alex Palou, who also has to overcome a grid penalty for Race 1.
Entry list for Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
| No. | Driver | Hometown | Car name | Team-Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | Nashville, Tennessee | Hitachi Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Christchurch, New Zealand | PPG Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 4 | Dalton Kellett | Stouffville, Canada | K-Line Insulators / AJ Foyt Racing | A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet |
| 5 | Pato O'Ward | Monterrey, Mexico | Arrow McLaren SP | Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet |
| 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Varnamo, Sweden | Arrow McLaren SP | Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson | Kumla, Sweden | Huski Chocolate Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 9 | Scott Dixon | Auckland, New Zealand | PNC Bank Grow Up Great | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 10 | Alex Palou | Barcelona, Spain | The American Legion | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 12 | Will Power | Toowoomba, Australia | Verizon 5G Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 14 | Sebastien Bourdais | Le Mans, France | ROKiT / AJ Foyt Racing | A.J. Foyt Enterprises-Chevrolet |
| 15 | Graham Rahal | New Albany, Ohio | Fifth Third Bank* | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 18 | Ed Jones | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | SealMaster | Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan-Honda |
| 20 | Conor Daly | Noblesville, Indiana | U.S. Air Force | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet |
| 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Hoofddorp, Netherlands | Sonax / Autogeek | Ed Carpenter Racing-Chevrolet |
| 22 | Simon Pagenaud | Montmorillon, France | Menards Team Penske | Team Penske-Chevrolet |
| 26 | Colton Herta | Valencia, California | Gainbridge | Andretti Autosport w/Curb Agajanian-Honda |
| 27 | Alexander Rossi | Nevada City, California | AutoNation / NAPA AUTO PARTS | Andretti Autosport-Honda |
| 28 | Ryan Hunter-Reay | Fort Lauderdale, Florida | DHL | Andretti Autosport-Honda |
| 29 | James Hinchcliffe | Toronto, Canada | Genesys | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport-Honda |
| 30 | Takuma Sato | Tokyo, Japan | Panasonic / Mi-Jack | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 45 | Santino Ferrucci | Woodbury, Connecticut | Hy-Vee | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | El Cajon, California | Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing | Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda |
| 51 | Romain Grosjean | Geneva, Switzerland | Nurtec ODT | Dale Coyne Racing with RWR-Honda |
| 59 | Max Chilton | Reigate, UK | Carlin | Carlin-Chevrolet |
| 60 | Jack Harvey | Bassingham, UK | AutoNation / SiriusXM | Meyer Shank Racing-Honda |
*= Graham Rahal’s #15 RLL-Honda will carry primary sponsorship from United Rentals in the Sunday race.
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