The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix: drama, drama, drama…

source: indycar.com/news

With the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America in Wisconsin coming up this weekend, let’s look back at what can only be described as a chaotic weekend on the streets of Detroit. This time it was Scott Dixon and his strategist Mike Hull’s tactics that brought the victory home for Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Dixon back at it again and Armstrong’s first podium

“The team called it perfectly,” Dixon explained after the race, “we were on the right strategy. We won, man. How cool is that? It’s just always the variables; trying to stay out of trouble, trying to keep your car on track. We had rain. It was all over the shop out there. You had no idea how the transitions were going to fall or even the strategy. So stoked for everyone on the team. That was cool.”

And what a good weekend it was for team Chip Ganassi indeed! With this win Scott Dixon took the championship lead by 18 points, which makes it now a Chip Ganassi 1-2 with Alex Palou being second in the championship, and Marcus Armstrong had his first career podium after finishing right behind Marcus Ericsson in third. “In the end I had to use quite a lot of fuel on my last run, just like Scott,” the 2024 Rookie of the Year said. “But Scott does what Scott does. I actually ran out of gas when I crossed the line, so we timed it perfectly. Otherwise, I would have fought Marcus Ericsson a little harder at the end. We just had to get to the front and get on the podium.” After he also stated “I think being a strategist today was more stressful than being a driver. I have to give a lot of credit to my strategist, Taylor Kiel. He always positions me perfectly to maximize the situation we find.”

Ericsson kept fighting for the win till the last lap, cutting Dixon’s margin more than in half, but it wasn’t enough. “After the month of May we had, it was really, really tough mentally,” Ericsson said. “I’m new in this team. I want to show myself as a top driver, as they hired me as. It was really important. We had so much pace, one more lap and we might have been able to get that win. But great day.”

source: instagram.com/marcusarmstrong

“It seemed like this race wasn’t coming to an end…”

As stated before, this weekend was dramatic to say the least, the first three-quarters of the race contained all 8 caution periods and 47 caution laps in the first 73 laps. The longest uninterrupted racing segment during this time was just 13 laps, leaving strategists scrambling on the pit wall as they rapidly considered various options and communicated with the drivers over the radio.

Some say this was the craziest race of the 2024 season so far. Back-to-back Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden spun from fifth on a restart with 29 laps to go, collecting former points leader Alex Palou. Newgarden was one of the drivers that took the risk with wets, and then got a drive-through penalty for running over his wheel gun in the pits. But even though it might not have been his best weekend racing wise, he did announce his contract extension with Team Penske, which is exciting, nonetheless. Palou finished 16th and Newgarden ended up in 26th after pitting with what looked like an engine issue late on.

source: instagram.com/alexpalou

There was a big chance of Christian Lundgaard winning this race, but he fumbled the win after taking the gamble to stay out when he took the lead after the rain. Since he started on the softs he was forced to pit shortly after that for fuel and tires. His fightback came undone when he crashed into Grosjean at turn 3 on lap 57 and received a penalty for it. Grosjean questioned why he was still participating in the race following the incident with Lundgaard, stating “the championship is over for me.” Shortly after he received a drive-through penalty for making a pit stop in a closed pit.   

source: instagram.com/josefnewgarden

Talking about penalties, it seemed like Will Power was having a blast! He received at least five penalties, those being emergency service in closed pit, failed to pack up under caution – loss of 3 track positions, avoidable contact, full service in closed pit… Too many to count and keep track. He started eight but dropped to the back on the first lap – caught in a multi-car incident.

Ferrucci’s reputation era

This might not come as a surprise, but Santino Ferrucci was also causing some drama again this weekend. A new rivalry between him and Kyle Kirkwood is on the rise after an on-track incident in practice, leading Kirkwood to call the contact on track “dumb” and “dangerous.” During the incident Ferrucci dove down the inside and appeared to push Kirkwood to the wall after the Andretti driver tried to turn in. “Everyone stops here, everyone has to wait, get your gap, get a clean lap in,” Kirkwood responded when Dave Burns asked him about it. “It’s practice, relax. And that’s not what he did. He decided to do it to me, then he did it to Colton, too. They nearly collided. I don’t know what he’s doing. His lap was already ruined. He just ruined his next lap, too.” Ferrucci, on the other hand, said it was a “dickish” move from Kirkwood. “We’re in practice, I’m on a lap that’s going to put us P3, I know everybody is fighting traffic, I’m coming down the hill, and who just turns into somebody and slides the car into you?” he said. IndyCar said “no action” when asked if there would be any penalty for the drivers involved in the incident, this is however unless it happens again. As if this whole drama wasn’t enough, Ferrucci was in the spotlight again in qualifying when he was accused of blocking Grosjean. After the session finished Ferrucci said: “If IndyCar’s not calling it, then it’s not really a big deal.” Ferrucci eventually qualified 10th and finished the race in 9th.

source: instagram.com/santinoferrucci

All eyes are now on the upcoming XPEL Grand Prix at Road America to see how the season unfolds, but the aftermath of Detroit’s chaos will surely influence the strategies and performance of the teams.

Will the drama and unpredictability of Detroit continue to echo in Wisconsin? Can Dixon maintain his lead, or will his teammate Palou and others close the gap?

With the stakes higher than ever and rivalries intensifying, the upcoming race could be a pivotal moment in the 2024 season.