CART / Indy Racing League / IndyCar Series •
1996, 2007, 2008, & 2015 II: Races shortened due to 2 hour time limit. •
2012: Race shortened due to darkness after 2 hour suspension for track repairs. •
2015 I: Race shortened due to
lightning policy. •
2019 I: Race shortened to 75 minute time limit due to lightning policy delaying the start.
Race summaries CART PPG Indy Car World Series (Renaissance Center) •
1989:
Emerson Fittipaldi touched wheels with
Mario Andretti on lap 2, puncturing a tire and sending him to the back of the field. But Fittipaldi charged from 27th position to second place in the closing laps. Polesitter
Michael Andretti led 52 of the first 54 laps, but a radio wire became tangled in the throttle pedal. On lap 55, the throttle pedal stuck sending Andretti into a barrier.
Scott Pruett was now leading the race by 17 seconds, but was forced to back off to conserve fuel. Fittipaldi blew by Pruett with four laps to go to take the victory. •
1990:
Michael Andretti started from the pole position and led wire-to-wire, winning the race in dominating fashion.
Danny Sullivan was running close behind in second place on lap 46 when during his final pit stop, an impact wrench failed. The wheel was not properly fastened, and on the out-lap, the drive pegs on the wheel broke, putting him out of the race.
Bobby Rahal nursing brakes, finished second, over one minute and 48 seconds behind Andretti. Rahal held off
Emerson Fittipaldi who finished close behind in third. •
1991:
Emerson Fittipaldi, expecting the birth of his fifth child, was leading
Bobby Rahal in the closing laps when gearbox problems arose. With seven laps to go, Fittipaldi's car kept jumping out of gear. He was mostly forced to hold the gearshift lever to hold the car in gear with his right hand, and steer with only his left hand, on the rough, bumpy, demanding circuit. Rahal charged hard, but Fittipaldi held him off for the victory by 0.29 seconds. The race is best-remembered for a bizarre incident involving
Mario and
Michael Andretti. On lap 48,
Dennis Vitolo stalled in turn four with a seized transmission. Safety crew tended to Vitolo's car, hooking up a tow rope. Mario Andretti came around what was a blind corner, locked up his brakes, and rammed hard into the back of the safety truck. The nose of the car was wedged underneath the truck's bumper, and the track was nearly blocked. A couple cars (including Fittipaldi) skirted by the scene, but seconds later, Michael Andretti slid and crashed into the back of Vitolo's car. The track was now completely blocked, and the red flag was put out to clean up the scene. This would be the final race held at the Renaissance Center circuit until 2023.
CART PPG Indy Car World Series (Belle Isle) •
1992: For 1992, the race was moved to a new circuit on Belle Isle. •
1993: A controversial race filled with penalties from start to finish. At the green flag,
Emerson Fittipaldi jumped the start from the outside of the front row, beating pole-sitter
Nigel Mansell to the line by almost two car lengths. Instead of waving off the start, official assessed Fittipaldi a stop-and-go penalty. Later in the race
Paul Tracy was penalized for breaking the 80 mph pit road speed limit (clocked at 93 mph), and
Nigel Mansell was accused of blatant blocking.
Danny Sullivan took the lead on lap 48. In the closing laps,
Galles Racing teammates Sullivan and
Al Unser Jr. were running 1st-2nd. On lap 69, Unser challenged Sullivan for the lead, but was forced down to the inside, and knocked down three cones. Officials charged Unser with going off-course, and assessed him a stop-and-go penalty. On a restart with four laps to go, rookie
Robby Gordon driving for
Foyt, tried to pass Sullivan for the lead, but was squeezed down and had to back off. Moments later, Gordon spun out with a cut tire. Danny Sullivan went on to win the race, his final win in Indy car competition. •
1994:
Penske teammates
Al Unser Jr.,
Paul Tracy, and
Emerson Fittipaldi were running 1st-2nd-3rd on a restart on lap 55. Tracy was on the back bumper of Unser, as Unser was dicing through backmarker traffic. Going into turn 8, Tracy ran into the back of Unser's car, sending him sliding head-on into a tire barrier. Tracy went on to win the race, with Fittipaldi second. Unser rejoined the field and finished 10th. •
1995:
Robby Gordon started from the pole position and led 43 of the 77 laps en route to victory. Gordon led the first eight laps, but slipped down in the standings after suffering tire wear. Gordon switched to the optional harder tire compound, and charged back to the front. He took the lead with 35 laps to go, and held off
Jimmy Vasser for the win. •
1996: Heavy rain fell in the morning, and continued to fall during the first 25 laps.
Christian Fittipaldi led 64 of the first 65 laps, but a late caution came out when
Bobby Rahal slid into a tire barrier. On a restart on lap 66,
Michael Andretti battled Fittipaldi for the lead coming out of turn four. Fittipaldi locked up the brakes, and slid high in turn five, which allowed Andretti to drive by and take the lead. The race was shortened from 77 to 72 laps due to a two-hour time limit. Andretti became the first and only driver to win at both the downtown Renaissance Center circuit and the
Belle Isle circuit. •
1997: At the white flag,
Maurício Gugelmin led
Mark Blundell and
Greg Moore, with all three cars running nose-to-tail.
PacWest Racing teammates Gugelmin and Blundell were running very low on fuel, attempting to stretch their tanks to the finish. Gugelmin ran out of fuel on the Strand Drive backstretch, and seconds later Blundell ran out of fuel as he approached the final turn. Greg Moore slipped by to take the lead and scored the victory.
CART FedEx Championship Series (Belle Isle) •
1998: A slightly reconfigured layout was introduced for 1998. Several tight and slow corners were replaced with a longer straightaway, and potentially better passing zones.
Alex Zanardi battled
Greg Moore during the early stages of the race. Moore pitted first on lap 24, while Zanardi stayed out two additional laps. Zanardi's light fuel load, and lightning-fast in-lap, put him back out on the track ahead of Moore. Zanardi led the final 50 laps to victory, and celebrated by performing
donuts on his victory lap. •
1999: The race was moved to August to avoid a conflict with the
NASCAR Michigan 400. In a race that was described as "ugly," several crashes were capped off by a bizarre finish under yellow. On the first lap,
Max Papis touched wheels with
Patrick Carpentier, and crashed into a tire barrier. On lap 25,
Maurício Gugelmin tangled with
Cristiano da Matta, and flip upside-down, landing on top of Carpentier's car. Twenty laps later, de Matta suffered a hard crash in turn two, collecting
Al Unser Jr. Under caution late in the race, a fuel leak from the pace car caused a confusing delay, requiring officials to bring out a back-up pace car. With some drivers anticipating a restart,
Hélio Castroneves ran into the back of
Juan Pablo Montoya. The race hit the two-hour time limit, and finished under yellow with Team Kool Green drivers
Dario Franchitti first, and
Paul Tracy second. •
2000: Polesitter
Juan Pablo Montoya led 59 of the first 60 laps, but dropped out with a broken driveshaft.
Hélio Castroneves took the lead on lap 62, and led the final 24 laps en route to his first career CART series victory. On his victory lap, Castroneves stopped his car on the frontstretch, jumped from cockpit, and climbed up the catchfence to celebrate his victory. •
2001:
Hélio Castroneves started from the pole position and led wire-to-wire to win the Detroit Grand Prix in back-to-back years. Castroneves survived a minor scare when telemetry indicated a pressure leak in his left front tire. After the victory, Castroneves once again jumped from his car and climbed the catchfence in his signature "Spiderman" celebration. This would be the final CART series race at Detroit.
IRL / IndyCar Series (Belle Isle) •
2007: After a six-year absence, open wheel racing returned to Detroit. The Indy cars utilized the original "short" course layout, previously raced on from 1992 to 1997. After the final series of pit stops, a four-car battle at the front ensued.
Tony Kanaan was leading, and second place
Buddy Rice ran out of fuel. Third place
Scott Dixon took evasive action to get by Rice, which crashed out both cars. The pileup collected
Dario Franchitti as well.
Danica Patrick slipped by the crash and took a career-best second place, while Kanaan went on to win. •
2008: Originally scheduled for 90 laps, the race was shortened to 87 laps due to two-hour limit. Late in the race,
Justin Wilson was challenging
Hélio Castroneves for the lead. Officials ruled that Castroneves intentionally blocked, resulting in a penalty which allowed Wilson to take the lead. Despite a late push by Castroneves, Wilson won the race, his first-career Indy car victory. Wilson's win was the 107th and final Championship Car victory for
Newman/Haas Racing, and occurred just weeks before the death of co-owner
Paul Newman. •
2012: After a three-year hiatus, the Detroit Grand Prix returned to the IndyCar calendar. For 2012, the race was moved to the weekend immediately following the
Indianapolis 500. The race was shortened from 90 laps to 60 laps due to a disintegrating track.
James Hinchcliffe's car dislodged a chunk of the pavement, and crashed into a tire barrier. Officials discovered other parts of the track that were damaged, and a red flag was put out to make repairs. Rain also began to fall.
Scott Dixon won the race from the pole position. •
2013 (Race 1): For 2013, the "long" course layout was revived, and the race was now part of a doubleheader weekend. During the first race on Saturday,
Mike Conway started second and led 47 laps en route to victory. Conway passed
Ryan Hunter-Reay for the lead on lap 44. He then built a 20-second lead before the final round of pit stops. Conway's margin of victory was 12.9707 seconds over Hunter-Reay.
Dario Franchitti, who won the pole position, was issued a grid penalty for an unapproved engine change, and started 11th. He improved to sixth place at the finish, while
Scott Dixon who had to pit for wing damage suffered due to contact on lap 1, charged from 24th place to 4th. •
2013 (Race 2): On Sunday,
Mike Conway started on the pole position, attempting to sweep the weekend. However, multiple cautions and different race strategies jumbled the field, and he wound up third. On lap 24, the field was coming off a restart when
Tristan Vautier touched wheels with
Takuma Sato, sending Sato into the tire barrier in turn 3. On lap 28, the ensuing restart saw Conway leading
Scott Dixon into turn one. Seconds later,
Sebastien Bourdais tagged the back of
Will Power, triggering a ten-car pileup. In the second half, the race came down to Conway,
Simon Pagenaud, and
James Jakes. On the final sequence of pit stops, Pagenaud emerged as the leader, with Jakes second, and Conway closing in third. Pagenaud drove to victory, by 5.6274 seconds. Jakes held off Conway for second place by 0.4342 seconds. •
2014 (Race 1): On Saturday,
Will Power held off
Graham Rahal during the final ten laps and scored the first Indy car win at Detroit for
Chevrolet &
GM since 1993. Just across the river from GM's headquarters at the
Renaissance Center,
Helio Castroneves started on the pole and led 30 laps. Power took the lead from
Ryan Briscoe on a restart on lap 60. Rahal ran in second, less than a second behind Power. Rahal was able to keep up with Power over the final ten laps, but was unable to muster a pass for the lead.
Tony Kanaan finished third, his 66th-career podium finish. •
2014 (Race 2): On Sunday,
Helio Castroneves drove to victory, completing a
Penske and
Chevrolet sweep of the weekend. Castroneves was leading
Will Power by over 9 seconds with twenty laps to go, but a late-race caution bunched up the field. With six laps to go, Castroneves led, but another caution came out setting up one last restart. With three laps to go, Castroneves got the jump and won by 1.6836 seconds over
Will Power. After the victory, Castroneves climbed the catchfence, repeating his signature celebration from the 2001 race. •
2015: (Race 1): On Saturday, heavy rain and lightning in the area caused the race to be shortened from 70 to 47 laps.
Carlos Munoz won, his first IndyCar victory. •
2015: (Race 2): On Sunday, rain had washed out qualifying for the second race, and the field lined up by points. Several yellows slowed the race in the second half.
Sébastien Bourdais was the winner. •
2017 (Race 1): On Saturday,
Graham Rahal led 55 of 70 laps to win, nearly 25 years to the day that his father
Bobby won the race. Rahal held off second place
Scott Dixon, who was driving despite an injured ankle from a major crash the week earlier at the
Indianapolis 500. •
2017 (Race 2):
Graham Rahal swept the weekend, winning Sunday's second race, leading 41 of 70 laps. With five laps to go, the first caution of the day came out when
James Hinchcliffe stalled on the course, and
Spencer Pigot's car was smoking. Officials red flagged the race on lap 67 in order to allow for a green flag finish, and cleaned up the incidents. Rahal held off
Josef Newgarden in a two-lap dash to finish. •
2021 (Race 1): The new
Roger Penske led IndyCar returned to Detroit after the 2020 double header was canceled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The controversial race saw
Scott Dixon take a large lead by starting the race on harder primary tires as opposed to the softer alternate tires used by the rest of the field. Dixon's strategy was upended when Arrow McLaren SP driver
Felix Rosenqvist crashed at near full speed into a tire barrier, throwing a red flag that halted the race for over an hour. When the race restarted many drivers, including Dixon, broke off on the formation lap to pit for fresh tires, handing Will Power the lead as Power had pitted for his own set of tires right before the red flag.
Marcus Ericsson also cycled to the front with Power based on similar strategy and challenged Power for the lead before a crash by
Romain Grosjean caused another red flag to be thrown. When the formation lap on the track began Power's crew was unable to get his car to restart due to an overheated
ECU, handing the lead to Ericsson who hung on for five more laps to win his first IndyCar race.
Rinus VeeKay and
Pato O'Ward rounded out the podium. •
2021 (Race 2):
Josef Newgarden won his first of what would be three consecutive pole positions heading into the summer break and led most of the race despite several restarts by using a strategy that put him on the harder primary tires throughout the opening two thirds of the race. Although Newgarden and Penske executed a three stop strategy perfectly it left the two time series champion to face the unforgiving Belle Isle circuit with used softer compound alternate tires that degraded rapidly in the closing laps. Following a restart where he was unable to manage the tire wear Newgarden was overtaken by Pato O'Ward, who had overtaken five other drivers in a two lap span to challenge Newgarden. The second year
McLaren driver then built a gap of over five seconds to the rest of the field to take his first win on a street course. Newgarden held off late charges by
Alex Palou and
Colton Herta to stay in second place while Palou rounded out the podium. •
2022: The final Detroit Grand Prix held on Belle Isle was moved from a double header to a single 70 lap race. Josef Newgarden qualified on pole but it would be his teammate Will Power who would dominate the race, charging through the field from 16th to take the lead early in the race and hanging onto it via virtue of a two stop strategy. Power's only threat on the day was
Alexander Rossi, who picked up his first podium of 2022. Scott Dixon finished in third place.
IndyCar Series (Renaissance Center) •
2023: For 2023 the Detroit Grand Prix returned to the Renaissance Center using a brand new condensed circuit around The Renaissance Center. Alex Palou qualified on pole, his first pole position on a street circuit. Palou would lead the entire race while a fierce battle for the remaining podium spots led to Will Power finishing second and Felix Rosenqvist rounding out the podium. •
2024:
Colton Herta qualified on pole. The first caution came out on lap 1 and resulted in a six car pile up, though all drivers in the pile up were able to continue. A second caution came on lap 19 when
Hélio Castroneves spun and took out rookie
Kyffin Simpson. Rains arrived and the field was shuffled in a series of yellow flag pitstops, with
Christian Lundgaard taking the lead in the sequence. When the rains stopped further caution periods saw
Scott Dixon take the lead around lap 74. Dixon would hold on for the win despite a hard pursuit by Marcus Ericsson in the late laps. Second year driver
Marcus Armstrong would finish third. •
2025:
Kyle Kirkwood took the lead from
Santino Ferrucci and lap 79 and pulled away for a 3.5931 second victory. A major crash on lap 84 involving Felix Rosenqvist and Louis Foster brought out a red flag, but Kirkwood was able to get the jump on the restart and was not challenged. Ferrucci came home second, his best career finish, though he was penalized after the race for improper ballast. Indy 500 winner Alex Palou, who had won 5 of the first six races of the season, saw his first misfortune of the season. He crashed on lap 72 and placed 25th. ==Support races==