Detroit Grand Prix guide: Free events, parking and more
The Detroit Grand Prix will dominate downtown this weekend, starting with Friday's Free Prix Day and ending with Sunday's final race.
Why it matters: The annual event transforms Jefferson Avenue and other downtown streets into a 1.7-mile racetrack for world-class drivers such as last week's Indy 500 winner, Alex Palou, who also won in Detroit two years ago.
The race is expected to generate an economic impact of more than $100 million, Crain's reports.
🏁 Here's our grand prix primer:
Free events: Friday's Free Prix Day allows free admission to grandstands 1 and 9.
Free, wheelchair-accessible viewing platforms will be located along Jefferson all weekend.
Hart Plaza, Spirit Plaza and Woodward Avenue will also host free fan activation areas all three days.
Downtown race footprint: Road closures will affect parts of Jefferson (between the Lodge Freeway and Rivard Street) and Woodward Avenue (between the Campus Martius area and Jefferson).
Transportation/parking: Parking garages inside the footprint will be closed except for the Franklin Garage, which requires pre-purchased tickets starting at $75.
You can park along the People Mover's route and take it to the Renaissance Center inside the Grand Prix footprint.
Another option is parking north of Campus Martius and taking the QLine to the race area.
Both services are free.
Learn the lingo: Motor sports tend to have a niche following. Luckily our Axios Indianapolis colleagues compiled a handy glossary of racing terms and other basic info for casual fans.
Penske's cheating scandal: Off the track, local businessman and racing icon Roger Penske has been dealing with the fallout of a cheating scandal that resulted in the firing of three Team Penske executives just days before the Indy 500.
The team's drivers did not fare well at Indy. One wrecked his car before it even started and another exited after 135 laps with a mechanical issue.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indianapolis Star
25 minutes ago
- Indianapolis Star
Colton Herta's wish after qualifying pole? An 'easy race with no yellows' at Detroit Grand Prix
DETROIT — After a six-race start to his 2025 IndyCar season full of "what ifs" on race days and close calls on Saturdays, Colton Herta will finally have the best seat in the house to take the green flag for Sunday's Detroit Grand Prix, with hopes of turning his first pole of his season and 15th of his career into his first win of 2025, too. The Andretti Global driver finished well over a tenth of a second ahead of A.J. Foyt Racing's David Malukas in the battle for pole Sunday, having had four Fast 6 appearances already this year but so far no poles, matching his pole performance a year ago on the 1.645-mile downtown Detroit street course. But in the chaos of last year's race that featured eight cautions and 47 of 100 laps ran under yellow, Herta and the No. 26 Andretti Global crew faltered and fell back to 19th. Entering IndyCar's third race since the series' shift to the downtown street course track, Andretti Global and others are looking to knock Chip Ganassi Racing off the top step, with Alex Palou (2023) and Scott Dixon (2024) taking wins on the course thus far. 'We've been close a few times this year making it on a pole run, so I'm happy to do that and start P1 tomorrow,' said Herta, who's looking for his first podium finish of 2025. Entering Sunday, the Andretti Global driver's best finish of fourth came at The Thermal Club. Outside that, he's finished 16th at St. Pete after starting second, seventh at Long Beach after starting second and seventh at Barber after qualifying third, along with dismal runs during the Month of May at IMS (25th on the IMS road course and 14th in the Indy 500). Entering Sunday, Herta sits ninth in points, 22 back of eighth-place Will Power, 36 back of his fifth-place teammate Kyle Kirkwood, 74 back of second-place Pato O'Ward and 186 of runaway championship leader Alex Palou. 'Now we just need a nice, easy race with no yellows,' said Herta, referencing IndyCar's run of three full races (and parts of two others) that ran without a single caution earlier in the season. Among a Fast 6 that included Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard, Palou, Malukas and Graham Rahal, the battle for pole was essentially between the pair of Andretti Global teammates and Malukas, all three of whom had only used one set of Firestone alternate tires during Round 1 of qualifying instead of two like so many of their competitors had — done so they could better ensure they'd advance to the Fast 12. Despite ending up tying his best starting spot of his IndyCar career in second, Malukas said he and his No. 4 squad expected to have a better shot at giving Andretti a serious run, but finished well back of Herta on their fastest laps (1:00.4779 vs. 1:00.6492). Kirkwood, too, felt he gave away an opportunity for his second pole of 2025, having been sitting four-tenths up on Herta's fastest lap with half a lap left before making enough wall contact to break a tow link that left him losing time in bunches on the final couple corners. Entering Sunday, Kirkwood is the only driver to have finished ahead of Palou in the two-time defending series champ's only non-win of the year at Long Beach, where the Chip Ganassi Racing driver still managed a runner-up finish. 'I've never been more disappointed with third in my life,' said Kirkwood, who was stripped earlier this week of his sixth-place Indy 500 finish due to a post-race tech inspection failure. 'But congrats to Colton. I'm glad one of us got (pole), because it would've been really frustrating if neither one of us got it. 'I know I just threw away a pole, without a doubt, but our cars are fast, and that's what's really important. And I see no reason why we won't be fast once again (on Sunday).' Starting fourth on Sunday, Lundgaard said after stepping out of his car he was proud to have finished as the fastest driver not to have used a new set of alternates in the Fast 6, as he looks to potentially overtake teammate O'Ward for second in points and with any luck chip away a bit at his 125-point gap to Palou. Meanwhile, Palou, who finished 15th-fastest in Practice 1 Friday afternoon, was more than happy to settle for sixth in the Fast 6 after a whirlwind 48-hour media tour in New York City following his first career Indy 500 win on Sunday. In his five wins so far in 2025, Palou has started eighth (St. Pete), third (Thermal), pole (Barber and IMS road course) and sixth (Indy 500). He'll start fifth Sunday, with Graham Rahal dropping back from fifth to 11th due to a six-spot grid penalty for an unapproved engine change.
USA Today
27 minutes ago
- USA Today
Spanish Grand Prix 2025: Biggest odds movers (Carlos Sainz) after qualifying
Spanish Grand Prix 2025: Biggest odds movers (Carlos Sainz) after qualifying For the first time since 1998, McLaren have secured a front row lock-out in Spain, and it sure seems like Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris will be able to finish 1-2 just liked Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard did nearly 30 years ago. Despite new front wing regulations taking effect this week, McLaren were still far superior — Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton called the rule change a waste of money that "changed nothing" as McLaren remain "almost untouchable" following qualifying — with Piastri finishing 0.209 seconds ahead of Norris. That was certainly easy to spot looking at the odds before and immediately after Saturday's session. Piastri moved from a +140 co-favorite with Norris to win the Spanish Grand Prix before qualifying to -175 after securing P1. Norris wasn't far behind, but fell slightly from +140 to +175. Yet they weren't the drivers oddsmakers were most moved by. These were the most notable risers and fallers. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) Pre-Qualifying Odds: 28-1 Post-Qualifying Odds: 66-1 Hamilton will start in P5, sandwiched between his former Mercedes teammate George Russell and his Mercedes replacement Kimi Antonelli. Despite posting a better qualifying than Ferrari teammate Charles LeClerc for only the second time this year, Hamilton saw his odds plummet after McLaren's performance. Charles LeClerc (Ferarri) Pre-Qualifying Odds: 25-1 Post-Qualifying Odds: 100-1 See above if you're confused how LeClerc began the day with better odds than Hamilton to win in Spain only to tumble far below his teammate. Isack Hadjar (VCARB) Pre-Qualifying Odds: 500-1 Post-Qualifying Odds: 300-1 A notable improvement in the odds for Hadjar on Sunday after qualifying P9 — ahead of Racing Bulls teammate Liam Lawson (P13) and Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda (P20). Hadjar has scored points in four of the seven races he's started this year but has yet to finish on the podium. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) Pre-Qualifying Odds: 300-1 Post-Qualifying Odds: 500-1 The two-time winner of the Spanish Grand Prix in 2006 and 2013 doesn't seem destined for the podium this year, but he's proven many wrong with his driving before. It's more a matter of whether he has a car that can give him a chance or not. Carlos Sainz (Williams) Pre-Qualifying Odds: 400-1 Post-Qualifying Odds: 2000-1 A brutal qualifying session leaves the race's other Spaniard a thoroughly disappointing P18 and in danger of missing out on points at his home track for the first time in his career. Sainz has yet to finish on the podium in 10 tries at the Grand Prix of Spain, and after getting caught in traffic during Q1, it seems that streak is set to continue.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
IndyCar Series: Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix starting grid, qualifying results on May 31, 2025
The starting grid for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix is set. The IndyCar Series will race 100 laps race on a nine-turn, 1.645-mile downtown street layout on Sunday, June 1. Colton Herta uncorked a lap of 1 minute, 0.477 seconds, winning pole position for the second straight year on this track and for the 15th time in his career. Advertisement Scott Dixon and Graham Rahal will be assessed six-position starting grid penalties for unapproved engine changes. Here is the Detroit Grand Prix starting grid. IndyCar Series Detroit Grand Grix starting grid Row 1 1, Colton Herta 2, David Malukas Row 2 3, Kyle Kirkwood 4, Christian Lundgaard Row 3 5, Alex Palou 6, Rinus Veekay Row 4 7, Scott McLaughlin 8, Will Power Row 5 9, Marcus Armstrong 10, Christian Rasmussen Row 6 11, Graham Rahal (had fifth-best qualifying effort) 12, Marcus Ericsson Row 7 13, Louis Foster 14, Felix Rosenqvist Row 8 15, Alexander Rossi 16, Scott Dixon (had 10th-best qualifying result) Row 9 17, Callum Ilott Advertisement 18, Pato O'Ward Row 10 19, Kyffin Simpson 20, Jacob Abel Row 11 21, Santino Ferrucci 22, Robert Shwartzman Row 12 23, Devlin DeFrancesco 24, Josef Newgarden Row 13 25, Conor Daly 26, Sting Ray Robb Row 14 27, Nolan Siegel IndyCar Series schedule at Detroit (All times ET; all IndyCar sessions are on IndyCar Live, IndyCar Radio and Sirius XM Channel 218) IndyCar race schedule at Detroit on Sunday, June 1 9:30 a.m.: IndyCar warmup, FS1 10:30 a.m.: Indy NXT race, FS1 12:30 p.m.: IndyCar race, Fox What channel is IndyCar race at Detroit on? TV: Coverage begins at 12:30 p.m. ET, Sunday, June 1, 2025, on Fox. Green flag is scheduled for 12:47 p.m. Will Buxton is the play-by-play voice, with analysts James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell. Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. How can I stream the IndyCar race at Detroit on June 1? Fox Sports app. Advertisement Watch free with a Fubo trial How can I listen to IndyCar race at Detroit on June 1? IndyCar Nation is on SiriusXM Channel 218, IndyCar Live and the IndyCar Radio Network (check affiliates for each race) Will it rain at the Detroit Grand Prix? Sunday: Sunny, high around 70 degrees. IndyCar drivers for 2025 (Team and drivers; *-Indianapolis 500 only) This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix qualifying results, starting grid today
