This Sunday, IndyCar will exit May and enter Detroit’s Belle Isle Park for its 30th and final running of the 2.35-mile, 13-turn temporary street circuit. The 982-acre island situated in the Detroit River is a very technical course with hard braking zones and speedy straights that usually end up catching out even the best of drivers at some point over 70 laps.
In its final iteration, the race will be a single event and not a doubleheader as it has been since 2013. For the 2023 season, the Detroit Grand Prix will move to a downtown location along the Renaissance Center, the site of the first Detroit Grand Prix in 1982, when the race was part of the Formula One calendar.
How to watch the 2022 IndyCar Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
- Date: Sunday, June 5
- Location: Belle Isle Park, Detroit, Mich.
- Time: 3 p.m. ET
- TV: USA Network
- Stream: fuboTV (Get access now)
What to watch for
What a difference a week makes. The series has gone from the low-banked, 2.5-mile high-speed oval at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to the narrow and bumpy streets and access paths of Belle Isle Park.
Depending on how much patching and repair work has been done since the twin races last season, Belle Isle is a tricky course because of the changes in asphalt and the patchwork repairs done to it. Some areas have good grip consistency while others do not, but they have one thing in common: They are fairly abrasive, and tire wear and management is a concern.
On the back foot
Foyt Racing: J.R. Hildebrand finished 12th, Kyle Kirkwood 17th and Dalton Kellett 27th for A.J.’s chargers at the Indy 500, and those are about the spots they were expected to land. Some may have thought Kirkwood might’ve been the one knocking on a top-10 finish instead of Hildebrand, but that’s a mere quibble. The real reason this team falls into the back foot category is Kirkwood’s move to Andretti Autosport for 2023.
Team Penske: Josef Newgarden was the team’s highest finisher in the Indy 500 at 13th. You have to go back to 2011, when Will Power finished 14th, to find an Indy 500 where Team Penske didn’t have at least one car finish in the top 10. After the team’s early season domination, it will be very hungry to get back to the podium at Belle Isle.
Running in place
Andretti Autosport: Colton Herta got things started for Michael Andretti’s side in grand fashion with a win at the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis, but the team has since unraveled. The bright side of it all was Alexander Rossi’s out-of-nowhere, fifth-place finish at the Indy 500. The downside is that Rossi is on the move from Andretti to Arrow McLaren SP next season. Kyle Kirkwood will replace him, and it will be interesting to see if his injection of youth and enthusiasm will impact the team in a similar fashion to when Herta joined.
Meyer Shank Racing: On paper, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, in the Indy 500 is a win-win. But for MSR, this past weekend was within reach of much, much more. The question is whether they can carry momentum into Detroit and achieve a podium or will there be a hangover from being in contention but coming up short.
Best foot forward
Arrow McLaren SP: The Indy 500 was bittersweet for Pato O’Ward, but with finishes of second (O’Ward) and fourth (Felix Rosenqvist), plus the 11th-place run of Juan Pablo Montoya, Arrow McLaren continue to elbow their way into the conversation of the IndyCar Series’ top teams. And with Rossi joining the team for a three-car attack during the 2023 regular season — that would likely grow to four, if not possibly five, for the Indy 500 — they will only get stronger. Arrow McLaren may not have won this past weekend, but it won the week between the Indy 500 and Detroit.
Chip Ganassi Racing: Not only did CGR finish first (Marcus Ericsson) and third (Tony Kanaan) in the Indy 500, but Alex Palou’s ninth-place finish gave the team three cars in the top 10. Unlucky Scott Dixon ended up 21st after dominating the running for essentially 176 laps, and Jimmie Johnson even showed signs of life before bringing out the caution that almost upended Ericsson’s race. Expect Dixon and Palou to make noise at Belle Isle, and for Ericsson to quietly be near the front all race as Johnson once again struggles to find balance on a road course.
