Just one week after the grueling Indianapolis 500 event, drivers were back on track this Sunday for a test on the streets of Detroit.
A completely different challenge to the smooth speed of Indianapolis, the downtown roads provided plenty of bumps and battles broke out at nearly every turn.
The first half of the race saw multiple different leaders, with no indication of who would come out on top.
READ MORE: IndyCar Detroit – Full Race Results
As the second half of the 100 lap event transpired, it became evident that IndyCar’s star driver Alex Palou was going to claim victory once again.
His journey was not as easy as it looked, however. Even while leading near the end of the event, Palou was locking his tires and struggling to stay on course as he pushed his car as fast as it would go.
Palou’s pace was no match for those behind, and even through multiple restarts he held the lead and took the checkered flags first.
His margin of victory was 3.0584 seconds, with a clear gap between himself and the rest of the field behind. Palou now has four wins in 2026, and 23 in his relatively young career.
Kyle Kirkwood was second across the line, having stayed near the front of the field all day in his Andretti Global Honda.
Graham Rahal made it an all Honda podium in Chevy’s home town, with the veteran continuing to add accomplishments to what has become his best season in years.
The first Chevy came in fourth with Pato O’Ward improving three positions on the day and finishing just ahead of Christian Lundgaard on track.
Rough and tumble
Perhaps because of the bumpy streets, perhaps because of Detroit’s sport fighting legacy, drivers were beating and banging against each other all afternoon.
The first caution of the day came out on lap nine when Christian Ramussen tagged the Turn 1 wall hard.
He was not able to get his car back to the pits, and was the first to retire.
The second caution came on lap 39 when Kyffin Simpson locked his tires and ploughed over Graham Rahal in the hairpin.
Simpson was given a penalty for the interaction and ended the race down in ninth.
Throughout the entire day, Rahal was a punching bag for the rest of the field.
Seemingly every lap the veteran was side by side with someone, or trading small pieces of carbon fiber with someone else.
Regardless, he came out on top and claimed his third podium of the season.
Later on, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power came together while battling for position.
Power had been in the lead earlier in the race and was fighting to take third when he came together with his former team-mate.
Power was squeezed into the wall and his front tires were lifted off the tarmac, though both were able to keep driving.
Eventually, the Andretti Global driver had to come to pit lane and retire due to the damage. McLaughlin also suffered a slow puncture and had to get service from his crew, and slid down to 19th by the end.
Scott Dixon also had a disappointing end to his day, pulling to a stop in the pits just past the halfway point.
With no apparent damage, The Iceman later confirmed that a hybrid failure was the cause of his retirement.
Even more incidents
There were a few drivers that locked up their tires and slid long into the runoff areas, but most were able to get going again with only a few positions lost.
Alexander Rossi got off to a rough start, as his rear stepped out and touched the wall while warming his tires on the parade laps before the green flag.
He was able to save his car from any major damage, however, and he was able to start the race without needing any service.
Rossi was hampered at the end by a penalty for avoidable contact, which dropped him down to 17th.
Josef Newgarden, who was also suffering with an injured foot following his crash in Indianapolis, largely stayed away from conflict.
He seemed to willingly give away positions in order to not take another hit, but the strategy ended up working well enough in the end.
As others took themselves out, Newgarden moved forward and narrowly earned a top 10 result in his #2 Chevy after starting in 21st.
No rest for the weary, as yet another race weekend comes up next weekend. This time, drivers will tackle the oval at World Wide Technology Raceway in the season’s only night race.
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