The NTT IndyCar Series began a doubleheader racing weekend Saturday afternoon at Belle Isle for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Race 1. Qualifying was held Saturday morning, with Pato O’Ward winning the pole and Alexander Rossi qualifying second.
O’Ward led the opening two laps before Alexander Rossi took over the lead. Rossi led a couple of laps before losing the lead to Romain Grosjean. Grosjean led one lap before Ed Jones passed him for the lead, and then Will Power passed him on the eighth lap.
Will Power led four laps before losing the lead to Scott Dixon. On lap 19, drivers began to make their scheduled pit stops. On lap 24, Felix Rosenqvist’s throttle got stuck before barreling into a tire wall and striking a cocreate barrier at turn six. The speed at which he was going had such momentum that the car pushed the concrete wall back and knocked the tires past the track.
Rosenqvist was conscious and lifted out of the car. He had early medical treatment at the track facility before being transported to a local hospital. The red flag was displayed for over an hour as track crews repaired the concrete and tire wall.
Once the wall was repaired, drivers returned to their cars. During the caution, drivers went to pit road, and Will Power was now the new leader when the race resumed on lap 31.
Will Power fought Marcus Ericsson and Rinus VeeKay to keep the lead six laps into the restart. On lap 48, Will Power relinquished the lead to Pato O’Ward when he made his second scheduled pit stop. Once the scheduled pit stops were complete, Will Power resumed the lead.
Romain Grosjean crashed with five laps to go at turn nine, which brought out the second caution. NTT IndyCar Series decided to red flag the race because there were not many laps left, and they wanted a green flag finish. They also ordered all the cars to be shut off.
When it came time to turn the cars back on, Will Power could not restart his car due to a burnt ECU. Power was visibly upset over the decision to red flag the race and order engines to be shut off. His car had to be pushed out of the way so everyone else could go around him. Marcus Ericsson was the new leader. The race restarted with three laps to go. Ericsson slid on the restart but maintained the lead.
Takuma Sato was second and lost two positions to Rinus VeeKay and Pato O’Ward. In the back, Simon Pagenaud forced his way to fifth place over Ed Jones at turn seven. On the final lap, Ericsson was well ahead of VeeKay, who had O’Ward right on his tail for second place. Ericsson won the race by 1.7290 seconds over Rinus VeeKay. After the race, Will Power didn’t hold back on IndyCar in a post-race interview.
The rest of the top ten finishers were Pato O’Ward third, Takuma Sato fourth, Graham Rahal fifth, Santino Ferrucci sixth, Alexander Rossi seventh, Scott Dixon eighth, Ed Jones ninth, and Josef Newgarden tenth. Will Power led 37 laps, the most in the race. There were only two cautions for nine laps and ten lead changes.
The NTT IndyCar Series concludes the doubleheader from Belle Isle today at noon on NBC.
