Report
The race started with Alex Palou starting from pole position, followed by Scott McLaughlin on the front row. Twenty drivers started the race on alternate tires (guayule compound), while seven, including the three Arrow McLaren drivers and Will Power, opted for primary tires.
The first attempt at the start was aborted due to a grid lineup problem. On the second attempt, the race got off to a bumpy start when Callum Ilott collided with Kyle Kirkwood at the turn 3, resulting in the first yellow flag. Ilott abandoned the race, while Kirkwood had his rear wing replaced.
The race restarted on lap 7, and Scott McLaughlin tried to regain the second position he had lost to Romain Grosjean at the start, but to no avail.
Alex Palou began to distance himself at the front of the race. In just two laps after the restart, he took a 2-second lead over Grosjean and, in five laps, widened the gap to 5 seconds.
Marcus Ericsson's alternate tires started to lose performance, which was taken advantage of by Will Power and Felix Rosenqvist, who moved up to fifth and sixth place respectively. Pato O'Ward also overtook Ericsson and moved up to seventh place. Ericsson made his stop on lap 17 to change to primary tires.
Power continued to show great pace and made impressive moves in Turn 3, passing Scott Dixon for fourth and then overtaking McLaughlin for third. On lap 22, Power managed to overtake Grosjean and moved into second position. Meanwhile, Palou was still leading the race with a 9.9-second advantage over second place, without suffering too much wear on the alternate tires. However, Power reduced the gap to Palou significantly. Meanwhile, the McLaren drivers, who followed the same strategy as Power, were unable to overtake either Grosjean or McLaughlin.
On lap 29, Grosjean overshot at Turn 8 and then pitted. On the following lap, Palou and McLaughlin made their stops. Dixon took advantage of McLaughlin's stop on lap 25 to overtake him with an undercut strategy.
The drivers who started on primary tires began to make their pit stops. Power made his pit stop on lap 35 to change to alternate tires and came out just behind Palou. O'Ward and Alexander Rossi also made their stops on lap 36, but there were problems with O'Ward's left rear tire, which caused him to be stopped in the pit lane for a lap before he could return to the track. O'Ward wasn't the only one with pit road issues, as Josef Newgarden had fuel hose difficulties.
Pato O'Ward tried to overtake Santino Ferrucci, but made a mistake and hit the wall in turn 9 on lap 44, generating the second yellow flag. This situation neutralized the advantage Palou had gained over Power on the primary tires.
During the yellow flag, Ericsson, Conor Daly, Hélio Castroneves, Jack Harvey and Benjamin Pedersen took the opportunity to make their pit stops.
The race restarted on lap 49. The top positions were maintained, although there were difficulties to get away from Ferrucci. Immediately after, the yellow flag was shown due to a Sting Ray Robb incident in the Turn 3 run-off. Meanwhile, during the neutralization period, Graham Rahal and Pedersen hit the wall in Turn 1. Pedersen managed to continue the race, but was two laps down, while Rahal had to retire.
Before the impending restart, Palou was informed to use the emergency mode and shut down the car due to gearbox problems. The race restarted on lap 56. Will Power managed to overtake Palou in Turn 3 and took the lead.
The drop in performance of the Power's alternate tires became evident, and Palou took advantage of the situation to attack Power. Power made a mistake in turn 3, allowing Palou to retake the lead on lap 65.
The leading drivers began to make their pit stops to change to primary tires for the final stint of the race. Dixon made his stop on lap 65, followed by Palou, Power and Rosenqvist on lap 66, and finally Rossi and Grosjean on lap 67. Ericsson moved ahead of Palou and Power after making one of the stops during one of the previous yellow flags.
There were several on-track incidents, including contact between McLaughlin and Grosjean as the latter exited the pits, the incident in which Rosenqvist pushed Rossi into the wall, and contact between Grosjean and Newgarden. Ericsson made his final pit stop on lap 76, being relegated tenth in the running order. Palou remained in the lead, 5 seconds ahead of Will Power, who focused on protecting himself from Dixon's attacks.
With 19 laps to go, Grosjean crashed in turn 4, causing the fourth yellow flag. The race restarted with 14 laps to go, but immediately the fifth yellow flag was displayed due to a David Malukas crash in Turn 9, on an unfortunate day for Dale Coyne.
Another restart occurred with 10 laps to go. Palou held on to the lead, while Power and Dixon got tangled up in touches, allowing Rossi to take second place. Power took third, followed by Rosenqvist in fourth and Dixon in fifth. However, an incident between Robb and Ferrucci in Turn 3 led to the sixth and final yellow flag.
The last restart came with 5 laps to go, with Palou holding the lead and Power regaining second place. Rossi fought for the last podium place. In the midst of the madness, Rosenqvist pushed Rossi into the wall to secure third place, and Dixon took advantage of this situation to take fourth.
Alex Palou crossed the finish line as the winner of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, taking his second win of the season and his first on a street circuit in his IndyCar career. The podium was completed by Power, who had his best performance of the year, and Rosenqvist.
Álex Palou (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Kyle Kirkwood (Andretti Autosport)
Will Power (Team Penske)
Felix Rosenqvist (Arrow McLaren)
