History will be made on Sunday.
IndyCar will race at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park for the 30th and final time at the 2.35-mile, 13-turn temporary street circuit.
In the finale, the race will be a single event and not a doubleheader as it has been for the last decade. Next season, the Detroit Grand Prix will move downtown along the Renaissance Center, the site of the first Detroit Grand Prix in 1982, which was a part of the Formula 1 calendar. The race was won by McLaren’s John Watson, followed by then-24-year-old Eddie Cheever Jr., who went on to win the Indianapolis 500 in 1998.
Who to watch for
Talk about déjà vu! Marcus Ericsson and Pato O’Ward finished 1-2 at last week’s Indy 500. They were also the winners at the Belle Isle doubleheader last season. In Ericsson’s case, his victory was his first as an IndyCar driver, while O’Ward, who finished third in the first race, picked up his second career win and his second of 2021. Both drivers are coming in with a plethora of momentum and just in case you thought we were done with the 1-2 mentions, think again. Ericsson and O’Ward are also first and second in points coming into a track where they perform very well.
This battle could very well boil down to a question of discipline. Because of the changes in asphalt and the past repairs done to the course, some areas have good grip and others don’t. But the common denominator is that the track is equally abrasive. As a result, the driver who manages their tires the best will likely put themselves in contention for a win.
Just two days before the Indy 500, O’Ward inked a contract extension with Arrow McLaren SP that extended his commitment through the 2025 season and makes him the centerpiece of the expanding three-car program. The worst kept secret in IndyCar was announced Thursday when it was revealed that 2016 Indy 500 champion Alexander Rossi would become O’Ward’s new teammate, signing a multi-year deal with Arrow McLaren SP.
Rossi, who…
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