Alex Palou won the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in a commanding fashion this weekend on the streets of Detroit. Palou led the race for 74 laps of the 100. After securing pole Palou took off with a vengeance. However he did have to fend off a few challenges for the front spot against Will Power. As reported by NBC Sports Palou stated the following after the race, “It was a really fun race. It was a lot better than I expected. We had a lot more grip today than what we did (Friday and Saturday), and I think the track evolved a lot during the weekend. Obviously, I had a clean race, but honestly Detroit did a tremendous job. The fans were amazing. I was mind-blown of how many fans we had today being a first-time event. Also the podium on victory lane was really fun. Yeah, hopefully we can tweak some stuff (on the track) and make it even better for next year. But, yeah, cannot wait.”
Palou had a moment on lap 56 where his car had to be placed into emergency mode “I was already heading to Turn 2, I switched to emergency mode because that’s the only way to take all the issues out. It went well, but you lose a lot of performance up-shifting. That’s why Will got us, until the exit of Turn 3, I got it back to normal, then it was all right.” Power was able to build a 2 second lead in the scuffle but Palou gathered himself and was able to take back the track position.
Will Power Fighting the Good Fight but Will it Be Enough?
Power had a good fight towards the closing stages of the race. However in the end Power couldn’t match the pace. He stated, “I did everything I could. He [Palou] was just too quick, man. Too good today.” With no wins in 2023 Will Power may be beginning to question where the season has gone and if he will be able to mount an offense to get back into championship running. There is a long season ahead but no one wants to fight from behind in the closing stages of the season. We will see if Power can turn things around in Wisconsin in a few weeks.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America presented by AMR on Sunday, June 18 in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.