IndyCar series drivers are preparing for the Indianapolis 500 at the mammoth 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, the sport’s biggest race. But a few days later, they will be in Detroit for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix on the city streets.
It’s an incredible transition for the teams and drivers who go from the emotional high of competing for the demanding high-speed race win that will etch their name in open-wheel racing history, to the grueling, often frustrating 1.7-mile, nine-turn Detroit street circuit that tests patience, pit strategy and the perfectly timed aggressive move.
Kyle Kirkwood is the defending champion of the Detroit Grand Prix, overcoming front-wing damage and using a late restart to pull away for the win ahead of Santino Ferrucci last year. He currently is second in the IndyCar series standings with a win and five top-five finishes this season heading into the Indianapolis 500 on May 24. He and series leader Alex Palou are among the Indy 500 favorites, and Kirkwood, who competes for Andretti Global, will be a favorite to repeat in Detroit on May 31 to conclude the three-day event.
After all, he’s been dubbed the “Street Course King.” Kirkwood, 27, has six IndyCar series victories, including five on street courses. He earned his first oval victory last summer at St. Louis, which was a satisfying breakthrough.
“In any-case scenario, when things are going well, it’s easy to point the finger at the driver, but quite honestly, our cars are just really good around street courses,” Kirkwood said Tuesday in a phone interview when asked about his nickname and source of his street-course success. “That’s why we excel at them. In some ways, (the title) is great, because we’re really good on street courses. That’s our thing. It’s been incredible. Most courses that we go to, we’re always in the top five. But at the same time, we want to kind of change that narrative and be good at all courses, which I think we’re on the track of doing. It’s a work in progress, that’s for sure.”
But first things first and that’s the Indianapolis 500. Kirkwood said he is eager to get to work during the practices that started Tuesday to set up the car for qualifying and then for the race. It is considered the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” and the 500 magic is not lost on the drivers.
“It’s unlike anything else,” Kirkwood said. “It’s absolutely incredible that you have 400,000 people in one place at one time, and the whole city shuts down for one event. It’s hard to explain. Just the whole hype of the race, all the traditions that come with it, the event. People have to get in here at 7 a.m. sharp to make sure that they get to their seat in time to watch the race. We have to stay inside the track the night before, because if not, we have to wake up at 4 a.m. to get to the track just to make sure that we beat the traffic to get in.
“It’s absolutely incredible. We all love it. We all want to win this race more than any other. And pretty sure anybody that etches their name in history by winning this race is forever a different person.”
There is little rest after the Indianapolis 500, though, and the teams and drivers head to Detroit for practice on May 29, five days later. Teams will have spent the previous two weeks preparing the car and drivers for the high-speed oval and then have to transition to the tight Detroit street circuit.
“You have to be able to adapt and adjust to different conditions and circuits,” Kirkwood said. “Quite honestly, it’s very hard on everybody, especially since it’s pretty much six weeks in a row for us where we’re going nonstop. There’s no breaks. Even after the race, you’re in meetings, turning the cars over, getting ready for the next event. And you kind of have to leave the last race in the past, leave each test day in the past, learn from where you can and then move on and keep digging.
“It’s not an easy thing through these six weeks. We go through the 500 which is an extremely stressful event, and then it’s like, guess what, we’re straight into Detroit and then after Detroit, we go to St. Louis for an oval. So it’s a tough turnaround, for sure, but they all pay the same points. That’s the way we have to look at it. The Indy 500 pays the same amount of points as Detroit does and any other circuit does out of the 18 races that we race. So that’s really the focal point.”
IndyCar drivers often say that outside of winning the Indianapolis 500, winning in Detroit is critical because of the manufacturers based here.
“Detroit is a very historic race for IndyCar racing, and coming back to downtown is another historic moment for it,” Kirkwood said. “Being able to race around the GM building there and having a title sponsor like GM is a really big deal for any sport, so it brings some weight to it. I’d say street courses are bigger events if you look at the history of Long Beach, St. Pete, Detroit, Toronto. Outside of the 500, those are the races that we pack full of people and( Detroit is) accessible. It’s great racing. It goes along with IndyCar very well in its history, so it’s always one we want to win.”
Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix
When: 12:30 p.m. Sunday, May 31
Where: Downtown Detroit
TV: FOX
Defending champion: Kyle Kirkwood
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Kyle Kirkwood, defending Detroit Grand Prix champ, eyes Indy 500 glory