2017 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation

The greatest spectacle in racing has officially ended with Takuma Sato kissing the bricks. Now we turn our focus the only doubleheader on the Indycar schedule. Some early headlines to go over here.

A Replacement for Bourdais:

During qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, Sebastien Bourdais had a heavy crash that will take him out of the driver seat for some time. Bourdais is aiming to return for the season finale at Sonoma. Though James Davison performed great at the 500 before crashing out, former Formula One driver Esteban Gutierrez is the rumored frontrunner for the 18 seat. Gutierrez has recently said that he wants to give Indycar a shot, and this could be his chance.

Oriol Servia Sponsorship:

Servia's good run in the 500 ended in a tangle with James Davison late in the race. However, that will not be the only time we'll see him on the track. Servia will also be at Detroit this weekend, and with new sponsorship. Fifth Third has hopped on the 16 car for both Detroit races. It is unknown if we'll see Servia at all for the rest of the season, however.

Servia's Car:

Coyne fuming with 500 Rookie Decision:

Ed Jones had an amazing run at this year's 500. He was able to battle his way up to third after going back to last due to repairs sustained from hitting debris in the horrific Scott Dixon crash. Despite finishing in a podium position, he was not awarded Indianapolis 500 rookie. Those honors went to Fernando Alonso. Alonso had an amazing run until his not-so-trustworthy Honda engine blew up with 20 laps to go, and ended up finishing 24th. Dale Coyne was enraged with this decision. Coyne went on to comment that the decision was made just for marketing purposes, and compared it to a rookie in the NFL getting drafted 1st overall, and only getting rookie of the year in the NFL because of that (which I don't think is a good comparison).

2018 Schedule Rumors:

Some of this news is kinda old, but it needs some talking about. Mark Miles has said that all 17 races from this season are set to return next season, which is amazing news. There is also possibly a battle between two tracks in the Pacific Northwest. Portland International Raceway and a street circuit in Calgary are set to propose for a spot to be on the calendar for next year's Indycar season. There is also a likely "new entry" for next year's Indycar schedule set to be in Central America. It is rumored that this track will be Autodromo Miguel E. Abed in Puebla, a 1.25 mile oval track. Despite these rumors, the track does not have SAFER Barriers lining the track, which leaves some to believe this rumored track could be the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. Finally, a Chinese promoter by the name of Mitime has been talking with Indycar for a race in China. This possible race in China, however, is not likely for 2018, but for the 2019 Indycar season.

Guddi racing for Coyne is left field as all hell.

He stole my thread. (No worries, only kidding!)

Admittedly I was unaware that the 500 ROTY award doesn't necessarily go to the best-finishing driver. I understand the decision to give it to Fernando because he did an outstanding job, but at the same time it's a huge accomplishment that a rookie driver and an underfunded team placed third at Indianapolis. Not to mention that with exposure being important for sponsors, Coyne definitely won't want that to be overlooked.

Anyway, on to this weekend's races, I'm really disappointed that I won't get to see Bourdais try to defend his Saturday victory from last year. I hope that he makes it back to IndyCar in time for the end of this season, but in the meantime the driver for the #18 car still has yet to be announced (expect that to be determined later today, as on-track activities begin tomorrow morning). Gutierrez is certainly not who I would have guessed. After a strong performance from him at Indy I personally wouldn't mind if James Davison is given another chance in that car.

On a more positive note, it'll be nice to see an extra car in the field for the next couple of weeks (with Harding providing Chaves a car to drive at Texas). I haven't heard any updates as to whether or not the #16 car will be showing up anywhere after this weekend, but I hope that RLL can acquire the means to make it happen for Servià.

Once more I'll be at the track for the racing on Saturday, and this year I will also be attending "FREE Prix Day" on Friday!

UPDATE: It has been confirmed that Esteban Gutierrez will be the driver of the 18 car for Detroit. It is unknown if Gutierrez will compete in any other events as of now.

A few quick notes from observations made at the raceway: Rahal set the fastest time in opening practice and was ranked 2nd in the second practice, with Castroneves being the quickest of that session. Rossi was third, setting a quick lap early and but crashing soon afterwards (he backed it into the wall on the outside of the first left-hander in the fountain complex, which for some reason is lacking a tire barrier this year). Pagenaud was fourth with Aleshin rounding out the top 5.

Aside from Rossi, others who experienced problems in practice include Chilton with a brake fire in the pits, Hinchcliffe overshooting turn 3, Hunter-Reay spinning exiting the fountain complex, and Dixon spinning exiting the second-to-final corner.

I've never been to an IndyCar event on any other day than race day, so I was surprised and blown away over how much access that they allow for the fans. Essentially the only two places that I couldn't go were the pit lane and the race track. For anyone who is interested, I have posted a bunch of the pictures that I took while I was there in the following link:

https://efr1.forumotion.com/t873p850-racing-video-picture-thread#120504

SpeedDemon37 wrote:A few quick notes from observations made at the raceway: Rahal set the fastest time in opening practice and was ranked 2nd in the second practice, with Castroneves being the quickest of that session. Rossi was third, setting a quick lap early and but crashing soon afterwards (he backed it into the wall on the outside of the first left-hander in the fountain complex, which for some reason is lacking a tire barrier this year). Pagenaud was fourth with Aleshin rounding out the top 5.

Aside from Rossi, others who experienced problems in practice include Chilton with a brake fire in the pits, Hinchcliffe overshooting turn 3, Hunter-Reay spinning exiting the fountain complex, and Dixon spinning exiting the second-to-final corner.

I've never been to an IndyCar event on any other day than race day, so I was surprised and blown away over how much access that they allow for the fans. Essentially the only two places that I couldn't go were the pit lane and the race track. For anyone who is interested, I have posted a bunch of the pictures that I took while I was there in the following link:

https://efr1.forumotion.com/t873p850-racing-video-picture-thread#120504

The GP organizers are amazing. I'm bummed I can't do it this year, but I love how much they put into making sure the fans have a great time.

Graham Rahal has now made it 7 different winners from the first seven races this year.

I just watched my favorite driver in IndyCar score a victory from the pole position, at my home race, live from the circuit, while sporting an RLL #15 shirt that was signed by Graham, himself, the day before (and that was only hours after watching a Michael Shank Racing car earn a class victory in the IMSA race). The race may not have been very eventful, but today and Friday were easily the best experiences that I have ever had in regards to motorsports.

I'll have to watch the broadcast of Race #2 from home, but I really hope that the weather turns out well enough tomorrow for everyone in attendence to enjoy another race!

SpeedDemon37 wrote:I just watched my favorite driver in IndyCar score a victory from the pole position, at my home race, live from the circuit, while sporting an RLL #15 shirt that was signed by Graham, himself, the day before (and that was only hours after watching a Michael Shank Racing car earn a class victory in the IMSA race). The race may not have been very eventful, but today and Friday were easily the best experiences that I have ever had in regards to motorsports.

I'll have to watch the broadcast of Race #2 from home, but I really hope that the weather turns out well enough tomorrow for everyone in attendence to enjoy another race!

I plan on going down to the Belle Isle race one day, lol. But, I got to go to the 500 this year and that's good enough for me, lol. I know how you feel. It's completely a different experience to see a race in person than on TV.

Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Race 1 sucked big time on TV.

PackerMan71 wrote:Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Race 1 sucked big time on TV.

Well it can only get better. Race 2 is usually more action packed than Race 1 anyway.

day500champ1 wrote:I plan on going down to the Belle Isle race one day, lol.  But, I got to go to the 500 this year and that's good enough for me, lol.  I know how you feel.  It's completely a different experience to see a race in person than on TV.

Absolutely, it is. I'm really hoping that I will make it to the 500 myself one day. You and Cardinals5 should let me know whenever you make it to Belle Isle!

Goodbye, Allen Bestwick And ABC. Thanks for the memories.

Unbelievable. The weekend that I meet Graham Rahal he scores back-to-back victories. I apologize for reminding everyone so many times but I don't know if this race weekend could have been better for me! I'm absolutely thrilled that the #15 team got the job done again, and deservedly so.

On a more analytical note, you ended up being right on the money with that statement, Barney. Sunday's race was definitely the more eventful of the two, and it made for an interesting race. It's a huge shame, however,  that Castroneves, Hunter-Reay, and Hinchcliffe all ran into trouble. The #3 and the #5 were two of the five fastest cars all weekend, and poor RHR continues to experience simply terrible luck.

I hope that RLL Racing can keep up the good performances that the team displayed this weekend, because at this point the championship is again within reach. Reducing a points deficit from 101 to 52 within 36 hours. What a way to turn around a slow start to the season!

My official review for race 1.

I'll review race 2 when I've had a chance to watch it.

First race was lackluster, Second race was aight.

Rahal sweeping the weekend after the season he's had was something i didn't have on the books.

AntmanB wrote:Goodbye, Allen Bestwick And ABC. Thanks for the memories.

Actually no. ESPN/ABC will not give the contract away to NBC and NBC does not want to buy the contract away, so the two more likely outcomes of this will either be IndyCar or NBC providing the commentators.