IndyCar: Sunday Morning from Detroit, Rossi tops morning warm-up (Update)
Alexander Rossi in his #27 NAPA Honda topped the morning warm up for today’s Detroit GP IndyCar race, the final race on Belle Isle before the race moves downtown in 2023.
Honda-powered cars swept the top-7 times.
| Pos | No | Name | Time | Diff | Gap | Speed | Engine | Team |
| 1 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | 1:15.5816 | 0.000s | 0.000s | 111.932 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 2 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson | 1:15.9213 | 0.3397 | 0.3397 | 111.431 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 3 | 9 | Scott Dixon | 1:15.9755 | 0.3939 | 0.0542 | 111.352 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 4 | 30 | Christian Lundgaard | 1:16.1116 | 0.5300 | 0.1361 | 111.153 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 5 | 10 | Alex Palou | 1:16.1747 | 0.5931 | 0.0631 | 111.060 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 6 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | 1:16.1838 | 0.6022 | 0.0091 | 111.047 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 7 | 26 | Colton Herta | 1:16.3035 | 0.7219 | 0.1197 | 110.873 | Honda | Andretti Autosport w/Curb-Agajanian |
| 8 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | 1:16.4047 | 0.8231 | 0.1012 | 110.726 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 9 | 15 | Graham Rahal | 1:16.7595 | 1.1779 | 0.3548 | 110.214 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 10 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | 1:16.7702 | 1.1886 | 0.0107 | 110.199 | Chevy | Arrow McLaren SP |
| 11 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | 1:16.8460 | 1.2644 | 0.0758 | 110.090 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 12 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | 1:16.8628 | 1.2812 | 0.0168 | 110.066 | Honda | Andretti Autosport |
| 13 | 51 | Takuma Sato | 1:17.2420 | 1.6604 | 0.3792 | 109.526 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing w/RWR |
| 14 | 06 | Helio Castroneves | 1:17.3837 | 1.8021 | 0.1417 | 109.325 | Honda | Meyer Shank Racing |
| 15 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco | 1:17.4347 | 1.8531 | 0.0510 | 109.253 | Honda | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport |
| 16 | 20 | Conor Daly | 1:17.4380 | 1.8564 | 0.0033 | 109.249 | Chevy | Ed Carpenter Racing |
| 17 | 12 | Will Power | 1:17.4521 | 1.8705 | 0.0141 | 109.229 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 18 | 18 | David Malukas | 1:17.5398 | 1.9582 | 0.0877 | 109.105 | Honda | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD |
| 19 | 14 | Kyle Kirkwood | 1:17.5480 | 1.9664 | 0.0082 | 109.094 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 20 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | 1:17.6678 | 2.0862 | 0.1198 | 108.925 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 21 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | 1:17.8730 | 2.2914 | 0.2052 | 108.638 | Chevy | Team Penske |
| 22 | 77 | Santino Ferrucci | 1:18.5049 | 2.9233 | 0.6319 | 107.764 | Chevy | Juncos Hollinger Racing |
| 23 | 45 | Jack Harvey | 1:19.1576 | 3.5760 | 0.6527 | 106.875 | Honda | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing |
| 24 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | 1:19.3103 | 3.7287 | 0.1527 | 106.670 | Honda | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| 25 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | 1:19.4306 | 3.8490 | 0.1203 | 106.508 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
| 26 | 11 | Tatiana Calderon | 1:19.6684 | 4.0868 | 0.2378 | 106.190 | Chevy | AJ Foyt Enterprises |
June 5, 2022
Good morning from the final NTT INDYCAR Series race from Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, after 30 races in this location since 1992. The weather today might be wet for the warm-up at 10:15 am, but not around race time. It has been lightly raining this morning. Temperatures are expected to reach 72 degrees by the scheduled race green flag at 3:45 pm.
The starting grid is a bit shuffled today. Six-time series champion Scott Dixon, 2022 race winner Colton Herta and 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi were prevented from their final attempt to advance to the Firestone Fast Six when Romain Grosjean crashed in the final seconds of the second round of qualifying yesterday. All three of these drivers were having good runs, but that session ended with a checkered and red flag which prevented them from posting a faster lap.
Grosjean’s No. 28 Zapata/DHL Andretti Autosport entry clipped the barrier inside Turn 12, breaking a toe link in the suspension and causing the car to spin and make contact with the barrier on the outside of the corner. Grosjean was unhurt, but the car suffered heavy damage. He was cleared to drive by the IndyCar medical staff.
Kyle Kirkwood will start 15th as his eventful weekend continues. He led practice Friday, but his No. 14 ROKiT/AJ FOYT RACING entry nosed into the tire barrier in Turn 7 after side-to-side contact with Malukas during practice Saturday morning.
The shunt into the tire barrier was caused by a mechanical issue and resulted in Kirkwood missing most of the Saturday’s practice session. He sustained a sprain to his right hand but was able to make it out for qualifying four hours later.
The alternative tires might be an issue for this race. Even though Firestone creates a compound for this 80% concrete track, the red (alternative) tires were not the favorite tire from last year’s races. But the temperatures were also in the 90s last year.
Josef Newgarden, the Team Penske polesitter, told the media his thoughts on the alternative tire usage during the race.
“I think it’s going to be a similar case to last year where we learned it was difficult to understand whether you should take your medicine early or late. Seems like the red tires are more fragile. So it makes it interesting. Do you want durability or do you want a little speed to start the race? I think we will get that equation in a better spot than last year. We got pipped at the very end of the race, but we can do the job.”
It is disappointing to think we will not race again in this beautiful park, which is someplace to explore if you ever visit Detroit. It definitely will surprise you with all the different attractions inside.
Stay tuned to AR1 for race day updates.
Lucille Dust reporting live from Belle Isle in Detroit