The Detroit Grand Prix (branded as the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation for sponsorship reasons) is an IndyCar Series race weekend held on a temporary circuit in Detroit, Michigan. The race has been held from 1989 to 2001, 2007 to 2008, 2012 to 2019, and since 2021. Since 2012, the event has been scheduled for the weekend immediately following the Indianapolis 500.
The origins of the event date back to the Formula One Detroit Grand Prix on the Detroit Street Circuit. The CART series began headlining the event in 1989, and in 1992, the race moved from downtown Detroit to Belle Isle, a park situated on an island in the Detroit River, which is the longest serving venue of the race. The IndyCar Series took over the race beginning in 2007. The race has been supported by Indy Lights and Formula Atlantic and top-level sports car series such as the Trans-Am Series and the ALMS. From 2023, the race returned to the downtown streets around the Renaissance Center using a circuit partially based on the original one used by Formula One and CART.
Open wheel racing in Detroit dates back to the 1920s to 1950s, when AAA held the Detroit 100 at the Michigan State Fairgrounds Speedway. AAA also held one five-mile (8 km), non-championship race at Grosse Pointe in 1905.
Formula One
The race dates back to when it was a Formula One World Championship event held on the Detroit Street Circuit encompassing the Renaissance Center. The original circuit was with seventeen corners and proved to be even slower than Monaco. The rough, demanding course included a railroad track crossing and mimicked Monaco, with a tunnel on the main straight. While officially the Detroit Grand Prix, it was also referred to as the United States Grand Prix East because there were multiple Grand Prix races in the U.S. at the time. By the time of the 1988 race, the FIA, the governing body of Formula One, had declared the street circuit's temporary pits and garages were not up to the required standard. The race was already the least popular Grand Prix on the calendar and after a very difficult 1988 Grand Prix the drivers became outspoken with their dislike of the event.
For , race organizers planned to move the race to a new temporary circuit on Belle Isle, a city park in the Detroit River. Along with the criticism of the downtown circuit, local developers were also planning to begin construction along portions of the course, making it difficult to set up in the coming years. The relocation plan to Belle Isle was immediately met with stiff local opposition, both public and political. Even though the circuit would be temporary, permanent garages and pit facilities would have needed to be constructed, at significant expense, and at the odds of conservation groups. Also against their favor was a budding interest to relocate the United States Grand Prix to Laguna Seca. That track was courting Formula One, having recently completed capital improvements, and having just hosted a highly successful United States motorcycle Grand Prix. Furthermore, an upstart group in Phoenix was also aggressively vying for the race.
In October 1988, the plan to move to Belle Isle was scrapped. Formula One left Detroit permanently, and a short time later, it was officially announced that the U.S. Grand Prix was moving to Phoenix.
It was in Detroit in that Italian driver Michele Alboreto drove his Tyrrell 011 to victory in the US Grand Prix East in what would prove to be the 155th and last ever F1 win by the Cosworth DFV V8 engine.
CART Renaissance Center: 1989 to 1991
For 1989, the race in Detroit was replaced by a CART series event. Instead of moving to Belle Isle, CART utilized a slightly modified version of the existing downtown Renaissance Center street circuit. The chicane on the main straight was eliminated – something the F1 drivers had been calling for since the first race in 1982. The CART race was held on this layout for three years. As had been the case in the event's Formula One days, competitors and fans continued to pan the course, criticizing it for its bumpiness, poor visibility and overall poor layout.
The 1991 event was perhaps the last straw in what was an embarrassment for the organizers. In addition to a disintegrating track made worse by suffocating heat and humidity, it saw Mario Andretti crash his Lola head-on into a tow truck. The safety crew was attempting to remove Dennis Vitolo's stalled car from a blind corner at St. Antoine and East Jefferson Streets. Seconds later Michael Andretti came onto the scene, and crashed into Vitolo's car attempting to avoid his father's wrecked car. Ultimately, promoters considered the downtown circuit a money-loser, and claimed it was suffering from poor television ratings with its Father's Day date (up against the U.S. Open).
Belle Isle: 1992 to 1997 Beginning in 1992, the race was moved to a new temporary course set up on Belle Isle. The move revived a conceptual plan for the Formula One event from four years earlier. One major difference that made Belle Isle viable for CART – and acceptable to locals – was that permanent Formula One style garages and pits were not required by the sanctioning body. The race was also moved up a week, and for 1992, was the first race after the Indianapolis 500 (displacing the traditional Milwaukee Mile). The first layout measured . Almost immediately, the new course was criticized by drivers for being narrow, slow, and lacking passing zones. It was complemented, however, for its smoothness - a sharp contrast to the rough, manhole-dotted downtown circuit. Fans' opinions were mixed, as sightlines were improved over the downtown circuit, but access to the island was difficult, and the racing was not much better.
Course modification: 1998 to 2000 In 1998, the course layout was modified to eliminate the slow "Picnic Way" segment and series of corners. Instead, the course continued straight along Central Avenue to create a long, fairly-wide straightaway leading into a competitive passing zone. The track then measured . The revised layout was praised by competitors as being an improvement over the original (1992–1997) course. However, pavement transitions from asphalt to concrete were being blamed for an increase in incidents due to slickness.
The 2000 event saw young Brazilian Hélio Castroneves score his first CART victory for Marlboro Team Penske. After his victory lap, he stopped on the front stretch and climbed the catch fencing in an apparent effort to share his joy with the spectators. Helio became known as "Spider-Man" because of this celebration, which he repeated in his later victories.
Support races for the Detroit Grand Prix included the Motor City 100 for the SCCA Trans-Am Series, and the Neon Challenge celebrity race. Scenes from the film Driven were filmed during the race weekend in 2000.
The event, along with the Michigan 500, provided two CART races in southern Michigan annually.
Demise: 2001 Even though the track was a temporary street course, it became known as The Raceway on Belle Isle. As the years went by, the track was increasingly criticized for its narrowness, poor access, and its overall uncompetitive nature. The once smooth surface was aging in the harsh Detroit winters, and along with it came bumps, cracks and potholes. The circuit gained a reputation of being the "worst" and "least popular" venue on the entire schedule. In 1997, it was noted that race winner Greg Moore started seventh and did not pass a single car competitively out on the track for position all day. Participants also disliked the facility because of its lack of paved areas for support activities. Paddock areas were often muddy and unable to accommodate the teams.
After the 2001 race, CART's contract with Belle Isle expired. Attendance had been noticeably slipping. Negotiations to continue the event went over the summer, but eventually stalled. Organizers briefly entertained an idea to return to the old downtown circuit, but those plans were quickly scuttled. The series chose to drop the race from the schedule and the event went on hiatus.
IndyCar 2007 to 2008 In 2006, Roger Penske spearheaded talks to revive the race for 2007 as part of the ALMS and IndyCar Series schedules. Penske had recently experienced tremendous success as head of the Super Bowl XL Detroit Metro Host Committee. On September 29, 2006, it was announced that the Detroit Indy Grand Prix would return as the tenth race of the ALMS's 12-race season and penultimate race of the IndyCar Series' seventeen-race schedule.
To improve access to the track, a park-and-ride system, similar to what was used at Super Bowl XL, was implemented. Further paddock and track work was completed before the race. The 2007 event attracted a strong crowd, and was considered a success. It was held again in 2008. During this period, the event utilized the original (1992–1997) course layout, with some minor improvements. Some of the barriers were moved back, particularly inside the apexes of some of the turns, to effectively widen some curves and improve sight lines. Some barriers, including the metal guardrail on the pit straight, had been entirely removed.
On December 18, 2008, the scheduled race for 2009 was canceled. The ongoing automotive economic crisis, and its impact on the Detroit-area was the primary reason. Roger Penske did not rule out a return in the future.
Doubleheader era For the 2012 season, the race on Belle Isle was revived for a second time. The event was situated on the weekend immediately after the Indianapolis 500. Starting in 2013, the race was hosted as a unique "doubleheader" weekend. The race weekend would consist of two separate, points-paying races, one each on Saturday and Sunday. The races were treated as separate events, with separate qualifying, full championship points, and the results of the first had no bearing on the lineup for the second (as had been the case with some previous "twin" race formats). Beginning in 2013, the race also returned to the more popular and more competitive "long" course (1998–2001 layout).
On April 6, 2020, IndyCar announced the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers stated that Michigan's stay-at-home order (which was extended through April 30) would hinder the necessary preparations to hold the race, and that the race could not be reasonably rescheduled due to other events having been booked on Belle Isle already. The race returned in its traditional double header format for 2021. On September 19, 2021, IndyCar announced that the Detroit Grand Prix would be altered from a two race weekend to a single race weekend as part of their 2022 schedule.
Downtown revival
Mere weeks after the 2022 IndyCar schedule was announced, Penske Entertainment Group revealed that altering the Detroit Grand Prix to a single race weekend was done as part of a proposal discussed with the city of Detroit to return the race back to the Renaissance Center, utilizing a new downtown circuit beginning in 2023. In November 2021, the City Council of Detroit unanimously approved Penske Entertainment's plan and announced an initial three-year contract to return the Detroit Grand Prix back to the downtown streets for a single race weekend beginning in 2023.