The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation was the lone doubleheader event of the 2018 IndyCar Series season, consisting of the 7th and 8th rounds of the championship. The event was held at The Raceway at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan. Scott Dixon won Race 1, and Ryan Hunter-Reay won the Sunday race.

This event also marked the final IndyCar Series broadcast for ABC, ending a half-century stint covering the series (and its predecessors), as starting in 2019, NBC Sports was the series' only broadcaster. This would ultimately mark the end of Scott Goodyear's commentary career after 17 seasons with ESPN.

Race 1 – Saturday, June 2 Results Icon Meaning R Rookie W Past winner W1 Past winner of race 1 in doubleheader W2 Past winner of race 2 in doubleheader

Qualifying Pos No. Name Group Time 1 98 Marco Andretti21:14.8514 2 9 Scott Dixon W11:15.4186 36 Robert Wickens R21:15.3267 4 27 Alexander Rossi11:15.4946 5 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay 21:15.3351 6 12 Will Power W1 W2 11:15.7210 730 Takuma Sato21:15.3920 8 15 Graham Rahal W1 W2 11:15.8273 9 5 James Hinchcliffe21:15.5402 1059 Max Chilton11:16.0396 1110 Ed Jones21:15.8876 1221 Spencer Pigot 11:16.1430 1322 Simon Pagenaud W221:16.0099 141 Josef Newgarden 11:16.1923 15 10 Tony Kanaan W21:16.0740 1626 Zach Veach R11:16.3157 1718 Sébastien Bourdais W221:16.2205 18 19 Santino Ferrucci R 1 1:15.8343 1988 Gabby Chaves21:16.7531 2020 Jordan King R11:16.9075 214 Matheus Leist R21:16.4182 2223 Charlie Kimball11:17.20672332 René Binder R21:18.6108OFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Race DriverTeamEngineLapsTime/RetiredPit StopsGridLaps Led19 Scott Dixon WChip Ganassi RacingHonda701:39:24.6189223954228 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda70 +1.824935741327 Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda70 +4.17712435498 Marco AndrettiAndretti Herta Autosport with Curb-AgajanianHonda70 +11.5191212234530 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda70 +11.87572730610 Ed JonesChip Ganassi RacingHonda70 +13.764921128712 Will Power W1 W2Team PenskeChevrolet70 +15.0733262686 Robert Wickens RSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda70 +21.4715332491 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet70 +21.5622314221021 Spencer PigotEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet70 +21.952321220115 James HinchcliffeSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda70 +22.315849191226 Zach Veach RAndretti AutosportHonda70 +23.0621216181318 Sébastien Bourdais W2Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-SullivanHonda70 +23.3441217171414 Tony Kanaan WA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet70 +26.187731516154 Matheus Leist RA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet70 +26.5471321151620 Jordan King REd Carpenter RacingChevrolet70 +27.0156320141722 Simon Pagenaud W2Team PenskeChevrolet70 +29.8038313131888 Gabby ChavesHarding RacingChevrolet70 +33.7246319121923 Charlie KimballCarlinChevrolet70 +34.0911322112059 Max ChiltonCarlinChevrolet70 +34.8584310102132 René Binder RJuncos RacingChevrolet67 +3 laps22392219 Santino Ferrucci RDale Coyne RacingHonda55Contact21882315 Graham Rahal W1 W2Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda45Crash2828OFFICIAL BOX SCORE Notes: Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps. For Detroit only, 1 bonus point was awarded to the fastest qualifier from both groups.

Championship standings after Race 1

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 1 1 Alexander Rossi 276 2 2 Scott Dixon 272 2 3 Will Power 269 1 4 Josef Newgarden 255 5 Ryan Hunter-Reay 227

Manufacturer standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 577 2 Chevrolet 497

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Race 2 – Sunday, June 3 Results Icon Meaning R Rookie W Past winner W1 Past winner of race 1 in doubleheader W2 Past winner of race 2 in doubleheader

Qualifying Pos No. Name Group Time1 27 Alexander Rossi11:33.314326 Robert Wickens R21:33.66053 12 Will Power W1 W211:33.8295410 Ed Jones21:33.92565 9 Scott Dixon W W111:33.95446 5 James Hinchcliffe21:34.1370726 Zach Veach R11:34.6464822 Simon Pagenaud W221:34.23159 15 Graham Rahal W1 W211:35.025610 28 Ryan Hunter-Reay21:34.50211120 Jordan King R11:35.137412 98 Marco Andretti21:34.547513 19 Santino Ferrucci R11:35.46641488 Gabby Chaves21:35.60451521 Spencer Pigot11:36.37131618 Sébastien Bourdais W221:35.66921759 Max Chilton11:36.9796184 Matheus Leist R21:36.0439191 Josef Newgarden11:38.30412030 Takuma Sato21:37.08512123 Charlie Kimball11:39.359722 10 Tony Kanaan W2No time2332 René Binder R2No timeOFFICIAL BOX SCORE

Race DriverTeamEngineLapsTime/RetiredPit StopsGridLaps Led128 Ryan Hunter-ReayAndretti AutosportHonda701:33:50.57843101851212 Will Power W1 W2Team PenskeChevrolet70 +11.35492340310 Ed JonesChip Ganassi RacingHonda70 +13.2291243549 Scott Dixon W W1Chip Ganassi RacingHonda70 +13.76522532515 Graham Rahal W1 W2Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda70 +16.6280293066 Robert Wickens RSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda70 +34.939832630714 Tony Kanaan WA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet70 +41.632812226823 Charlie KimballCarlinChevrolet70 +47.355322124998 Marco AndrettiAndretti Herta Autosport with Curb-AgajanianHonda70 +56.6293312221022 Simon Pagenaud W2Team PenskeChevrolet70 +59.589128201159 Max ChiltonCarlinChevrolet70 +1:04.6868217191227 Alexander RossiAndretti AutosportHonda70 +1:06.64193146221326 Zach Veach RAndretti AutosportHonda70 +1:07.64381717144 Matheus Leist RA. J. Foyt EnterprisesChevrolet70 +1:11.674221816151 Josef NewgardenTeam PenskeChevrolet70 +1:14.282021915165 James HinchcliffeSchmidt Peterson MotorsportsHonda70 +1:17.372936141730 Takuma SatoRahal Letterman Lanigan RacingHonda69 +1 lap220131820 Jordan King REd Carpenter RacingChevrolet69 +1 lap111121988 Gabby ChavesHarding RacingChevrolet69 +1 lap214112019 Santino Ferrucci RDale Coyne RacingHonda69 +1 lap313102118 Sébastien Bourdais W2Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-SullivanHonda67 +3 laps41692232 René Binder RJuncos RacingChevrolet66 +4 laps22382321 Spencer PigotEd Carpenter RacingChevrolet21Mechanical2157OFFICIAL BOX SCORE Notes: Points include 1 point for leading at least 1 lap during a race, an additional 2 points for leading the most race laps. For Detroit only, 1 bonus point was awarded to the fastest qualifier from both groups.

Championship standings after Race 2

Drivers' Championship standings Pos Driver Points 2 1 Will Power 309 2 Scott Dixon 304 2 3 Alexander Rossi 298 1 4 Ryan Hunter-Reay 278 1 5 Josef Newgarden 270

Manufacturer standings Pos Manufacturer Points 1 Honda 668 2 Chevrolet 563

Note: Only the top five positions are included.

Pace car incident During the opening pace laps of Race #2, the 2019 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 pace car leading the field and being driven by General Motors executive Mark Reuss lost control and crashed head-on into the left-hand retaining wall coming out of the exit of turn two of the track, shortly after leaving pit road. Neither Reuss nor Mark Sandy, an IndyCar official who was a passenger in the car, were injured in the crash and were able to exit the vehicle after the crash. Because the race cars had just left pit road and were being led by the pace car, all of the drivers in the race, except for Alexander Rossi, stopped on the track behind the wrecked car as safety crews and track workers cleaned up debris from the accident and removed the damaged vehicle. Rossi, who was to start the race from the pole position and was directly behind the pace car when the incident occurred, was the only driver to drive past the crash and returned to pit road afterwards. Approximately 20 minutes after the crash, the cars still on the track had their engines re-fired and were directed to drive to pit road in order to reset the starting grid for the race start. An identical back-up pace car of the same make and model was brought out to pace the field, this time driven by former IndyCar driver and official Oriol Servià who regularly drove the pace car during caution periods. The incident delayed the start of the race by over 30 minutes from its scheduled start time of 3:50pm local time. The race eventually went green sometime past 4:20pm.

An official statement from General Motors, of which Chevrolet is a division of, read in part, "It is unfortunate that this incident happened. Many factors contributed, including weather and track conditions. The car’s safety systems performed as expected." Reuss, who had previous experience driving high powered cars in his tenure at General Motors, posted his own statement onto his Facebook page apologizing for the mishap: "I have driven this course many many many times. I have paced this race in the wet, cold, hot, and calm. On Z06’s, Grand Sports, and other things. It is never a casual thing for me, but an honor to be asked. Today I let down my friends, my family, IndyCar, our city and my company. Sorry does not describe it. I want to thank our engineers for providing me the safety I know is the best in the world." IndyCar drivers Will Power and eventual race winner Ryan Hunter-Reay were sympathetic to Reuss in their comments on the incident following the race, with Power saying, "I felt really bad for whoever was in the pace car. It's very easy to do, and the traction control must have been turned off. Wasn't really his fault."

The unusual incident garnered massive amounts of attention on social media and news outlets, with Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal tweeting that the exposure that the crash gave to Chevrolet was " more than 70 times" worth the exposure Chevrolet earned from the race itself. The incident was briefly mentioned by television presenter Jeremy Clarkson in series 3, episode 8 of the Amazon Prime Video motoring show The Grand Tour while Clarkson was test driving a Corvette similar to the one Reuss had crashed. Nearly one year after the crash, Reuss was given the opportunity to drive the pace car for the opening laps of the 2019 edition of the race, this time doing so without incident.

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