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How the Detroit Grand Prix speeds food to Detroit’s homeless
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 31, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Detroit — Exiting Turn 2 onto the long, Jefferson Avenue straight, Detroit Grand Prix racers row their steeds through six gears, their howling, 12,000-RPM engines hitting 185 mph as they reverberate off the canyon of Detroit buildings.
The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear feeds our need for speed. It also feeds the homeless.
One of the buildings that lines the ¾-mile long straight is Detroit’s oldest church, St. Peter and Paul at 438 St. Antoine, which houses the Pope Francis Day Center for the homeless. It’s one of four charities (Belle Isle Conservancy, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Detroit, and the Detroit Public Safety Foundation are the others) that the Grand Prix, now in its fourth year downtown, prioritizes.
Cartoon: Ferrari EV
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 31, 2026
Detroit vs. Detroit: Motown brands vie for supremacy at Detroit Grand Prix
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 31, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Mark Rushbrook, Ford Racing boss, agreed. “We are racing in front of friends, family and our co-workers from across Michigan. While we continue to expand Ford’s racing footprint globally—competing in 35 series around the world—our home is here in Detroit.”
The Detroit GP, said Campbell, stands to gain from the Memorial Day weekend’s epic Indianapolis 500 — where the Honda-powered Meyer Shank IndyCar of Felix Rosenqvist beat the Chevrolet-powered Team Penske entry of David Malukas in the closest finish in Indy history.
Cartoon: Trump Hunting Season
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 31, 2026
Payne: In the Cadillac Escalade, there’s always a button for that
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 31, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Sterling Heights — With 420 horsepower and a satisfying roar, the 6.2-liter pushrod V-8 engine under the hood of my 2026 Cadillac Escalade Platinum Sport tester would usually be my obsession.
But eight is a trivial number in the Platinum Sport model.
What has my attention in the Platinum Sport are the dozens of buttons that operate a cornucopia of automatic functions on this rolling condominium: auto doors, seats, tailgate, drawers, TV screens and Super Cruise hands-free driving. At $131K, Platinum Sport is an expensive automobile — but an affordable condo.
Cartoon: Colbert TDS Rehab
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 26, 2026
Cartoon: Indy 500 Milk
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 26, 2026
Roger Penske just misses record 21st Indy 500 win
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 25, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Indianapolis — Two one hundredths of a second.
That’s how close Bloomfield Hills-based, 89-year-old Roger Penske came to winning his 21st Indianapolis 500 Sunday — and to his 24-year-old Team Penske phenom David Malukas winning his first.
In the tightest finish in the 110-year history of the Indy 500, Malukas and his No. 12 Chevrolet-powered IndyCar was passed by Honda-powered Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist in the final stretch before the green flag in a wild, rain-interrupted, yellow flag-marred, 200-mph-pass-fest over 500 miles. The win was popular one for 34-year-old Swede Rosenqvist, one of the most-liked drivers in the paddock, but a heartbreaker for Malukas who just joined Team Penske this year.
Payne: Jeep Cherokee reborn with Wagoneer S style, hybrid practicality
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 23, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
West Bloomfield — I slipped into the comfortable leather seats of the 2026 Jeep Cherokee and pressed the elegant, bejeweled starter button on the console. Just like a Jeep Wagoneer S. I gripped the rectangular steering wheel to better view the big digital instrument display. Just like a Wagoneer S. Merging onto I-75, I nailed the throttle and the gas-hybrid Cherokee leapt forward thanks to an assist from its electric motor like the all-electric S.
The $67K Wagoneer S EV has left the market for 2027, but — for 60% of the cost — its DNA lives on in the terrific, $37K Cherokee reborn for 2026.
You need a baseball scorecard to keep track of the lineup changes at Stellantis brands these days.
As the feds called off the government dogs mandating electric vehicles, automakers have shuffled models to please customers again. Ram 1500 brought back its V8-powered truck, gas-fired Dodge Charger hellions are in vogue, and Jeep has paused the compact Wagoneer S ute and resurrected the Cherokee for the market’s most-popular, compact SUV segment.
Cherokee is an S without the $.
Cartoon: Hormuz Trump Cannonball
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 20, 2026
5 Things about the 2027 Ram Rumble Bee street trucks
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 20, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Chelsea — The street truck wars are back.
In the tradition of iconic Mopar pickup hellions like the 1978-79 Li’l Red Express and 2004-06 SRT-10, Ram has introduced its Rumble Bee muscle truck lineup for 2027. Street trucks — pickups channeling their muscle-car siblings with big engines, body mods and lowered chassis — were a fascination in the late 1990s/early 2000s with unique beasts like the Ford F-150 SVT Lightning, Chevrolet 454 SS and GMC Syclone.
The SRT-10 was considered the standard with its earth-shaking, Dodge Viper-derived, 8.3-liter V-10 engine and record-breaking 154 mph top speed. The street truck trend faded during the 2008 recession and has been dormant as consumers flocked to off-road hellions like the Ram TRX, Ford F-150 Raptor and Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro.
Ford resurrected the street truck idea in 2025 with the lowered, drifting Maverick Lobo and aggressive-looking F-150 Lobo. Now Rumble Bee kicks down the door with a full-blown, full-volume, full-size-street truck revival.
Here are five key things about the 2027 Ram Rumble Bee pickup.
Cartoon: Memorial Day 2026 Super Hero
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 20, 2026
Cartoon: Lincoln Assassination Staged
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 16, 2026
Cartoon: Fauci Hantavirus Ship
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 14, 2026
Payne: Mazda fixed the CX-5. Except for the turbo-4
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 14, 2026
Southfield — Rarely do I attack a 180-degree cloverleaf with an SUV. Exiting I-75 in the all-new 2026 Mazda CX-5, I activated SPORT mode, stabbed the brakes, then rotated the 3,856-pound ute into the looooong turn, hugging the apex until the all-season tires screamed in protest. The CX-5 stayed true.
Yep, the CX-5’s poised handling hasn’t changed.
But everything else has. After lagging the segment in touchscreen ergonomics and interior room, the third-generation CX-5 has been remade as a roomy, cutting-edge tool for the digital age. But for the curious absence of Mazda’s turbocharged engine alternative, CX-5 is a high five.
Job One: The touchscreen
As an aspirational premium brand, Mazda made a splash with the second-gen CX-5 in 2017, equipping it with a chic remote-rotary-controlled infotainment screen in the fashion of luxury brands Audi and BMW. Mazda engineers also embraced the technology because it allowed them to move the touchless screen forward on the dash where it was more in the line of the driver’s road view.
But as smartphones took over the world — and our cars — Tesla-like touchscreens were the rage. We were driving iPhones on wheels! BMW quickly fell in line with a touchscreen to complement the rotary i-Drive it had, ahem, invented. So, too, Genesis. Audi went touchscreen, and suddenly … Mazda’s system was unfashionable.
And unloved. My son looooves his Mazda3, except for the clumsy remote controller.
Read full article here.
Cartoon: Mamdani Florida Real Estate Agent of the Year
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 12, 2026
Cartoon: Obamacare Nuns Sue
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 12, 2026
Payne: Chinese Polestar 4, U.S.-made Tesla Model Y go wheel-to-wheel
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 7, 2026
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Henry Payne, The Detroit News
Washington, D.C. — Who says Chinese cars aren’t sold in the United States?
Produced by Chinese auto giant Geely, the Polestar 4 SUV debuted this year into the U.S. market’s most competitive luxury segment: electric vehicles.
Its Swedish design is wrapped around Geely’s Sustainability Experience Architecture — a platform shared with other Geely Group vehicles like the Zeekr 001 (and the Waymo Ojai autonomous vehicle currently cruising the streets of Detroit, Phoenix, and San Francisco). The 4’s assembly was recently moved to South Korea from Chinato bypass U.S. tariffs.
In design, concept and performance, it is one of the most daring EVs on the market and is aimed squarely at the best-selling U.S. model made by the company that has defined daring: the Tesla Model Y.
I flogged 4 and Y far and wide across roads from Oakland County to Washington, D.C., to Virginia’s North Neck. Tesla vs. Polestar. U.S. vs. China.
Here’s how the king and the contender compare, and which comes out on top in which areas.
Cartoon: Obama Iran War Ignore
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 7, 2026
Cartoon: US Hormuz Police Iran Boats
Posted by Talbot Payne on May 6, 2026
