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Detroit Grand Prix gears up for 2024 with new pavement, more racecars
Posted by Talbot Payne on December 14, 2023
It’s December in the Motor City, but June’s Detroit Grand Prix is already warming up.
Asphalt paving machines have laid down a new Turn 3 braking zone at the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Griswold Street, tailgating spots have been added, and — just in time for the holidays — tickets are on sale for the May 31-June 2 event, the sixth race on the 2024 NTT IndyCar calendar.
After a successful return to downtown streets last summer, the 2024 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear expands to include the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, featuring wicked-quick prototypes from Detroit icons Penske-Porsche and Cadillac and an angry herd of GT racers including Corvette, Mustang and Porsche. Like IMSA, IndyCar is going hybrid in 2024 — but don’t expect the IndyCar hybrid machines to be ready in time for the Detroit GP (or IndyCar’s signature event, the Indy 500, the weekend before).
“We’ll have a lot more on-track action this year,” said Bud Denker, chairman of the GP, in an interview. “We’ve added the IMSA series with the Porsches racing against the Cadillacs, Acuras and BMWs on Saturday. Then the IndyCars are the stars on Sunday.”
Spectators and a national television audience were treated to a thrilling, 100-lap shootout in ’23, but drivers still saw room for improvement.
Turn 3, the hairpin at the end of the long back straight, was judged difficult to pass by drivers due to the rough braking zone. So organizers have paved the full 750-foot patch leading into the brake zone for better grip.
“The real metric of a competitive track is how many passes did you have? We had 189 in last year’s Sunday race,” said Denker. “The feedback we got back from drivers was: can you do more paving on Jefferson Avenue into the braking zone? They’re going from about 185 mph there to about 30 mph.”
A big change coming to IndyCar next season is a switch to Chevrolet and Honda hybrid engines with an electric motor and battery paired with a twin-turbo, 2.2-liter V-6 engine for an expected 850 horsepower — 100 more than last year.
“Look at the manufacturers and what’s important for them: electrification,” said Denker. “We will introduce hybrid tech sometime after the Indy 500. We need more testing and units — we want to make sure that, when we go racing, the technology is bulletproof.”
He noted that IndyCar is the first race series to run 100% renewable fuel — a biomass-derived formula that debuted last year and is rated as carbon neutral by the U.S. Department of Energy — a key metric for manufacturers like Chevrolet and Honda that are the backbone of the series. The international Formula One series follows in IndyCar footsteps with a synthetic fuel in 2026.
Don’t expect IndyCar’s hybrid engine to debut in Detroit. IMSA’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic on Saturday, June 1, will feature hybrid prototypes that debuted in 2023. Typically a part of the Detroit event, IMSA missed last year due to a scheduling conflict with France’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indy 500 of the international sportscar world.
The 2024 IMSA race will pit Detroit icons Penske and Cadillac against one another. Penske manages the Porsche 963 race team, while Cadillac’s fleet of GTP racers will be looking to win in GM’s backyard.
“I’ll be a little bifurcated,” laughed Denker, who is also president of Penske Corporation. “If it wasn’t for General Motors, Chevy, and Cadillac we wouldn’t have the event downtown.”
Penske Corp also owns IndyCar, and the series benefited from a six-episode TV series, “100 Days to Indy,” that debuted in 2023 on The CW network and tracked IndyCar stars through the 500 — the last episode airing just before the Detroit GP. The series drew a healthy 4 million viewers, and Denker expects its renewal in 2024.
Also new to IndyCar last year was the dual pit lane — a Detroit GP innovation with a total of 28 pit stalls to house the different series on tap. Surrounded by downtown buildings, the pit lane is a beehive of action where races can be won or lost. Event organizers have expanded fan viewing of the area with new-for-2024 Tailgating ticket packages.
“We weren’t sure how (the dual pit lane) was going to work out, but it worked well,” smiled Denker. “Parking decks were loaded with fans — seven decks full watching the action — so this year we’re going to put a party deck on top of those rooftops plus a tailgate area. Bring your car, SUV, and we’ll give you the space.”
Just like a UM football game, fans will be able to purchase a tailgate pass for the event. Unlike Michigan football, tailgaters can back their vehicles right up to the action in Franklin Garage, overlooking the pit lane and main straight.
Those rooftop locations have been expanded as well. In 2023 rooftop views were offered atop the Renaissance Center Garage along the Detroit Riverfront, overlooking Turns 5-7. This year, Franklin Street Garage gets a rooftop deck as does the Port Atwater Garage for expansive views of the Detroit skyline as well as track action.
The circuit’s seven grandstands were sold out on Sunday last year, yet fans still had free access across half of the venue, bringing weekend attendance to an estimated 150,000. Free areas include Hart Plaza, Spirit Plaza, Detroit Riverwalk and the Jefferson Avenue straightaway. Organizers credit the free access and steady stream of live music for the biggest 25 to 30-year old-demographics in the event’s history.
Motown is Corvette town and owners can purchase tickets to a Corvette Corral that includes on-track parade laps. Other pay-for-view options include a Turn 3 Hospitality Club and Pit Lane Suites. In addition to IndyCar and IMSA, fans will get a look at open-wheel racing’s future stars in the INDY NXT series.
Sunday’s IndyCar feature will be televised by USA Network. Tickets are available online at www.DetroitGP.com/Tickets or through the event’s Ticket Hotline at 866-464-PRIX (7749).
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.