{"id":33971,"date":"2025-01-16T19:09:52","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T23:09:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=33971"},"modified":"2025-01-16T19:09:52","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T23:09:52","slug":"ride-with-the-indycar-stars-racing-day-at-detroit-auto-show-returns-with-drivers-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2025\/01\/ride-with-the-indycar-stars-racing-day-at-detroit-auto-show-returns-with-drivers-cars","title":{"rendered":"Ride with the IndyCar stars: Racing Day at Detroit Auto Show returns with drivers, cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

Detroit<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 On a balmy late spring day June 1, Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will compete on city streets in the Detroit Grand Prix. On a frigid Friday, Jan. 17, he\u2019ll give hot laps to Detroit Auto Show attendees inside Huntington Place.<\/p>\n

In a 644-horsepower Chevy Corvette E-Ray.<\/p>\n

Hot laps by IndyCar drivers highlight the return of Racing Day to the Detroit Auto Show. Newgarden will be joined by David Malukas of AJ Foyt Racing, Ganassi Racing\u2019s Kyffin Simpson as well as up-and-coming INDY NXT drivers Callum Hedge and Nolan Allaer. The latter is a local Detroit talent competing in his second INDY NXT season for 2025.<\/p>\n

\"AA Detroit Grand Prix display at the Detroit Auto Show includes the #3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet of Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin with an IndyCar transporter in the background. Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The drivers will also be available for autographs as the Auto Show kicks off ticket sales for the May 30-June 1 event, being held for the third year on the 1.7-mile Detroit street course. In addition to the race jockeys, Racing Day will rev up show attendees with the #2 Shell Powering Progress Chevrolet IndyCar that Newgarden piloted to his second straight Indianapolis 500 win last year \u2014 and the 20th<\/sup>\u00a0victory for Bloomfield Hills-based Team Penske and its founder, Roger \u201cThe Captain\u201d Penske.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuper excited to partner with Detroit Auto Show this year on Racing Day,” Detroit GP President Michael Montri said. “The show has historically been a nice springboard for us in our promotions, and with the move back to January it works out perfectly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Auto<\/figure>\n
\n

Auto Show attendees on Friday will have the chance to ride in a Chevy Corvette E-Ray piloted by race car driver Josef Newgarden. Henry Payne, The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Indy\u2019s world-renowned Borg Warner Trophy \u2014 one of sport\u2019s most recognized trophies along with the NHL\u2019s Stanley Cup \u2014 will be on display in the Huntington Place Atrium along with the Newgarden car. The trophy features the likeness of every Indy 500 winner. You can\u2019t miss the bright yellow Corvette Z06 GT3.R racer, which represents the production-based GT cars that also compete on Detroit GP weekend in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.<\/p>\n

The free Racing Day event in the Atrium, at the Detroit River side of the main lobby, complements the Detroit Grand Prix display on the show floor next to the \u201cDetroit GP\u201d gas-car test track. The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear has partnered with the Detroit Auto Show by sponsoring the track \u2014 one of four tracks (the others are the \u201cPowering Michigan\u201d EV track, Camp Jeep and Bronco Built Wild) where attendees can ride in current cars.<\/p>\n

The IndyCar driver ride-alongs will take place on the Detroit GP track.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/figure>\n
\n

From left, Howard Perkins of Ann Arbor and Sharon Jorgensen of Clinton Township view the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 at the Detroit GP Racing Day exhibit at the Detroit Auto Show on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. Clarence Tabb Jr., The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s going to be a fun activity,\u201d said Montri. All five drivers are going to be giving rides. It is the neat thing about this year\u2019s show. (Attendees are) able to get into a car and experience what it feels like to ride in vehicles at the show. It gives the consumer a little extra information when they shop.\u201d<\/p>\n

And a little extra adrenaline in the case of the celebrity rides. At 11 a.m. and again at 12:30 p.m. on Racing Day, lucky fans will have the opportunity to ride shotgun with the some of the fastest drivers on the planet. In addition to Chevrolet drivers (IndyCars are powered by either Chevy or Honda engines) Newgarden and Malukas in E-Rays (pace cars for the 2024 Indianapolis 500 and Detroit GP), Simpson will pilot a Honda, and the Indy NXT drivers Buicks.<\/p>\n

On the track\u2019s southeast corner, the Detroit GP display includes two more IndyCars: the #3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet of Newgarden\u2019s Team Penske teammate and pal Scott McLaughlin and a mule wrapped in Detroit GP colors and logo (a doppelganger will be on display in the Huntington Place lobby). Rounding out the show floor display is the red-and-white #7 Porsche 963 GTP prototype that brought home the overall IMSA title to Team Penske last year.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/figure>\n
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From left, Marcus Goral, 25, of Farmington Hills and Ray Abbott, 27, of Walled Lake view the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 at the Detroit GP Racing Day exhibit at the Detroit Auto Show on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. Clarence Tabb Jr., The Detroit News<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Other goodies on the show floor booth include a towering IndyCar race transporter, the \u201cWinner\u2019s Circle\u201d display complete with trophies, hats and champagne bottles, a Firestone tire display, and Detroit GP history cubes with photos of the event\u2019s highlights over the years.<\/p>\n

The Detroit Auto Show continues to run through Monday, Jan. 20, at Huntington Place. For tickets and for more information, visit detroitautoshow.com.<\/p>\n

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Detroit\u00a0\u2014 On a balmy late spring day June 1, Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden will compete on city streets in the Detroit Grand Prix. On a frigid Friday, Jan. 17, he\u2019ll give hot laps to Detroit Auto Show attendees inside Huntington Place. In a 644-horsepower Chevy Corvette E-Ray. Hot laps by IndyCar drivers highlight the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33971"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33971"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33971\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33972,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33971\/revisions\/33972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}