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The 2026
Chevrolet
Detroit
Grand
Prix
(CDGP)
Fifth
Third
Free
Prix Day
took
place
Friday,
May 29,
2026
providing
prime
views of
the
finish
line and
the
unique
two-sided
pit
lane.
(Photo
by
Montez
Miller/Tell
Us USA
News
Network) |
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Palou
leads 71
laps to
win
Detroit
Grand
Prix,
expands
championship
gap
Dusty
Schoenherr
- Sports
Tell Us
Detroit
News
Bureau
DETROIT
-
Normalcy
has
returned
to the
NTT
INDYCAR
SERIES —
and it
once
again
belongs
to Chip
Ganassi
Racing.
Alex
Palou
continued
his
commanding
run
through
the 2026
season
Sunday,
mastering
the
tight
confines
of
downtown
Detroit
to win
the
Chevrolet
Detroit
Grand
Prix in
dominant
fashion.
Starting
from the
pole for
a
career-best
third
consecutive
race,
the
three-time
and
reigning
series
champion
controlled
the
event
from the
outset,
leading
71 of
100 laps
in the
No. 10
Honda.
Palou
took the
checkered
flag
3.0584
seconds
ahead of
Andretti
Global’s
Kyle
Kirkwood,
securing
his
fourth
victory
of the
season
and
further
extending
his
championship
lead.
“It
feels
like the
first
time,
honestly,”
a
visibly
exhausted
Palou
said in
victory
lane.
“It was
a tough
one — a
very
tough
one. The
team did
an
incredible
job with
pit
stops
and
strategy.
Track
position
was
everything.”
The
nine-turn,
1.645-mile
temporary
street
circuit
delivered
the
expected
chaos,
with
multiple
restarts
and
narrow
margins
for
error.
While
Palou
appeared
untouchable
out
front,
he
acknowledged
the race
was far
from
comfortable
inside
the
cockpit.
“I
couldn’t
match
Kyle
Kirkwood
and Will
Power on
the
restarts,”
Palou
said. “I
put
myself
in a bad
spot
there
for a
while,
but the
yellow
helped
us. That
really
saved
us.”
Kirkwood,
the 2025
Detroit
winner,
charged
from
sixth on
the grid
and
rolled
the dice
on
strategy,
switching
to the
softer
Firestone
alternate
“red”
tires
for the
final
stint.
The
gamble
briefly
put him
in
contention,
but two
late
caution
periods
erased
his
advantage
and
ended
his bid
for
consecutive
wins on
the
streets
of
Detroit.
“The
Sam’s
Club
Honda
was
really
fast,”
Kirkwood
said.
“We took
a gamble
being
the only
one on
reds at
the end.
It
almost
worked,
but the
yellows
came at
the
wrong
time.
Still, a
great
result
starting
from
sixth.
The pit
stops
were
phenomenal.”
Graham
Rahal
completed
the
podium
with a
disciplined,
fuel-saving
drive
for
Rahal
Letterman
Lanigan
Racing,
marking
his
third
podium
finish
of the
season.
“We had
pace
when we
needed
it,”
Rahal
said.
“We had
to save
a lot of
fuel and
go long,
but we
caught
the
yellow
at the
right
time.
Fuel
mileage
made the
difference.”
Arrow
McLaren
placed
two cars
inside
the top
five,
with
Pato
O’Ward
finishing
fourth
ahead of
teammate
Christian
Lundgaard
in
fifth.
With the
victory,
Palou
claims
his
second
Detroit
street
race win
— having
also
captured
the
event in
its
downtown
return
in 2023
— and
continues
to build
a
sizable
gap over
David
Malukas
in the
championship
standings
as the
series
enters
the
heart of
the
summer
schedule.
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