For the first time in 10 months, Will Power raced his way to Victory Lane in the NTT IndyCar Series after utilizing a bold pit strategy to fend off Alexander Rossi and win the final Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix at Belle Isle Street Circuit on Sunday, June 5.
The 41-year-old Power from Toowoomba, Australia, rolled off the starting grid in 16th place, but had the primary black compound tires, strategy and speed favoring him in the early stages as he cycled his way into the lead by Lap 14 while some that started on the soft red alternative compound tires, including Rossi, pitted early. After pitting for the first time by Lap 25, Power remained out in front by a large margin over the field. Once he pitted with 20 laps remaining for the red compound tires, the battle was left between him and Rossi, who was on a three-tire pit strategy but had the tires and the speed to pursue Power. Despite erasing Power’s advantage as the laps dwindled, Power managed to preserve his tires and have enough muscle in his car to beat Rossi by a little more than a second to capture his first IndyCar victory of the season.
With on-track qualifying that determined the starting lineup occurring on Saturday, Josef Newgarden won the final pole position at Belle Isle after recording a pole-winning lap at 112.477 mph in one minute, 15.2153 seconds. Joining him on the front was Takuma Sato, who clocked in a qualifying lap at 112.278 mph in one minute, 15.3490 seconds.
When the green flag waved and the race commenced, Newgarden took off with the lead through the first two turns and Simon Pagenaud moved into the runner-up spot while Helio Castroneves and Takuma Sato battled for third place.
Through the 14-turn circuit and when the field returned to the start/finish line, Newgarden led the first lap ahead of Pagenaud, Castroneves, Sato and Pato O’Ward while Colton Herta, David Malukas, Marcus Ericsson, Alexander Rossi and Scott McLaughlin were in the top 10.
Through the first five laps of the event, Newgarden was leading by half a second over Pagenaud followed by Castroneves, Sato, O’Ward, Herta, David Malukas, Ericsson, McLaughlin and Will Power. By then, Graham Rahal, who cut a tire after scrapping the Turn 2 wall during the opening laps of the event, retired. During this, Rinus VeeKay made an early pit stop under green.
Shortly after, names like Alexander Rossi, who started on red alternative tires, and Conor Daly pitted along with David Malukas and Santino Ferrucci as the tire pit strategy for the competitors and teams commenced. Felix Rosenqvist would also pit a few laps later.
By Lap 10, Newgarden continued to lead by more than three seconds over Pagenaud followed by Castroneves, O’Ward and Power while Scott Dixon, Herta, Alex Palou, Kyle Kirkwood and Christian Lundgaard were in the top 10. By then, Sato surrendered his spot in the top five to pit under green.
Four laps later, Will Power muscled his No. 12 Verizon Dallara-Chevrolet past teammate Newgarden’s No. 2 Hitachi Dallara-Chevrolet to take the lead in Turn 3. Two turns later, Scott Dixon moved his No. 9 PNC Bank Dallara-Honda into the runner-up spot as Palou engaged in a battle with Newgarden for third place, which he prevailed.
At the Lap 20 mark, Power was leading by more than two seconds over Dixon followed by Palou, Kirkwood and Rossi while Devlin DeFrancesco, VeeKay, David Malukas. Dalton Kellett and Conor Day were in the top 10. By then, a wave of competitors like Newgarden, O’Ward, Herta, Ericsson and Pagenaud pitted under green. Castroneves and Romain Grosjean also made their pit stops. A few laps earlier, Scott McLaughlin overshot and stalled his car in Turn 3, though he continued without needing assistance.
Five laps later, Power, who continued to run on the same black tires he started with in the event, extended his advantage to more than five seconds over Dixon followed by Palou, DeFrancesco and VeeKay. During the following lap, however, Power surrendered the lead to pit. Teammates Dixon and Palou would also pit as Power cycled his way back to the lead. By then, Daly, VeeKay, Malukas and Jack Harvey pitted as the strategy cycle continued. Meanwhile, Helio Castroneves retired due to an electrical glitch to his No. 06 SiriusXM Dallara-Honda.
By the Lap 30 mark, reports of precipitation were being made near the circuit as Power continued to lead by more than four seconds over Dixon.
At the halfway mark on Lap 35, Power was out in front by more than six seconds over Dixon and more than eight seconds over Palou. Rossi and Kirkwood filled in the top five while Newgarden, O’Ward, Pagenaud, Ericsson and Herta were in the top 10. By then, VeeKay, Malukas, Felix Rosenqvist, Daly and Sato were in the top 15 followed by Romain Grosjean, Jack Harvey, Lundgaard, DeFrancesco and Santino Ferrucci were in the top 20. Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson was in 22nd ahead of Tatiana Calderon and Scott McLaughlin.
Ten laps later, Power remained as the leader by more than 19 seconds over Rossi while Dixon, Newgarden, O’Ward and Herta pitted under green. By then, Palou also pitted along with Pagenaud. When Lap 47 struck, Rossi made his third pit stop of the event and exited the circuit ahead of Dixon.
With 20 laps remaining, Power, who was leading by more than 35 seconds over Rossi, pitted for tires and fuel under green as he remained more than 35 seconds ahead of Rossi. By then, Kirkwood, who pitted a lap earlier after making contact with the wall, retired in his pit stall due to a broken tow link to Kirkwood’s No. 14 Dallara-Chevrolet.
Five laps later, Power remained as the leader, but only by less than 13 seconds as Rossi continued to narrow the gap between himself and Power. Dixon remained in third followed by Newgarden and O’Ward.
Down to the final 10 laps of the event, Power continued to lead by more than 12 seconds over Rossi while third-place Dixon trailed by more than 15 seconds.
With five laps remaining, Power was leading by eight seconds over Rossi, who continued to close in to Power’s Chevrolet.
When the white flag waved and the final lap started, Power, whose rear tires were wearing out, was leading by two-and-a-half seconds over Rossi, who had Power within his sights. With Rossi unable to mount a final charge as he ran out of turns, however, Power nursed his car back to the finish line in Turn 14 as he beat Rossi by a second for the victory.
The victory was Power’s first checkered flag in the IndyCar Series since winning at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course in August 2021, his third at Belle Isle and the 41st of his illustrious career, which moved Power to be one victory behind Michael Andretti for fourth place on the all-time wins list. It also extended Power’s winning streak to 16 consecutive seasons. The victory was also redemption for Power, who dominated the first of two Belle Isle doubleheader events a year ago before a power issue plagued Power’s hopes of winning.
“I just drove [the car] as straight as I could,” Power, who led a race-high 55 of 70 laps and leads the championship standings by three points, said on NBC. “Never put any slip in it. I was just driving it really straight and really nice on the brakes, on the throttle. I knew that if I could keep a reasonable gap to the end, we’d be OK. Man, stellar job by the team. A very enjoyable race because you had to chop through the field and fight hard. Some good passing and really stuck together. The Verizon 5G Chevy in Victory Lane. Man, it’s redemption from last year. I was just waiting for something to happen those last 10 laps, but just stayed laser focused…Man, if you don’t qualify on poles, it’s not the end of it.”
Rossi, whose last IndyCar victory occurred at Road America in June 2019 as he tried to execute a victory on a three-race pit strategy, settled in second place while Dixon, Newgarden and O’Ward finished in the top five.
“I think one more lap would’ve been interesting,” Rossi said. “You got to give credit to the No. 12 guys as well. That’s hard to do at the end, to hang on. Huge thanks to all these boys behind me. The No. 27 NAPA/AutoNation Honda was amazing. Yet again, we come here with an amazing car and can’t quite get the win, but that was a good recovery from yesterday. The strategy was good and we’ll take it. We’re finally executing our potential. It’s been frustrating for a lot of reasons, but the speed’s been there. Just been a lot of factors, but it’s two weeks in a row that this team’s executed in a big way in pressure moments. Big thanks to them and we’ll go into Road America, a place where we’ve had some success. It’d be fitting to come full circle with a win there. Next weekend, we’ll try for that.”
“Going into the race and being one of the lucky few that started on the blacks [tires], you could kind of watch [the race] play out,” Dixon, who completed the event through two pit stops, said. “Kudos to Will [Power]. He drove aggressively at the start, jumped us and he was on the same strategy. Rossi did a hell of a job as well, especially with those reds [tires] on the first stint. It just feels good for the No. 9 to be back on the podium. It’s been a little bit for us and hopefully, we get on a roll here, but kudos to everybody at Honda. It was a fun race.”
Alex Palou, Ericsson, Colton Herta, Pagenaud and Felix Rosenqvist completed the top 10 on the track. Meanwhile, Rinus VeeKay fell back to 16th after wrecking on the final lap.
Sunday’s event marked the 30th and final IndyCar event held at Belle Isle Street Circuit. The IndyCar Series will be returning to the streets of Downtown Detroit, Michigan, in 2023 with a date yet to be announced.
Results.
1. Will Power, 55 laps led
2. Alexander Rossi
3. Scott Dixon, one lap led
4. Josef Newgarden, 13 laps led
5. Pato O’Ward
6. Alex Palou, one lap led
7. Marcus Ericsson
8. Colton Herta
9. Simon Pagenaud
10. Felix Rosenqvist
11. David Malukas
12. Conor Daly
13. Takuma Sato
14. Christian Lundgaard
15. Jack Harvey
16. Rinus VeeKay
17. Romain Grosjean
18. Devlin DeFrancesco
19. Scott McLaughlin
20. Dalton Kellett
21. Santino Ferrucci
22. Jimmie Johnson
23. Tatiana Calderon
24. Kyle Kirkwood – OUT
25. Helio Castroneves – OUT
26. Graham Rahal – OUT, Contact
Next on the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series schedule is the Sonsio Grand Prix of Road America at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. The event is scheduled to occur on Sunday, June 12, at 12:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
