NTT IndyCar Series closing the book on racing history on Belle Isle this weekend.
- On Sunday, the NTT IndyCar Series will host its final race at Detroit’s Belle Isle street course.
- Next year, the Detroit Grand Prix moves to a street course in Motor City’s rejuvenated downtown area.
- Come June 2-4, 2023, the Detroit Grand Prix will shift to the downtown area and a proposed 1.7-mile, 10-turn street course.
Pato O’Ward is ready to throw a goodbye party this Sunday, and he hopes he’s the centerpiece of the celebration.
The NTT IndyCar Series will host its final race at Detroit’s Belle Isle street course. Next year, the Detroit Grand Prix moves to a street course in Motor City’s rejuvenated downtown area.
O’Ward comes into this weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix having won the most recent IndyCar race at Belle Isle, capturing the second race of last season’s traditional two-race weekend.
“I’m excited to go back, trying to repeat what we did last year,” O’Ward told Autoweek. “It’s a track and an event that I’ve always really enjoyed ever since the first time I went there.”
In addition to his win last June, he didn’t do too bad in the first race of the same weekend either, taking the pole and finishing third. That, coupled with his win the next day, put O’Ward back into the hunt for last season’s championship, ultimately finishing third behind champion Alex Palou and series runner-up Josef Newgarden.
“Yeah, it put us on top of the chart to be able to fight for the championship for the for the rest of the year, which was our objective,” O’Ward said. “Our objective during the year was we want to get to the last race and be able to win the championship. That was our goal.”
Winning the championship is obviously O’Ward’s and Arrow McLaren SP’s goal again this year, but he’s also pragmatic about the task ahead of him.
“There’s still a long time because we still have 11 races to go,” O’Ward said. “So there’s plenty of racing to go. We’re excited to see what the future has in store for us as a team. Hopefully, there’s a lot of champagne showers (to celebrate race wins) in there.”
Unlike the last eight race weekends held at Belle Isle, dating back to 2013 (does not include 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic preempted both Belle Isle races), this year’s finale on the island will have just one IndyCar race, not its traditional doubleheader.
O’Ward, who turned 23 last month, has won three IndyCar events, two last season at Texas and Belle Isle, as well as earlier this season on May 1 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren SP Chevrolet heads into this weekend coming off a close runner-up finish in this past Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, just two days after signing a three-year contract extension to remain with the team through the 2025 season.
That second-place finished also vaulted the native of Monterrey, Mexico from seventh place to second place in the IndyCar standings, 13 points behind Indy 500 winner and new points leader Marcus Ericsson, and one point ahead of defending IndyCar series champion Alex Palou.
The Belle Isle layout has been good to O’Ward over the years. In addition to last year’s third-place finish and his win, he also won there in an IMSA race four years ago at the age of 18.
Belle Isle’s Scott Fountain has become a focal point of the IndyCar weekend in Detroit.
NurPhotoGetty Images
“The biggest thing with Belle Isle is that it’s a track that requires very high commitment, because there’s a lot of quick corners,” O’Ward said. “But there’s also a lot of tight, twisty stuff.
“It also requires a car that is good in many types of corners. It’s a very flowy racetrack, it’s not very stop-and-go, which I really enjoy. I really like how slow it is in a lot of the sections. It’s just such a raw circuit. I think it’s one of the best circuits that represents what IndyCar is, just raw racing, like, send it.”
Come June 2-4, 2023, the Detroit Grand Prix will shift to the downtown area and a proposed 1.7-mile, 10-turn street course that will include long straightaways along Jefferson Avenue and Atwater Street.
Gone from the new layout will be Belle Isle’s historic Scott Fountain. But as much as he’ll miss the old girl, O’Ward is also looking forward to the new race and its new locale.
The return to downtown Detroit marks the first time IndyCar or its predecessor CART raced on the streets of downtown Motown (1989-91) before moving to Belle Isle in 1992.
All told, this will be the 30th and final time IndyCar has raced upon Belle Isle (includes 10 races run under CART/CCWS auspices).
Prior to that, downtown Detroit hosted Formula 1 for seven years, from 1982-1988. CART then followed with its three races from 1989-91.
O’Ward is a bit sentimental when asked how much he’s going to miss Belle Isle.
“I’m gonna miss it a lot,” he said. “It’s just such an enjoyable track and event for me. But we as racing drivers, I feel like you grow up and you realize that sometimes you have to let go of things. I’m looking to the positives and how exciting it is going to be to race in downtown Detroit in 2023.
“But I think what’s important right now is that we give Belle Isle the best goodbye that we can.”
Keyword: Indy 500 Runner-Up O'Ward Looking Forward to IndyCar's Next Chapter in Detroit