The 2024 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix Presented by Lear is gearing up as the Motor City’s need for speed welcomes the event back to the streets of downtown Motown on Friday, May 31, through Sunday, June 2. The actual racing circuit, according to Grand Prix officials, will be along the streets of Bates, Atwater, St. Antoine, Franklin, and Rivard, with a breathtaking straightaway on Jefferson Ave.
The big event will include the Chevrolet INDYCAR Grand Prix featuring the cars of the NTT INDYCAR Series, the GTP, and the GTD PRO classes of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, all driven by the stars and rising stars of racing. Adding to the festive atmosphere, the three-day extravaganza will feature locations for attendees to enjoy music, food, games, and interactive displays amid the backdrops of the award-winning Riverwalk, Campus Martius, Hart Plaza, and Cadillac Square.
“We are super, super excited, and we have a lot in store for this Grand Prix,” said Detroit Grand Prix president Michael Montri, who also announced that Motown legend Smokey Robinson will serve as the Grand Prix’s Grand Marshal “So we’re going to move, kind of like the NFL Draft did towards Campus Martius. We’re going to activate that whole Woodward corridor between Spirit Plaza and Campus Martius. It’s going to be great!”
Building on its groundbreaking efforts to engage with locally owned and operated businesses across the city of Detroit, The Grand Prix will highlight more than 20 Detroit-owned small businesses at a location called Small Business Straightaway.
“One of the sentiments we consistently heard from business owners across Detroit when we presented the idea of bringing the Grand Prix back downtown was that local merchants wanted the opportunity to be a part of the event,” said Montri. “We were so excited to make that a reality last summer in the first Grand Prix on the Streets of Detroit in more than 30 years. We can’t wait to make that connection again and create opportunities for more locally-owned businesses to shine and benefit from a huge weekend of commerce in Detroit.”
Downtown Detroit is no stranger to hosting the Grand Prix. The first of many was held in 1982 when the motorsport event was billed as a Formula One race before morphing into a CART-sanctioned event in 1989. In 1992, under the banner of CART/Champ Car, the Grand Prix moved east of downtown to Belle Isle, where it was held until 2001. After a lengthy hiatus, Roger Penske and the Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP) revived the Grand Prix to continue on Belle Isle in 2008.
While additional circumstances over the ensuing years prevented the event from happening annually, for the most part the Grand Prix roared on Belle Isle until 2021. However, in 2023, Penske and DDP brought the motorsport extravaganza back downtown. After a triumphant return to the downtown streets, the Detroit Grand Prix 2024 is giving an encore performance.
Although the Grand Prix has become a fixture in Detroit, an overwhelmingly Black city, participation in the race by African American drivers has been scarce. Willie T. Ribbs, the first Black driver to compete in the Indianapolis 500, raced in the Detroit Grand Prix in the 1980s. In the 2000s, Black driver George Mack competed in the Motor City race.
In 2023, Haitian-American Ernie Francis Jr. drove in the Detroit Grand Prix under the banner of Force Indy. This year, young Black phenom, Myles Rowe, the first African American to win a North American open-wheel championship, will make his Detroit Grand Prix debut. Rowe, a 23-year-old Powder Springs, Georgia native, visited Detroit recently to survey the downtown streets that will soon accommodate racing cars pushing speeds reaching 190 miles per hour.
“The racing circuit in downtown Detroit will be amazing,” Rowe told local media outlets. “There are so many elevation changes, which is so rare for a street circuit. I’m excited about that. The straightaway down Jefferson is going to be wicked. We are going to be flying, and there are really good passing opportunities down there.”
Rowe and fellow Black driver Ernie Frances Jr. are members of the African American-owned and led Force Indy, founded in October 2020 by Rod Reid, founder of the NXG Youth Motorsports Academy. Reid’s Force Indy has aligned with Roger Penske’s Race for Equality & Change Initiative to recruit, hire, and develop Black American men and women mechanics, engineers, staffers, and drivers for the world of racing.
Bud Denker, president of the Penske Corporation, is excited about all that’s shaping up for the 2024 Grand Prix. He estimated that more than 150,000 people attended last year’s downtown Grand Prix, which created a $75 million-plus economic impact on Detroit. This year, Denker believes the attendance and economic impact on the city will surpass 2023.
“Come on down and participate in the event, even if it is just the free parts,’ Denker said. “Walk the riverfront and other areas near the site to make this city look like a Grand Prix festival, not just a race. There’s a big difference between an event and just a race. We’re going to have a major event.”
For more information about the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, including how to purchase tickets for designated areas, visit https://detroitgp.com/. Friday, May 31 is Free Prix Day for fans and does not require a ticket to sit in Grandstands 1 – 9 to watch the on-track action.
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