Penske Shows Power at Detroit Grand Prix
Detroit Grand Prix features good crowds, weather. Penske cars dominate, win 1 of 2 Indycar races on bumpy Belle Isle.
Team Penske showed its strength during the weekend’s Indycar races at the Detroit Grand Prix on Belle Isle.
But team owner Roger Penske won only one of the two races held at his hometown track.
Penske cars dominated qualifying for both the Saturday and Sunday Indycar races on Belle Isle.
But a late yellow caution period on Saturday allowed driver Sebastien Bourdais to stretch his fuel to the limit and take the lead while the Penske drivers had to pit.
Bourdais, who also earned a victory in one of the two Detroit Indycar races last year, said the Belle Isle track always seems to provide a surprise.
“What tends to be a little bit different here than most places is there’s definitely been more yellows than almost any of the other races so far this year. That’s what throws the race up in the air,” he said.
Team Penske returned the favor on Sunday.
Penske’s cars have been the class of the Indycar series this year on twisty tracks like the one on Belle Isle.
And driver Will Power took his Team Penske Indycar to Victory Lane in the Sunday contest.
But the temporary track using some of the streets on Belle Isle, an uneven mix of pavement and concrete, made the cars a handful for drivers like Connor Daly, who came in second on Saturday.
“This place is so rough that even though you have two long straights, even three, it is so bumpy that you’re constantly gripping the wheel for life,” Daly said.
