By Steve Wittich

Detroit basics

• Event: 4
• Races: 4 & 5
• Track: 1.7-mile, 9 turn, downtown Detroit street circuit – runs counterclockwise
• Race distances:
  • Saturday: 45 laps or 55 minutes
  • Sunday: 45 laps or 55 minutes

• Entry list:

• Tires: three new sets of Firestone INDY NXT tires and one carry-over from the last race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
• Push to pass: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation
• Qualifying: one 30-minute session is into a pair of fifteen minutes portions, of which eight minutes will be green. The first half sets the field for Saturday’s race, and the second half sets the field for Sunday’s race
• Video: the INDY NXT by Firestone Detroit Grand Prix doubleheader will be streamed on Peacock, with practice and qualifying shown on INDYCAR LIVE
• Audio: all INDY NXT by Firestone sessions air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA

INDY NXT by Firestone weekend schedule:

Friday11:30 am – noon – INDY NXT Autograph Session

• 11:30 am – noon – INDY NXT Autograph Session
• 1:50 pm – 2:40 pm – INDY NXT Practice #1
• 5:30 pm – 6 pm – INDY NXT Qualifying

Saturday

• 12:05 pm – INDY NXT Race #1 (45 laps or 55 minutes)

Sunday

• 12:50 pm – INDY NXT Race #2 (45 laps or 55 minutes)

The doubleheader will be the 18th and 19th INDY NXT by Firestone races held in the Motor City. Three previous races were held on the original downtown Detroit circuit, while 14 were contested at The Raceway On Belle Isle. 

Previous INDY NXT by Firestone winners in the Motor City include:

The Raceway On Belle Isle

YEAR	DRIVER	TEAM
2022 Race #2	Linus Lundqvist	HMD Motorsports
2022 Race #1	Linus Lundqvist	HMD Motorsports
2021 Race #2	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Autosport
2021 Race #1	Kyle Kirkwood	Andretti Autosport
2012	Gustavo Yacaman	Team Moore
2000	Jonny Kane	Team Green
1999	Derek Higgins	Team Mexico Herdez
1998	Airton Dare	Tasman Motorsports
1997	Tony Kanaan	Tasman Motorsports
1996	Tony Kanaan	Tasman Motorsports
1995	Robbie Buhl	Dorricott Racing
1994	Steve Robertson	Tasman Motorsports
1993	Steve Robertson	Tasman Motorsports
1992	Adrian Fernandez	John Martin Racing

Detroit Downtown Street Circuit – 2.52-mile street circuit

YEAR	DRIVER	TEAM
1991	Eric Bachelart	Landford Racing
1990	Tommy Byrne	Genoa Racing
1989	Ted Prappas	Teamkar International

Downtown Detroit has played host to the following American open-wheel junior formula races:

• Super Vee – 1982 – Jerrill Rice
• Formula Atlantic – 1983 Josele Garza
• Super Vee – 1985 – Peter Pandur
• Super Vee – 1986 – Scott Attchison
• Super Vee – 1987 – Paul Radisch
• Super Vee – 1988 – Paul Radisch 
• American Racing Series – 1989 – Ted Prappas
• American Racing Series – 1990 – Tommy Byrne
• Indy Lights – 1991 – Eric Bachelar

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Points permutations

Despite being only three races into a 14-race schedule, it’s never too early to start looking at the season-long championship. With a doubleheader this weekend, the chase for the big prize will heat up.

Things can change quickly this early in the season, as evidenced by the winner last time out, Juncos Hollinger Racing rookie Matteo Nannini moving from 17th to fourth on the championship table.

With 19 entries, limiting your finishes outside the top ten is essential, proven by current points leader HMD Motorsports w/Dale Coyne Racing sophomore Christian Rasmussen. The Dane is the only driver to have finished in the top ten and top five in the three races to start the season, giving him an 18-point lead over teammate Nolan Siegel.

Siegel, an 18-year-old Californian, started the season with two straight podiums before a disappointing 13th-place effort last time out on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

The drivers between fourth and 12th in the title standings are separated by only 21 points, making each and every point important.

2023 INDY NXT by Firestone points standings

RANK	DRIVER	TEAM		TOTAL	BACK
1	Christian Rasmussen	HMD Motorsports w/Dale Coyne Racing		116
2	Nolan Siegel – r	HMD Motorsports w/Dale Coyne Racing		98	-18
3	Danial Frost	HMD Motorsports w/Dale Coyne Racing		90	-26
4	Matteo Nannini – r	Juncos Hollinger Racing		84	-32
5	Hunter McElrea	Andretti Autosport		79	-37
6	Josh Green – r	HMD Motorsports w/Dale Coyne Racing		76	-40
7	Jacob Abel	Abel Motorsports		74	-42
8	Louis Foster – r	Andretti Autosport		74	-42
9	James Roe, Jr.	Andretti Autosport		69	-47
10	Kyffin Simpson	HMD Motorsports		67	-49
11	Colin Kaminsky – r	Abel Motorsports		65	-51
12	Enaam Ahmed – r	Cape Motorsports		63	-53
13	Christian Bogle	HMD Motorsports w/Dale Coyne Racing		56	-60
14	Ernie Francis, Jr.	HMD Motorsports w/Dale Coyne Racing		52	-64
15	Reece Gold – r	Juncos Hollinger Racing		51	-65
16	Jamie Chadwick – r	Andretti Autosport		51	-65
17	Jagger Jones – r	Cape Motorsports		46	-70
18	Rasmus Lindh	HMD Motorsports w/Dale Coyne Racing		46	-70
19	Toby Sowery	HMD Motorsports		35	-81
20	Josh Pierson – r	HMD Motorsports		27	-89

Previous INDY NXT by Firestone champions that won in the Motor City:

• 2022 – champion Linus Lundqvist won both races
• 2021 – champion Kyle Kirkwood won both races
• 1997 – champion Tony Kanaan won
• 1994 – champion Steve Robertson won
• 1991 – champion Eric Bachelart won

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Street Circuit Prowess

Abel Motorsports sophomore Jacob Abel led 27 laps at the first street circuit event of the 2023 INDY NXT by Firestone season in St. Petersburg, Fla., after starting outside the first row. The 22-year-old brought his No. 51 Abel Motorsports IL-15 home in third place, which should give the team confidence heading into the second street event of the season.

However, it’s not just Abel’s fantastic performance in St. Pete that should leave the Speedway, Ind.-based team confident as they head to the Motor City for a critical doubleheader.

Team manager John Brunner and Abel’s engineer Kent Boyer had plenty of success on street courses at Belardi Auto Racing. Between 2016 and 2019, the team with drivers – Felix Rosenqvist (three), Aaron Telitz (two), Santi Urrutia (two), Zachary Claman (one) and Felix Serralles (one) – won nine of the series 16 street course races.

The team should also carry momentum from their debut in the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, where despite the odds being stacked against them, they easily qualified with driver RC Enerson, besting a recent Indianapolis 500 winning team to make the field.

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A Little More Equal Footing & A Lifetime Experience

TSO caught up with Cape Motorsports co-owner Dominic Cape at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park, who was at the Clermont, Ind. oval for the USF Pro Championships Freedom 75 and Freedom 90.

The new two-car team has performed well, considering their competition has far more experience in the INDY NXT by Firestone series. However, Cape explained that they were looking forward to this event because everybody is on equal footing on the 1.7-mile, 9-turn, downtown Detroit street circuit, a new venue for everybody.

The Brownsburg, Ind. team’s rookie Jagger Jones spent Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which was capped off by what the 20-year-old called a “lifetime experience.”

The third-generation racer joined Mario Andretti, Al Unser, Jr, Tom Sneva and other notable drivers in the annual parade of historic winners. An incredible experience that became ‘lifetime’ when he rolled out onto the track behind the wheel of ‘Ol’ Calhoun,’ the car his grandfather Parnelli Jones drove to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Victory Circle in 1963.

The Offenhauser-powered Watson roadster owned by J.C. Agajanian made five appearances in the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing.” Rodger Ward piloted the No.98, the number long associated with Agajanian, in 1960, before giving way to west coast sprint car star Jones in 1961.

Jones led 27 laps, finishing 12th and sharing Rookie Of The Year honors in his first Indianapolis 500 appearance. The following year, the chassis built by A.J. Watson took the pole, officially becoming the first car to break the 150mph barrier. Jones led 120 laps before fading late.

Agajanian, Jones and crew turned up in May 1963 with some subtle aerodynamic, again winning the pole, but this time leading 167 of 200 laps on the way to victory. The chassis returned in 1964, with Jones starting fifth, leading seven laps, before a fire forced an early retirement.

The No. 98 was then purchased by Tony Hulman and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, where the car that led 321 laps at the Brickyard is kept in running order and on display.

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One Of Ours Won The Big One – INDY NXT by Firestone grads in the Indianapolis 500

• The 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge was won by 2011 INDY NXT – then Indy Lights – champion Josef Newgarden, the ninth time a series graduate has won the “Greatest Spectacle In Racing.”
• The Team Penske driver, the victor in the Freedom 100 in 2011 is the first driver to win the INDY NXT and NTT INDYCAR SERIES races held on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. 
• Helio Castroneves (2001, 2002, 2009 & 2021), Dan Wheldon (2005 & 2011), Scott Dixon (2008) and Tony Kanaan (2013) are the other series graduates to win the Indianapolis 500. 
• The 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge featured 19 graduates of INDY NXT, including four of the six drivers that started on the front two rows. 

The following INDY NXT by Firestone graduates (and their final year in the ladder series) started the 107th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge:

• Helio Castroneves (1997)
• Tony Kanaan (1997)
• Scott Dixon (2000)
• Marco Andretti (2005)
• Ed Carpenter (2005)
• Graham Rahal (2006)
• Josef Newgarden (2011)
• Conor Daly (2013)
• Jack Harvey (2015)
• RC Enerson (2016)
• Felix Rosenqvist (2016)
• Colton Herta (2018)
• Pato O’Ward (2018)
• Rinus VeeKay (2019)
• Devlin DeFrancesco (2021)
• Kyle Kirkwood (2021)
• David Malukas (2021)
• Benjamin Pedersen (2022)
• Sting Ray Robb (202