Detroit — Sunny, loud and vibrant was how Detroit’s downtown looked Sunday as the Chevrolet Grand Prix event came to its own finish line.
Mothers like Colleen Bolton of Bloomfield Hills said the event was a great way to spend time with her 4-year-old son Calihan, 6-year-old daughter Dorthy and 8-year-old daughter Zoe.
“They get to see a race that they probably wouldn’t get to see and it’s accessible for everybody,” Colleen Bolton, 38, said. Her young kids wore blue and pink sound suppressing head phones and said they’re favorite race cars was McLaren.
The event, where race car drivers circled General Motors Renaissance Center over 185 miles per hour, would cease taking over downtown Detroit’s streets Sunday.
Kellie Magee and her daughter Kylie Beijay of Chesterfield checked out a bakery in Greektown during the show.
The mother and daughter have been coming to the Chevrolet Grand Prix for over 11 years.
“I like it on the streets. Belle Isle had concerts … games to play … where here it’s more spread out, but I love it on the streets too,” Magee, 58, said. “Them racing was the best part of it all.”
Beijay, who wore a Chevrolet shirt, appreciated the vibes of the Grand Prix with vendors selling checkered flags, sampling food and most of all the happenings of downtown Detroit with a riverfront view and fan attraction near Campus Martius.
Viewers stood from watched from elevated viewing platforms as batches of colorful race cars zoomed by within seconds of one another.
Some fans used rooftop viewing decks of restaurants and garages surrounding the venue. The circuit featured elevation changes and a mix of slow and high-speed corners that viewers could see from just a few feet away.
Alex Palou, a four-time IndyCar series champion, won the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix for the second time in four years. Palou won the 2023 race when the Detroit Grand Prix returned downtown.
This was the fourth time the Grand Prix has been held on the 1.7-mile, nine-turn downtown street circuit since moving from Belle Isle
mjohnson@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Fast cars, good access, fair weather draw crowds to Detroit Grand Prix
Reporting by Myesha Johnson, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
