DETROIT, Mich. (June 12, 2026) – In its fourth year back on the Streets of Downtown Detroit, the 2026 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear delivered impressive results across the board as the event continued to raise the bar even higher during a memorable May 29-31 race weekend.
The three-day motorsports festival in the heart of the Motor City produced its best totals since its return to Downtown Detroit, bolstered by thrilling racing on track and three days of picture-perfect weather that helped wave the green flag on summertime in Southeast Michigan. Equaling its top attendance totals from 2025 with a 10% increase in overall viewership and record social media engagement, the 2026 Detroit Grand Prix delivered on all fronts for its partners and fans, along with the City of Detroit and its surrounding communities.
With sold-out grandstands and pit lane suites on Sunday, May 31 and fans filling the rooftop decks and the garages surrounding the venue along the Detroit Riverfront, the Grand Prix attracted approximately 156,000 people to Downtown Detroit over the three-day weekend, equaling its attendance numbers from last year to mark the top totals since the event’s return to its original home on the downtown city streets. The 2026 Grand Prix also established record totals for both concession and merchandise sales during the fan-friendly three-day weekend.
With plenty of action on track, this summer’s Detroit Grand Prix saw an overall increase in viewership. According to Nielsen ratings, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES race broadcast from Detroit on Sunday, May 31 delivered an average audience of 1.17 million viewers across the FOX network and FOX streaming services, which represented a 10% increase from the 2025 race broadcast on FOX. Viewership for NTT INDYCAR SERIES qualifying on Saturday, May 30 on FS1 drew an average audience of over 343,000 viewers, marking the highest-rated qualifying broadcast of the INDYCAR season outside of the Indianapolis 500.
The racing on the tough and technical nine-turn, 1.7-mile street circuit once again proved to be compelling and full of action across all three series that raced in the Motor City. In the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race on Saturday, May 30, the hometown brands delivered in a big way for General Motors with both Chevrolet and Cadillac earning class victories. The No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R driven by Jack Aitken and Earl Bamber won the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class for Cadillac’s first win in the Motor City since 2022. In the Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) class, Corvette scored its first official Detroit win since 2008 as Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims drove the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R to Victory Lane.
On Sunday, one of racing’s most legendary families returned to the top step of the podium in Detroit as Enzo Fittipaldi earned his second career INDY NXT by Firestone victory with a hard-fought win on the downtown street circuit. The young Fittipaldi is the grandson of former Formula One and INDYCAR champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who also won twice in Detroit during his INDYCAR career (1989 and 1991).
The final race of the weekend – Sunday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Chevrolet INDYCAR Grand Prix – brought plenty of thrills and passing as Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou won from the pole in the No. 10 Honda. It marked the second win on the Motor City streets for Palou, the five-time series champion, who also claimed victory in the first race back on the Downtown Detroit circuit in 2023. This summer’s 100-lap race was competitive from start to finish with 173 on-track passes – the most of any INDYCAR street circuit this season.
The 2026 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear also delivered record social media results.
The total social media reach for this year’s Grand Prix surpassed an incredible 40 million over the course of race week (this includes not only Grand Prix social channels but all mentions of the event across all social platforms). The total reach increased by more than two million over race week at the 2025 Detroit Grand Prix. The Grand Prix social channels (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter/X, YouTube, TikTok and LinkedIn) produced an all-time high of over nine million video plays during race weekend, representing a 25% increase over the 2025 race weekend results. The event saw its biggest growth on Instagram, gaining more than 5,000 followers in the month of May and over 3,000 followers during race weekend alone.
Beyond the Grand Prix’s impressive attendance, viewership and social media performance in 2026, the event also continued to make an incredible impact across the communities and neighborhoods in Detroit. In its 12th year as the official fundraising event for the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear, the annual PwC Grand Prixmiere presented by Chevrolet, hosted on Friday evening, May 29 at GM’s new world headquarters at Hudson’s Detroit in the heart of downtown, raised over $1.2 million for five important Detroit-area non-profit organizations. Through Grand Prixmiere donations, as well as some unique auction items and experiences, funds were raised to benefit the Belle Isle Conservancy, Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Detroit, Detroit Public Safety Foundation, Detroit 300 Conservancy and the Pope Francis Center in Detroit. Since 2014, the PwC Grand Prixmiere presented by Chevrolet has helped raise over $10 million for local charities.
“We were so excited to help the City of Detroit and our beautiful Riverfront shine on an international stage at the 2026 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear,” said Michael Montri, President of the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. “It was an amazing race weekend here in the Motor City, from the incredible weather, to the great racing on track, the packed grandstands, rooftop decks and full suites, to the growth in viewership and the record results across social media. We’re proud that the Grand Prix continues to drive Detroit forward and we have to thank all of our fans, the competitors, our nearly 90 event partners and our more than 1,200 volunteers for helping us produce a truly special weekend on the Streets of Downtown Detroit.”
