DETROIT, Mich. (Dec. 22, 2025) – The exciting return of Racing Day at the Detroit Auto Show on Tuesday, January 20, will feature some of the top stars of motorsports, along with championship race cars, fun family activities and one of the most prestigious trophies in auto racing. Tickets are on sale now at detroitautoshow.com.
Racing Day presented by the Detroit Grand Prix will turbocharge the Detroit Auto Show at Huntington Place on January 20. Global motorsports will take center stage at the show on that Tuesday, reinforcing the expanding collaboration between two of Detroit’s signature annual events.
On Racing Day, Detroit Auto Show attendees will have the chance to meet and interact with some of the top drivers from the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the two premier racing series that compete annually at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. Drivers scheduled to appear on Racing Day include:
- David Malukas of Team Penske (INDYCAR) –Team Penske’s newest driver who will make his debut in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet in 2026; runner-up in the 2025 Indianapolis 500
- Rinus Veekay of Juncos Hollinger Racing (INDYCAR) – Newly announced driver of the No. 76 Chevrolet, who will begin his seventh NTT INDYCAR SERIES season in 2026, 2020 INDYCAR Rookie of the Year and winner of the 2021 Indy Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
- Kyffin Simpson of Chip Ganassi Racing (INDYCAR) – Returning for his third NTT INDYCAR SERIES season as driver of the No. 8 Indy car; earned his first career podium finish in 2025 and will compete in the Sunoco Honda beginning in 2026
- Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing (INDYCAR) – Returns behind the wheel of the No. 66 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing after a breakout 2025 season that saw him finish a career-best seventh in the championship standings; finished third in the 2024 Detroit Grand Prix
- Jack Aitken of Action Express Racing (IMSA) – Co-driver of the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R who produced victories at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Road Atlanta in 2025, finished second in the 2025 IMSA driver championship standings
- Alexander Sims of Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports (IMSA) – Captured the 2025 GTD PRO championship as co-driver of the No. 3 Corvette Z06 GT3.R with teammate Antonio García; helped Chevrolet clinch the series manufacturer’s championship and the No. 3 Corvette team claim the team title in 2025
During Racing Day activities on Jan. 20, the world-class drivers in attendance will provide ride-along experiences to select Detroit Auto Show visitors on the Detroit Grand Prix-inspired indoor track on the show floor in production vehicles. Fans in attendance on Racing Day will also be able to see the historic and prestigious Astor Cup, which is awarded to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion each year. The sterling silver trophy features the names of all INDYCAR champions since 1909 engraved on its granite bases and it will be on display throughout the day on Jan. 20.
There will also be opportunities for fans to engage with the stars of Racing Day at the Detroit Auto Show. All the drivers and special guests in attendance will host a panel discussion on motorsports on the show floor stage and the Detroit Grand Prix will host a free autograph session with all the drivers next to the stage.
Michigan-based Curry Motorsports – which focuses on driver and workforce development across the motorsports industry – will be on hand to conduct pit stop demonstrations near the Auto Show floor stage throughout the day on Racing Day.
Racing Day will also highlight some of the unique and celebrated cars that have a connection to the Detroit Grand Prix. Located adjacent to the Detroit Grand Prix track on the Detroit Auto Show floor, which features key elements of the actual Downtown Detroit Grand Prix street circuit, the Detroit GP interactive display will showcase two of the distinctive race cars that have raced in the Motor City throughout the course of the Detroit Auto Show (January 14-25, 2026). Team Penske’s No. 2 Hitachi Chevrolet, which Josef Newgarden drove to victory in the 2019 Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear on Belle Isle before clinching his second NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship that season, will be featured in the show floor display. Representing the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, prepared by Action Express Racing, which captured overall and GTP class victories in the 2025 Battle On The Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, will also be included in the Grand Prix display area. For younger fans, the interactive Detroit GP Indy car will be available for photo opportunities throughout the show with children 12 and under welcome to sit in the car. One of the state-of-the-art transporters that carries the Team Penske race cars to NTT INDYCAR SERIES races across the United States will serve as the main backdrop in the Detroit Grand Prix show floor display area.
A unique Firestone Racing tire wall and an interactive victory podium, complete with trophies and champagne bottles for fun photo opportunities, will also be featured in the Grand Prix display. As the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear prepares to return to the streets of downtown Detroit on May 29-31, 2026, fans can also learn about the evolution of the Detroit Grand Prix while reliving some of the event’s greatest moments through historical photography featured on the big legacy cubes within the display.
The Huntington Place concourse area just outside the entrance to the Detroit Auto Show main floor will also feature a special Detroit Grand Prix display that will include both an Indy car and a sports car like the high-tech machines that will race next summer at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear. The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 that won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s 2025 Rolex 24 at Daytona will be on display for fans to see throughout the Auto Show. The Detroit Grand Prix INDYCAR, an open-wheel, single-seat Dallara chassis like those that compete in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, complete with the advanced aeroscreen introduced in 2020 for driver protection, will also be featured in the concourse display. NXG Youth Motorsports, an experiential STEM and life-skills academy that expanded to Detroit in 2021 to empower local youth – particularly those from underrepresented communities – through hands-on go kart motorsports training, will be highlighted in the Grand Prix concourse area with one of its competition karts on display.
The Detroit Auto Show opens to the public on Saturday, January 17 and runs through Sunday, January 25, at Huntington Place in Downtown Detroit. For tickets and for more information, visit detroitautoshow.com.
