The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation was the lone doubleheader event of the 2017 IndyCar Series season, consisting of the 7th and 8th rounds of the championship.

Initially, it appeared that Hélio Castroneves qualified first, but was ruled to have failed to slow for a yellow flag, resulting in his fastest time being disallowed.

Behind them, James Hinchcliffe lost control of his car in turn 1 and spun, bringing out the race's first caution period.

Around lap 10, drivers attempting to use a three-stop strategy during the race began to pit, including Castroneves, Josef Newgarden, and Takuma Sato.

Those attempting a two-stop strategy began their stops at roughly lap 20, including Rahal, Alexander Rossi, and Scott Dixon.

After the pit cycle was complete, Castroneves and Newgarden had inherited the first two spots, with Rahal on his two-stop strategy some six seconds adrift.

On lap 25, caution flew for the second and final time when Conor Daly's car lost power in turn 3 directly in front of Charlie Kimball, causing the two to make contact and causing damage to Kimball's to front wing.

[2] Kimball was able to continue on and get repairs to the damage, but Daly's car ground to a halt and was unable to be restarted, making him the race's only retirement.

The top five became Castroneves, Rahal, Takuma Sato, Rossi, and Hinchcliffe, who had finally managed to recover from his first lap spin.

[3] Hinchcliffe managed to just stave off a hard charging Josef Newgarden, while Alexander Rossi held rounded out the top five.

Takuma Sato broke the track record that Graham Rahal had set the previous day with a time of 1:13.6732, putting him on pole position.

Around the same time, those attempting a three-stop strategy for the race began pitting, including Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden.

On lap 35, a minor incident occurred when J. R. Hildebrand and Ed Jones made contact, damaging their cars, though no caution came out.

[10][11] Scott Dixon moved into the points lead after a strong finish in both races, while Hélio Castroneves dropped to second.