Detroit, Still on a Comeback!

Stop the Presses! Detroit's road course is bumpy! Okay, not exactly news there — Oriol Servia joked around with us talking about bouncing around in car, that it's bumpier than he remembers. And yes, it's bumpy.

But Oriol wasn't here last year — his last time was 2012. Since that time, concrete bits were added that weren't there before, which have become quite bumpy. However, over the winter, the back stretch got repaved, and a fix for the bumpy concrete sections is already in the works. "It's like a lounge chair" compared to last year commented Charlie Kimball.

Kimball continued on — or rather, gushed on. He was impressed by the quality of the restaurants in downtown Detroit, along with the vibrant spirit he found there. And when it comes to Belle Island itself — recently taken over by the State of Michigan from the City of Detroit — he couldn't stop complimenting it. He was impressed by the parks' conservancy group, which had managed to fix up many of the buildings and even re-opened the once-famed aquarium. He was citing the work of Quicken Loans, Ford, GM and Shinola in doing everything possible to bring Detroit, yet again, back from the dead.

— Tim Wohlford and Lucille Dust, reporting from IMS