Alexander Rossi ran the fastest lap around Belle Isle on Saturday morning, leading the final IndyCar practice session before qualifying later in the day.
The 30-year-old put in his fastest time of 1:15.8101 near the end of the session, as grip and rubber built up on the bumpy street course.
Simon Pagenaud was second fastest on track, completing his lap just 0.07 seconds slower than the driver who was recently hired by Arrow McLaren SP.
Josef Newgarden was third fastest, with Helio Castroneves joining his Meyer Shank Racing team-mate in the top four.
The morning session was a troublesome one for AJ Foyt Racing, as two of their three drivers found the wall and needed the tow truck to get back to pit lane.
Kyle Kirkwood was the first to hit the wall when he overshot the braking zone into the 7. The rookie bounced off David Malukas and then went straight on into the tire barriers.
The crash comes as a dramatic turnaround, since Kirkwood topped the charts in the first practice session on Friday.
Dalton Kellett also had trouble, but his #4 machine hit the concrete barrier and broke his left side suspension. Both drivers were uninjured, but will be driving rebuilt racecars for qualifying later in the day.
Will Power and Jimmie Johnson also spun and stopped on track, resulting in a very disjointed practice session where only 36 minutes of green flag time was available.
Romain Grosjean topped the timesheets at one point, but ended up touching the concrete barriers as well and had to bring his Andretti Autosport Honda back to pit lane to end his morning early.
Santino Ferrucci logged the 16th fastest time as he comes to grips with his Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevy, filling in for an injured Callum Ilott this weekend.
Knockout qualifying for the Sunday’s Detroit Grand Prix takes place at 12:30 PM Eastern Time, giving teams a few hours to prepare their cars.
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