A Detroit native is living his dream racing in the Detroit Grand Prix as the event celebrates its third year downtown and 35th year overall.

The Detroit Grand Prix features three series: IMSA, IndyCar, and Indy NXT, with local driver Nolan Allaer competing in the latter category.

Allaer, who drives the No. 11 Indy NXT car for HMD Motorsports, says the 1.7-mile Downtown Detroit Street Circuit presents unique challenges.

"This track is very, very difficult, especially on a cold morning like this. It's about 50 degrees. It means the track temps down, the tire temps don't really come up. The engines make a lot of power, so you have extra power, not as much grip, a bit of a tricky situation," Allaer said.

The 23-year-old Detroit native has been racing for five years and feels he has the home advantage on this track.

"I think that happened the moment I was born here, but I never really imagined I'd be a racing driver. It's not something that I had on the cards, but pretty amazing. I never really think I thought I'd take part in a Detroit Grand Prix, so to be doing my second one now as a veteran in the series, I mean it's, it just means the world to me. It's a dream come true," Allaer said.

Preparing for races like the Detroit Grand Prix requires significant preparation, especially since this particular track presents unique challenges.

"Detroit is a unique one, and it's not on a simulator. You can't find it, so you can't really practice on a SIM, but you can watch video. You can talk about your data from past years to your engineers, so you can do a lot of research beforehand, and then it's, you know, like I said, you can control your fitness. You're doing a lot of training, you know, a lot of neck workouts, core workouts, and cardio. Make sure you can last the whole stint," Allaer said.

Racing runs in Allaer's family. His father, grandfather, and uncle were all racing drivers themselves, with his father Rob Allaer having won two championships and his uncle claiming one in Formula Ford.

"Honestly, it's like my family, my dad, my grandpa, my uncle, they're all racing drivers themselves. My dad has 2 championships. My uncle has one in form of the Ford, so I kind of grew up watching them race and perform, and they're now here supporting me through all of this. So it's kind of trying to carry on the legacy a bit," Allaer said.

Rob Allaer, Nolan's father and biggest mentor, still sees his son as the adventurous child he once was.

"He's still that little, little kid that used to run around and climb everything and get into trouble. He's always been adventurous. he's been tough to follow around. he's still that little boy and you know I think anybody with a child watching them grow up and seeing him do anything, I think you always see them as that little boy," Rob said.

Rob believes his son's greatest strength is his constant improvement.

"He constantly gets better. He's always getting better. we have this little saying in our house, always get better at getting better, and that is a thing that we all talk about. You just, if you have a bad session, just make sure the next session is better. if you have a bad test, make sure your next test is better," Rob said.

When not racing, Nolan studies mechanical engineering and proudly supports all Detroit sports teams. He has developed special relationships with several local teams.

"The Lions have just been so good to me. They were supporting me during my first Detroit Grand Prix. I got to wear the special edition helmet with the 3rd jersey, the black and the really, really stark blue is just gorgeous helmet. I also got the incredible honor to throw the first pitch at the Tigers game, which again not something I ever thought was going to be able to do. It wasn't a strike. It was close, but we decided since we have these connections to all these organizations, why don't we do something to actually represent all four," Allaer said.

The Detroit Grand Prix wraps up on Sunday with numerous fan activities available across downtown Detroit.

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