Tag: BorchettaBourbon Music City Grand Prix

Kirkwood Nips Newgarden for Nashville Pole

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Breaking: Per Bruce Martin, David Malukas has been cleared to participate in tonight’s practice and tomorrow’s race if he can prove to IndyCar that he can climb in and exit the cockpit of the car.

Kyle Kirkwood used a huge first lap to edge Josef Newgarden for the pole for tomorrow’s Music City Grand Prix. Newgarden had run the fastest times of the day to post a 196.642 mph average. Kirkwood answered with an opening lap i9n the 197 range, which was enough of a margin to beat Newgarden’s average. Kirkwood’s average was 196.852 mph. he won the pole by five hundredths of a second.

Qualifying was also notable for who didn’t qualify. Team Penske’s car 12 did not present itself for qualifying as the backup car was not completed in time. The team is still waiting to see if David Malukas will be cleared to drive tomorrow or even in practice tonight. Conor Daly had been named to qualify the car, which meant Daly would be the driver for the rest of weekend.

Graham Rahal could not get his car started, and he did not qualify. A fuel pressure issue is suspected.

Points leader Alex Palou, who nearly caught up to Kirkwood in practice, will start fourth.

Strong Team Efforts

Team Penske will star second and third. Scott McLaughlin will line up in row 2

Chip Ganassi Racing has Palou in fourth and Scott Dixon in fifth. Marcus Armstrong starts eighth.

Alexander Rossi qualified sixth and Christian Rasmussen seventh for ECR.

Rinus VeeKay added another top 1 qualifying spot for Juncos Hollinger Racing. He continues to drive above the team’s equipment, yet we hear nothing about him moving to a more competitive team for 2027.

Pato O’Ward qualified 12th, just ahead of teammate Nolan Siegel.

Notes

Qualifying started 10 minutes earlier than the published broadcast time. If the series was concerned about rain, none was imminent.

Weather tomorrow still looks iffy for the scheduled race start time. I would not be bothered if we end up having a night race.

Results

Daly to Qualify Car 12

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Conor Daly will qualify the 12 car for David Malukas, who was injured in a practice crash this morning. Malukas’s knee hit the steering wheel and popped it out of the car.

The number 12 car will serve a nine grid spot penalty for an engine change no matter who qualifies it. It is uncertain whether Malukas will return for this evening’s practice sessions.

No announcement, therefore, has come about who will be in the car on race day. Daly is the most likely driver since he drove in the Indianapolis 500 in May.

The 12 car is scheduled to make the 22nd qualifying attempt this afternoon. The Team Penske Verizon crew is currently assembling a backup car.

Should Malukas be able to race on sinday, he car will start 25th.

Kirkwood Leads Practice; Malukas Injured

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Kyle Kirkwood set the fast lap early in practice 1 for the Music City Grand Prix. David Malukas crashed heavily in turn 2 about 30 minutes into the session. The red flag lasted 20 minutes to repair safer barrier damage. Malukas has been transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

IndyCar added 10 minutes to the session to make up some of the time lost.

Temperatures rose quickly during the only practice before qualifying it will be ve evenwarmer during qualifying at 2 pm local time.

Alex Palou mounted a challenge to Kirkwood late in the session, but ended the round 0.0158 seconds behind the Andretti driver. Despite Malukas’s crash, he still had the third fastest lap.

Malukas began the day on the back foot as he and Christian Lundgaard received 9 grid spot penalties for unapproved engine changes. We are waiting for an update on Malukas’s status for today and tomorrow.

Next up is qualifying at 3 pm Eastern time on FOX.

Results

Nashville: Heat, Rain Loom over Weekend

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Good morning from an already warm Nashville. Weather may play a significant role in how the race weekend plays out.

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The weather from @Indycar_Wwxman: from last night:

I think today will be dry, but tomorrow could see a delay in the start of the race, which will hurt the television number the series is seeking. Let’s hope any rain on Sunday is pushed more towards sunset, although I would not mind a night race at this track.

Today’s schedule in Central time:

Qualifying is on FOX, a first for the network. Morning practices are on FS1 and everything after IndyCar qualifying is on FS2.

There are rumblings in the paddock about the historic first charter sale and talk of an existing team getting new ownership. I hope to find out the details this weekend.

I will be back after rthe first practice with results, and I want to see how the track is addressing fan comfort this weekend.

Nashville Preview

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IndyCar returns to the oval at Nashville Superspeedway this weekend, ending a six week drought of races on ovals. It will be another six weeks before the next oval race.

Nashville had been the season finale in 2024 and 2025, but the race was moved to be the event following the World Cup in hopes of scoring a huge television rating- good for sponsors and the series. I’m not sure how many soccer fans will stick around after the game, featuring Spain and Argentina, but I think there will be a significant viewing boost.

The racing at Nashville has been great the past two years, and I’m disappointed to hear rumblings of moving the race downtown after the new football stadium is built. In your intrepid reporter’s humble opinion, that would be a mistake. Why give up an exciting oval for a dull street race on a track not likely to be much better than what we saw downtown before? If the series wants a downtown street race in Nashville, fine, as long as the oval is also on the schedule.

Alex Palou enters the weekend with a 56-point lead over Kyle Kirkwood, Christian Lundgaard and David Malukas are close behind with deficits of 65 and 66 points respectively. The battle for second place has been fascinating to watch. It seems the spot has changed hands after nearly every race this season.

Josef Newgarden has won 11 of the last 27 oval races, including two of the three in 2026. He has to be the favorite as the weekend begins. Pato O’Ward has dominated the previous two races here but has yet to find winner’s circle. David Malukas still is in search of the elusive first victory.

New Wrinkles

While the usual suspects are likely to be at the front on race day, a couple of changes to the format might add more intrigue to the event. The race distance has increased for third consecutive year, jumping to 300 laps, 399 miles. on Sunday. 400 miles would be too long of a race. Last year the race distance was 225 laps; in 2024 the distance was 206 laps.

The 2025 race ran 1 hour, 54 minutes. Sunday’s race should last 30-35 minutes longer.

Like on street circuits, teams must use two sets of alternate tires during the race, which feature at least five pit stops per car, possibly six. The strategy will be interesting to watch.

There is some rain in the forecast for Sunday, and the chance increase because of the heating during the day. A rain delay would be devastating to the TV number IndyCar is hoping for.

As for the winner, Pato O’Ward finally leads the correct lap at Nashville for his second straight series win. Arrow McLaren has all the momentum. The team has won the last races and one pole. O’Ward and Lundgaard dominated Mid-Ohio. look for the papaya express to continue.

Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix Presented by OnlyBulls Fast Facts 

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From IndyCar:

 Race weekend: Saturday, July 18-Sunday, July 19
Track: Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33-mile oval in Lebanon, Tennessee
Race distance:NTT INDYCAR SERIES Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls: 300 laps/399 miles INDY NXT by Firestone INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix: 65 laps/86 .45 miles

|Weekend Event Schedule (PDF)

Hybrid energy deployment parameters:
NTT INDYCAR SERIESUnlimited activation with a maximum deployment of 140 kilojoules (kJ) per lap.

Firestone tire allotment:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Seven sets primary, five sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. Teams must use one set of primary and two sets of alternate tires during the race. One additional set is available for use during the high-line group practice session on Saturday.

INDY NXT by FirestoneThree new sets for use throughout the event weekend. A carryover set from the April 2 Open Test held at Nashville may be used during the pre-qualifying practice session Saturday.

X: @musiccitygp, @IndyCar, @INDYNXT, #INDYCAR, #MusicCityGP
Instagram: @musiccitygp, @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #INDYCAR, #MusicCityGP
Threads: @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT
Facebook: @MusicCityGP, @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #INDYCAR, #MusicCityGP
TikTok: @MusicCityGP, @INDYCAR, #INDYCAR, #MusicCityGP
YouTube: @INDYCAR
Event website: www.musiccitygp.com
INDYCAR website: www.indycar.com

2025 race winners:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet)
INDY NXT by Firestone
Myles Rowe (No. 99 ABEL Motorsports with Force Indy)
2025 NTT P1 Award winner: ,Pato O’Ward (No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet), 47.5178 seconds, 201.520 mph (two laps)
2025 INDY NXT by Firestone pole winner:Salvador de Alba (No. 27 Andretti Global), 51.9106 seconds, 184.471

One-lap qualifying record:NTT INDYCAR SERIES Scott Dixon, 22.6952 seconds, 206.211 mph, July 18, 2003
INDY NXT by Firestone Thiago Medeiros, 25.6508 seconds, 182.386 mph, July 16, 2004Note: Qualifying records based on time, not speed.

FOX Sports telecasts:
NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Practice 1, 10 a.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live);
Qualifying, 3 p.m. ET Saturday, FOX (live);
High Line Session/Final practice, 6 p.m. ET Saturday, FS2;
Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls, Approx 5:35 p.m. ET, Sunday, FOX, FOX One (live). Will Buxton is the play-by-play announcer for FOX’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Georgia Henneberry, Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. | 

INDY NXT by Firestone: Practice 1, 11:30 a.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live); Qualifying, 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS2 (live); Race, 1 p.m. ET Sunday, FS1 (live). Kevin Lee is the play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports’ coverage of INDY NXT by Firestone alongside analyst Jack Harvey. Georgia Henneberry is the pit reporter

.INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside analyst Davey Hamilton. Michael Young is the turn announcer. Jake Query, Ryan Myrehn and DJ Clark are the pit reporters. The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls race (5 p.m. ET Sunday) can be heard live on network affiliates nationwide. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, INDY NXT by Firestone race (12:55 p.m. ET Sunday), NTT P1 Award qualifying (3 p.m. ET Saturday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices also air live on SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 218, indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA. All INDY NXT by Firestone practices, qualifying sessions and races are available on SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation 218, indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.

At-track schedule (all times Central):
SATURDAY, JULY 18
9-10 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice, FS1
10:35-11:25 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Practice 1, FS1
2 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Single car, Two laps, FOX
3:35 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Qualifying (Single car, Two laps), FS2
5 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES High Line Session (Two groups, four alternating 10-minute sessions), FS2
6-7 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice, FS2
SUNDAY, JULY 19
12:01 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix “Drivers, start your engines”
12:06 p.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix (65 laps/86.45 miles), FS1
4:35 p.m. – FOX on air (all times approximate, based on World Cup Final)
4:35 p.m. – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls “Drivers, start your engines”
4:40 p.m. – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls (300 laps/399 miles), FOX (Live)

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes:The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls will be the 12th race of the 2026 season. There have been six winners in the first 11 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Alex Palou (Streets of St. Petersburg, Barber Motorsports Park, Streets of Long Beach and Streets of Detroit), Josef Newgarden (Phoenix Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway), Christian Lundgaard (Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and Road America), Kyle Kirkwood (Streets of Arlington), Felix Rosenqvist (Indianapolis 500) and Pato O’Ward (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course).
The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls will be the fourth oval race of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. Two of the first three oval races were won by Josef Newgarden of Team Penske (Phoenix Raceway and World Wide Technology Raceway). Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian won the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in May.
The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls will be the 11th INDYCAR SERIES event at Nashville Superspeedway. Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden are the only former Nashville Superspeedway winners entered in the event. Dixon won three consecutive races in 2006-08. Newgarden, a native of Hendersonville, Tenn., has won 13 of the last 30 oval races on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule (2021-present), including last year’s race. Dixon, Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood won the three editions of the Music City Grand Prix held on the streets of downtown Nashville
.Twenty-two drivers have previous starts at Nashville Superspeedway. Scott Dixon has the most starts, with eight.
Eleven drivers have led laps at the track: Dixon 248, Pato O’Ward 137, Josef Newgarden 114, Kyle Kirkwood 67, Alexander Rossi 48, Alex Palou 11, David Malukas 9, Scott McLaughlin 7, Will Power 5, Rinus VeeKay 2 and Marcus Armstrong 1.
Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 368th consecutive start, extending his record streak…Graham Rahal will attempt to make his 268th consecutive start, the third-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history…Josef Newgarden will attempt to make his 231st consecutive start, the sixth-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history…Dixon will extend his record to 431 with a start Sunday.

NDY NXT by Firestone Race Notes:The ultra-competitive INDY NXT by Firestone season continues with the season’s second oval visit of the season at Nashville Superspeedway. The HMD Motorsports duo of Enzo Fittipaldi and Tymek Kucharczyk top the point standings with Fittipaldi leading Kucharczyk by 17 points. Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR’s Nikita Johnson is just 20 points behind the lead. The 2026 season has seen eight winners in 12 races. The series record is 10 different winners in both 2008 and 1998.The INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix will be the series’ ninth race at Nashville Superspeedway. Myles Rowe won the race in 2025. Previous INDY NXT by Firestone winners at Nashville include Cory Witherill, Mark Taylor, Thiago Medeiros, Jay Howard, Ana Beatriz and Louis Foster. 

Nashville Wrap Up

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Some final thoughts on the final IndyCar race of 2025:

I honestly don’t remember seeing a better non-Indy 500 race. The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix had all the elements of a great race- side by side duels for the lead, an ever-changing front of the field, drama, disappointment, chaos, and 27 drivers with little to lose. The order of the top four spots are in doubt until the checkered flag.

If having Alex Palou winning the championship with two races to go creates what we have seen at Milwaukee and Nashville the last two weeks, let him clinch early every year.

I said after Milwaukee that Nashville had a tough act to follow. Now, Milwaukee, the ball is in your court for 2026.

Here is my breakdown of the race, the event, and the FOX broadcast.

The Race

Kudos to IndyCar and Firestone for hitting an aero and tire combination that was perfect. The racing was as good as I’ve ever seen. There were side by side battles, but nothing like the pack racing of the mid 2010s.

I just watched the race, and I studied the David Maukas/Louis Foster incident. While I agree with the blocking call on Foster, I trhink Malukas has some share of the incident. He came straight down on Foster. Malukas should have shown some patience, especially dealing with a rookie. I understand his urgency to try to get to O’Ward, who was leading, but patience is usually rewarded.

Foster had been lapped by O’Ward, so I don’t understand why he was fighting Malukas so hard. I can understand trying to stay ahead of the leader, but once the leader puts a car a lap down, that driver needs to let the other leaders through.

The top 10 finishers had an average starting position of 11.6. Runner-up Palou was the highest starer in fourth, and fifth place Conor Daly the lowest starter in 24th.

From yesterday:

The Long and Winding Road to Victory

The Event

Attendance was down from last year, which is puzzling considering the Titans were not playing at home as was the case in 2024. It was a better than both days at Iowa combined, but still lots of bare aluminum showed.

Tram service from the infield to the grandstands and back needws to improve in the event there is a huge crowd in the coming years. There two, maybe three trams running single cars which held 25-30 people, pulled by SUVs. The track needs to double up on the trailer cars, and have larger vehicles towing them so that fans do not have to wait so long for a ride.

The pickup/drop-off locations are quite remote, requiring a long walk to the grandstands. The outside location could be moved into the parking lot. I’m not sure if the infield station can be put anywhere other than where it is outside the paddock.

The event ran smoothly otherwise, and the fans there seemed to be having a good time. I hope the season finale stays at the Speedway, rather than moving back downtown.

FOX

I admit I was skeptical of how well FOX Sports would do televising IndyCar, and the first couple of broadcasts did nothing to lower my level of concern, but slowly and steadily the presentation improved weekly.

The network added graphics and improved the location of the in-car telemetry screen. They finally added a pit stop timer and made the drivers’ pictures more realistic. The Driver’s Eye is a great view.

I have always enjoyed Will Buxton, and he grew into the lead announcer role over the course of the season.

Jack Harvey relaxed and felt right at home covering the pits after a debut in which he was stiff and nervous. I think adding the grid run allowed him to get more comfortable. I think Jack will be even better next season.

It helped the broadcast that they brought James Hinchcliffe, Townsend Bell, Kevin Lee, and Georgia Henneberry over from NBC. They are consummate professionals, and they work well together.

Now we wait for Silly Season the 2026 schedule. I have a feeling there will be news tomorrow.

I will have a season review later in the week. Thanks to all who followed along this season.