IndyCar Preview: Music City Grand Prix
- Dan Jones
- 2 hours ago
- 10 min read
It is that all-important time of the year for IndyCar. With the championship picture having more attention then ever, drivers looking to find themselves a home for 2027, every race becomes critical. None more so than on a short oval and at Nashville Superspeedway, a race that will grab the attention of fans worldwide as it follows in from the final of the FIFA World Cup. It is a weekend with plenty in-store on the fastest oval track of the year outside of Indianapolis. There's no better time to visit Nashville Superspeedway, the host of Round 12 of 18 in the 2026 IndyCar calendar.
What happened at Mid-Ohio?
In a weekend where all the action was centered around the storylines going-on off-track, there was plenty of talking points generated on-track as well.
One of those was Pato O'Ward's ongoing podium drought, which had reached 14 races before he ended it in emphatic style at Mid-Ohio, taking his first victory since Toronto 2025 and re-claiming himself as an outside contender for the championship for the remainder of 2026.
That came at the expense of Arrow McLaren teammate Christian Lundgaard, who had taken a statement pole the day prior but had to settle for second in the weekend where rumours about his future continued to swirl. It marked McLaren's first 1-2 finish since their return to the series in 2020 and although it marked Lundgaard's fourth road course podium in four races in 2026 it has not proved enough for the Dane to continue at the team for 2027 and beyond.
Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the otherwise papaya podium as he earned his first road course podium of his IndyCar career and narrowly closed the gap to Álex Palou at the top of the championship standings with seven races still to go.
FOX Sports averaged 1.344 million viewers throughout the 90 laps at Mid-Ohio, with a peak of 1.54 million viewers. It marked a 73% increase on last year's Mid-Ohio race, with the network holding an 18% increase on the averages that they achieved throughout the first 11 races last year.
You can read the full race report here, the DIVEBOMB IndyCar Podcast's race review here and my gradebook here.
A rare 'off-weekend' on a road course for Palou (which still amounted in a strong fifth-place finish) saw his sizeable gap at the top of the standings shrink, whilst O'Ward made significant ground on the three drivers directly in front of him in the championship. Top 10 are as follows:
Palou - 404
Kirkwood - 348
Lundgaard - 339
Malukas - 338
O'Ward - 310
Newgarden - 270
Rosenqvist - 265
McLaughlin - 262
Dixon - 224
Ericsson - 222
All you need to know about Nashville
After a rare off-week following Mid-Ohio, drivers and teams turn their attention to Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33 mile (2.14 km) tri-oval located in Lebanon, Tennessee, 25 miles (40km) east of downtown Nashville.
IndyCar's history at the circuit dates back to 2001, the year the circuit opened, where it hosted a race annually until 2008. After a 13 year hiatus, IndyCar returned to the Nashville area, with a race on the downtown streets. However, construction works to the Tennessee Titans' NFL stadium saw the street race unfeasible for 2024, which saw the Music City Grand Prix relocated to the Superspeedway, where it has since become a fan favourite venue.
The previous two iterations of the race hosted the season finale, but the race has been brought forward this year, with Laguna Seca returning to the season finale slot that it held in 2019 and from 2021 to 2023.
One of the primary reasons for Nashville's date change was so it could be led in by the final of the FIFA World Cup, with the goal of attracting new audiences with some high-speed, enthralling oval action in a race that has proved a success in the last two years. IndyCar's trip to Road America four weeks ago saw an average of 1.803 million viewers after a lead-in from the Saudi Arabia-Spain World Cup game, and with a large share of the US audience expected to tune into the final being hosted in New York-New Jersey, there is optimism that IndyCar could have its most-watched race outside the Indianapolis 500 for several seasons.
With that though comes an unconfirmed start time, with the broadcast of the race to start as soon as the post-match coverage of the final has been complete, a game that will also be broadcast by FOX. There is a chance that the race could finish under the lights, something that has not been a feature of Nashville's race since its return in 2024.
Ovals have been all about Josef Newgarden so far this year, who won both oval races outside the Indianapolis 500 having found Victory Lane at both Phoenix and Gateway. He also heads into his hometown race as the defending winner, having fought off teammate Scott McLaughlin in the closing stages last year to win at Nashville for the first time.
He is one of two active winners who will race this weekend with Scott Dixon being the other driver who has found success at Nashville, having claimed a three-peat between 2006 and 2008.
Like has been the case for the last two seasons, the race will feature the use of an alternate tyre. Nashville is the only oval on the current calendar where Firestone opts for multiple compounds, which leads to an increase in strategy options. Teams will be assigned seven sets of primary tyres and five sets of the alternates, with teams requiring to use one set of primary tyres and two sets of alternates during the race. An additional set will also be provided for Saturday's high-line practice.
The race will also see an increased distance for the third consecutive year, as the series increases the lap count by 75, which totals a 300 lap race on Sunday, over a distance of 399 miles - the longest race outside of the Indianapolis 500.
What to look out for in Nashville
We come to a crucial race for many reasons in the outlook of the full 2026 (and 2027) seasons.
Off-track, silly season discussions continue to swirl with dominos continuing to fall. The catalyst of the domino fall has been at Arrow McLaren, who confirmed on the Monday following Mid-Ohio that they had signed both Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist for 2027 and beyond, leaving Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel without a drive. One of Dixon's potential replacements in Marcus Armstrong has secured his future too, after signing a multi-year contract extension with Meyer Shank Racing.
And with a three-week break for the series following Nashville before the show hits Portland, it proves a pivotal weekend for drivers who are looking to find themselves a home for 2027, with the number of seats only decreasing and the demand for those seats increasing. A good impression left this weekend could be critical for those wanting to secure drives for next season.
But if we turn our attention back to what is happening in 2026, this could be a crucial weekend for the likes of Kirkwood, Lundgaard, O'Ward and David Malukas if they aim to challenge Palou to earn themselves a maiden IndyCar championship.
There's been no secret that Palou's weakest track type is on ovals, with his best oval finish this season being just seventh, with his average finish 13th (albeit that takes away the context of how those results occurred). It feels unlikely that with a clean weekend that Palou would have another weak result on an oval, but this may represent the best chance for any driver to make inroads until the Milwaukee double-header.
Palou did have a good run at Nashville last year, as he recovered from a mid-race puncture to finish second after many of those around him suffered significant issues. That said, he could only achieve an 11th place finish in 2024, albeit he was simply cruising around on his way to securing a third series championship.
The good news for Lundgaard and O'Ward is the strength that Arrow McLaren showed at Nashville last year. O'Ward took a dominant pole and looked destined for victory mid-way through until a tyre failure left him helpless and in the barrier. Lundgaard has traditionally struggled on ovals, but qualified an impressive third and was running around the top five before a mechanical failure took him out of the picture.
Although Nashville proved difficult for Andretti last year, Kirkwood took pole at the circuit in 2024 and has finished inside the top six in both the Nashville races he has competed in. Ex-Andretti teammate Colton Herta won the race in 2024, and the team have made a significant improvement on ovals since.
As for Malukas, there's no secret that ovals are his specialty. Although still winless, Malukas has taken five career podiums on ovals and seven top-four finishes. Although his best result at Nashville has been just ninth, Malukas has qualified within the top six at both previous Nashville races and has been in victory contention on both occasions, with strategy falling out of his hands in 2024 and a collision with Louis Foster ending his day early last year.
It provides an intriguing prospect for the championship picture, with Palou's four closest competitors all very capable at closing his margin at the top of the standings. That said, Palou cannot be counted out, and it would be Palou-esque for the Spaniard to increase his points margin this weekend.
Newgarden will undoubtedly be in the mix too given his performance last year and recent oval success. That extends to the rest of Team Penske, with McLaughlin having finished in the top five in both previous Nashville races. McLaughlin has had a frustratingly long winless streak, which extends to the race before Nashville 2024 and this poses an excellent chance for his fortunes to turn around.
There's plenty of outsiders to look out for too. Rinus VeeKay was excellent at Mid-Ohio and Juncos Hollinger Racing have proved they have a very capable package on ovals throughout the last two seasons. Conor Daly was in podium contention at Nashville last year in the car VeeKay now drives, so don't be surprised to see him in the mix.
Kyffin Simpson had a breakout oval race last year at Nashville, which saw him narrowly miss out on a first oval podium after a battle in the closing laps with McLaughlin. Could he go one better this weekend and stand on the rostrum for the second time of his career?
Andretti Global have proved to have a strong oval package throughout this season, with Will Power in contention for victory at Phoenix whilst Marcus Ericsson was unfortunate to not return to Victory Lane at Gateway. Although eyes may be on Kirkwood, both drivers could well be in contention for a strong result this weekend.
Nashville hasn't typically provided the same fireworks that Christian Rasmussen has displayed on other ovals, but the Dane cannot be counted out on any oval given his prowess. Rasmussen comes off the back of a career-best road course weekend at Mid-Ohio and should have plenty of confidence coming into a track type which he excels at.
Looking at the Rookie of the Year picture, a difficult Mid-Ohio weekend for Dennis Hauger means his lead continues to weaken, lying just 16 points ahead of AJ Foyt Racing's Caio Collet. Another difficult weekend for Mick Schumacher means he lies a further 24 points behind Collet and will need a desperate change of form if he is to compete for the title. Collet showed very well at Gateway, whilst Hauger struggled in both previous short oval races earlier this year.
Indy NXT Preview
Indy NXT embarks of the second of their three oval races this season at Nashville in what could be another critical weekend for the enthralling championship battle.
That comes off the back of a mighty Mid-Ohio weekend for Enzo Fittipaldi, who swept the weekend having taken both pole positions and led every one of the 65 laps throughout the weekend to take an impressive double-victory, including leading the way in a HMD Motorsports 1-2-3-4 in Race 1. Jack Beeton had his best weekend to date in his young Indy NXT career, having finished third in Race 1 and second in Race 2, whilst Fittipaldi's championship contenders Tymek Kucharczyk and Nikita Johnson filled in the podium gaps, with second in Race 1 and third in Race 2 respectively.
Fittipaldi's huge weekend opens up the championship gap to the largest it has been in several races, with a clear breakaway three emerging at the top of the standings with just five races to go. The full top 10 are as follows (driver denoted with an R are eligble for Rookie of the Year):
Fittipaldi (R) - 431
Kucharczyk (R) - 414
Johnson (R) - 411
Taylor - 331
Hughes - 319
de Tullio (R) - 302
Rowe - 300
Beeton - 275
Correa - 264
Pierson - 254
With a 100 point gap between first and fourth, with just five rounds remaining, barring any miracle comeback, it leaves Fittipaldi, Kucharczyk and Johnson as the primary championship contenders. However, all three struggled at Gateway earlier this year, with Johnson the best-finishing of the trio in just seventh. However, mechanical issues plagued Fittipaldi throughout the weekend which provided him with an unrepresentative 13th place finish.
However, all three drivers have fairly limited oval experience and given how tight the championship is with such few races to go, an off-weekend or a crash could have significant implications.
The driver to beat for the rest of the field will certainly be Myles Rowe. Rowe made history at Gateway as he drove from last-to-first in one of the all-time great Indy NXT performances where he was simply unstoppable in comparison to the rest of the field. Rowe also won two oval races last year, including the event at Nashville.
It has been a difficult campaign for HMD Motorsports' Salvador de Alba but he is also one to watch this weekend, having finished second at Nashville last year, and fifth the year prior. He is also the defending polesitter from last year's race.
Ricardo Escotto will once again be absent this weekend, as well as for the rest of the season, as he focuses on a campaign in FIA Formula 3. As of Friday evening, Juncos are yet to announce a replacement in the No.76 car, likely leaving that car vacant for this weekend.
The series will return to the single-header format this weekend, with a singular race on Sunday taking place over 65 laps. Drivers will have three sets of tyres to use throughout the weekend, with a carryover set from the April 2nd Open Test allowed in pre-qualifying practice.
Timings
IndyCar Practice: 10:00 ET (15:00 BST) Saturday
Indy NXT Practice: 11:35 ET (16:35 BST) Saturday
IndyCar Qualifying: 15:00 ET (20:00 BST) Saturday
Indy NXT Qualifying: 16:35 ET (21:35 BST) Saturday
High Line Practice: 18:00 ET (23:00 BST) Saturday
IndyCar Final Practice: 19:00 ET (00:00 BST Sunday) Saturday
Indy NXT Race: 13:06 ET (18:06 BST) Sunday
Music City Grand Prix: 17:40 ET (22:40 BST) Sunday (approximate, time dependent on conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Final)
Can IndyCar convert on what could be a huge viewership opportunity? Can the likes of Kirkwood, Malukas, Lundgaard and O'Ward close the championship gap to Palou? Who will have a strong weekend in the hunt for a set in 2027? Will the alternate tyre prove a success on an oval? There are stories up and down the field to keep your eye upon.
DIVEBOMB will bring you all the news and updates throughout the weekend as well as post-race analysis for the Nashville weekend.
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