IndyCar Takeaways: Music City Grand Prix

Credit: Bella Rosen

For the first time in a decade, Monday meant race day for IndyCar. A bizarre feeling, yet the show must go on. And didn’t it just for the Music City Grand Prix; after an intense battle at the front of the field, it was Álex Palou who won his fifth race of the season. 

Despite Nashville being unlike the typical dominant pace he has shown all season, he got the job done and broke his longest win drought of the season… albeit only being three races since his last victory in Detroit. 

Joining him on the podium were Josef Newgarden in second, who continued his brilliant run of results on ovals, securing his third podium of the season on speedways, and the other Penske of David Malukas, who put up a valiant fight to go from last to third place.

A crushing missed opportunity for IndyCar…

Credit: Gabriela Hughes

This one will hurt for a while. Series broadcasters Fox had presented the series with the opportunity of a lifetime. The slot following the FIFA World Cup Final was the perfect chance to showcase all IndyCar has to offer; over 50 million fans were tuned in to the football, the perfect run-in to attract new fans.

Despite the racing action on Monday, there's little doubt it would have been a success. Unfortunately, that race came a day later than expected. Severe storms meant the Grand Prix of Nashville was rescheduled to the following day.

Sometimes life can be cruel, and in this case it may have just set IndyCar back at least another four years. Although officials and organisers cannot control the weather, they certainly are responsible for the schedule and planning. Failing to prepare for all possible scenarios was a preventable oversight. 

Running a race of such importance with no assurance of starting on time, given the inability to run in any adverse weather on an oval, was one of those. Had the race been hosted at a road or street course, there would not nearly be the scale of disruption or damage that was caused to IndyCar’s reputation.

Comments like these might be easy to make in hindsight, yet they come from frustration. Long has the series been looking for a chance like this to show the wider audience what we love about the sport. The speed, the suspense, the danger; none of which the new viewers who tuned in were able to experience in the way they might have under different circumstances. 

Breakthrough weekend for Schumacher 

It was a big weekend for Mick Schumacher. Until Nashville, the German had looked out of his depth, enduring a dismal run of results and unable to break into the top 15. All of that was completely out of the window when it came to Monday’s race. Brilliant pace throughout marked a first top 10 finish as he came across the line in eighth.  

A comment under one of IndyCar’s social posts summarised the situation quite well. It read “Finally Schumacher woke up”. It certainly felt that way; all the way up until this race, he had rarely even appeared on the broadcast, popping up sometimes if he was off strategy and falling through the field. 

Last weekend, it felt as if something clicked, and that for the first time all year, Schumacher had been comfortable behind the wheel. It makes it even sweeter when you compare his performance to his teammates' performance. 

Louis Foster came home 17th and a lap down on the alternate strategy, and Graham Rahal endured his worst race of the season, finishing three laps down on outright pace alone!

This upturn in form could not have come at a better time. With the news of a charter transfer to Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, Rahal Letterman Lanigan will be down to only two cars for next season. One of those will be taken by Foster, who has a contract that ensures him a seat for 2027, while the other, for obvious reasons, will likely go to Rahal. 

What it means is, unless Rahal decides it’s time to hang up his racing boots, Schumacher will be out of a seat. The former F1 driver will need to treat the rest of his season as an audition if he wants to stay on the IndyCar grid.

Malukas fights back from adversity

Credit: Gabriella Hughes

Malukas emerged as one of the most impressive drives on the day. Going from last to third place was an incredible feat for the Penske man. His crash during practice on Saturday was a heavy one; an incident where a driver takes the steering wheel off with his knee is not something you see every day.

The recovery that came following was nothing short of spectacular. During the opening stages of the race, it read as if he was understandably struggling with the pain from the crash as he found himself stuck at the back of the Top 20 and unable to move forward.

That was until the first caution changed everything. Restarting in second, being one of a few drivers to not change tyres, Malukas took the lead from Lundgaard early on the restart and did not look back as he charged into an impressive lead. His tyre management and overall pace were incredible all race and would only be undone by cautions. 

From there, he proved the doubters wrong who criticised his decisive overtaking ability. Moving from just inside the Top 15 to the top five in incredible time, before finishing up in third. Yet in hindsight he may feel it is another win that has gone begging.

It may be crazy to consider given his starting spot, but so many times this season has a win looked his for the taking only for it to be undone by something outside his control. 

If anything, it shows he's had his share of bad luck, and with multiple ovals coming up on the calendar it's hard to see how he won't be one of the favourites. Will we see big Dave by the end of the season? He will certainly be hoping so.

Title slipping away from Palou’s challengers

Credit: Bella Rosen

Nashville certainly emerged as an opportunity for those looking to dethrone Palou from his righteous throne at the top of the Driver’s Championship. Coming into the weekend with a gap of just under 60 points, the gap at the front was being slowly clawed back. With Palou’s nearest challenger, Kyle Kirkwood, on pole, a key chance emerged for the Andretti man. 

As it turned out, even without the best pace or car, Palou still won. While this may go down as luck, the Spaniard experiencing fortunes going his way on many of the caution-impacted pit cycles; he had still put his car in that position to take advantage.

As for his title rivals? Kirkwood was running well ahead of Palou until a caution put him on the back foot; another mistimed pit stop at the last pit cycle doubled his misfortune as he was only able to recover up to 10th.

As for Malukas, who is now Palou’s closest challenger, starting down in last place meant his challenge was even greater. As it played out, Malukas showed brilliant pace and clever strategy to move to the front of the field after the opening stops. 

It was another mistimed caution that saw him buried in the pack for the restart. From there, he managed to climb all the way to third, a very impressive performance, but still lost points to Palou. 

With six races remaining, Palou boasts a points gap in the Driver’s Standings of over 80 points. It's certainly not impossible, but as more races pass where drivers are unable to convert an uncommon advantage, the less likely anyone is to stop Palou from winning a fourth title in a row.

Collet’s 2026 oval woes continue

Credit: Bella Rosen

Out of four oval races so far this season, Caio Collet has finished only one. In that one finish, he was five laps behind the race winner. It looks bleak on paper with two big crashes taking centre stage. Both were heavy impacts and race-changing incidents; whilst he does have the ‘excuse’ of it being his rookie season, he still has competitive machinery, especially on ovals. 

Here is where the issue may be: Throughout his short career on the IndyCar junior ladder, Collet has finished no higher than third place on an oval. Where some talents from other formula series take to driving ovals, it seems Collet’s experience has been far more of a struggle. 

In his Indy NXT days, he would struggle towards the end of races with his tyres, a trait that may have followed him to IndyCar.

That being said, the one outlier of his oval races this season came in under the lights in St Louis, where his engine failed whilst running an impressive eighth. 

It will have been a real disappointment last weekend not to have been able to build on that run, especially considering his position in the championship down in 23rd and outside the Leaders Circle.

Although it may seem a harsh assessment, as he has shown some incredible talent so far this season, Collet still sits over 50 points behind his teammate and is the only rookie driver yet to register a top 10 finish. Collet needs to turn his talents into points if he wants to put his AJ Foyt Racing entry back in the Leaders Circle.

Edited by Vyas Ponnuri