IndyCar Series at Nashville Superspeedway
 | |
| IndyCar Series | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Nashville Superspeedway |
| First race | 2001 |
| Last race | 2026 |
| Distance | 399 miles (642 km) |
| Laps | 300 |
| Previous names | Harrah's Indy 200 (2001) Firestone Indy 200 (2002–2008) Big Machine Music City Grand Prix (2024) Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix (2025–2026) |
| Most wins (driver) | Scott Dixon (3) |
| Most wins (team) | Chip Ganassi Racing (4) |
The Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee has hosted American open-wheel car racing events dating back to 2001.
History
The 2001 event marked the first American open-wheel event in the Nashville area. During some years events were held on Saturday nights. The 2007 event was postponed until Sunday after a series of rain showers at the track.
Following the 2008 event, Indy Racing League officials decided to end their association with Nashville Superspeedway. The event was removed from the 2009 schedule, and afterwards the facility shuttered for several years. Subsequently renamed as the IndyCar Series, the series returned to the Nashville area in 2021 with the Music City Grand Prix on a downtown street circuit. Due to construction downtown, beginning in 2024 the race was moved to the Nashville Superspeedway. The race is currently the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix. In 2026, the event was originally scheduled to become a 400-mile race, as well as move to late July, following the FIFA World Cup final, but due to excessive rainfall, the race was postponed to Monday, July 20. The race was also shortened from 300 laps back down to 225 due to extreme heat conditions.
As a Nashville-area racing tradition, from 2001 through 2008 the winner received a hand-made and painted Gibson Les Paul guitar. When the current event moved to the Superspeedway in 2024, the guitar tradition continued with agreement by Gibson, promoter Scott Borchetta, and circuit owner Marcus Smith.
Race summaries
- 2024: For 2024 the Music City Grand Prix was moved to Nashville Superspeedway and scheduled as the season finale. The race would be a championship deciding showdown between Álex Palou and Will Power. Palou only needed to finish ninth or better to secure the championship, while Power had to win the race and hope Palou finished no better than tenth to win the championship. A glimmer of hope was given to Power during qualifying when he managed to qualify fourth while Palou had to take a nine position grid penalty for an unscheduled engine change, leaving him to start 24th on the grid. Kyle Kirkwood meanwhile qualified on pole, earning his first oval pole position. Power's championship hopes faded early in the race when he had to make an unusual early green flag pit stop on lap 13 for a seatbelt that had come undone in his car. Josef Newgarden took the lead before a yellow on lap 56 came out when Felix Rosenqvist blew a tire. Through two more caution periods the race turned to a head to head battle between Newgarden and Colton Herta, with Herta finally getting the best of Newgarden on lap 147. After clearing David Malukas and Scott Dixon, Herta battled with lapped traffic and eventually Pato O'Ward to retake the lead for good, taking his first victory on an oval. With Power multiple laps down, Palou secured his third IndyCar championship. Pato O'Ward finished second while Josef Newgarden rounded out the podium in third.
Past winners
| Season | Date | Driver | Team | Chassis | Engine | Race Distance | Race Time | Average Speed (mph) |
Report | Refs | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laps | Miles (km) | |||||||||||
| 2001 | July 21 |  Buddy Lazier |
Hemelgarn Racing | Dallara | Oldsmobile | 200 | 266.6 (429.051) | 1:44:44 | 144.809 | Report | ||
| 2002 | July 20 | Alex Barron |
Blair Racing | Dallara | Chevrolet | 200 | 266.6 (429.051) | 2:01:53 | 127.997 | Report | ||
| 2003 | July 19 |  Gil de Ferran |
Team Penske | Dallara | Toyota | 200 | 266.6 (429.051) | 1:53:18 | 137.679 | Report | ||
| 2004 | July 17 | Tony Kanaan |
Andretti Green Racing | Dallara | Honda | 200 | 266.6 (429.051) | 1:55:35 | 134.975 | Report | ||
| 2005 | July 16 |  Dario Franchitti |
Andretti Green Racing (2) | Dallara | Honda | 200 | 266.6 (429.051) | 1:57:13 | 133.089 | Report | ||
| 2006 | July 15 |  Scott Dixon |
Chip Ganassi Racing | Dallara | Honda | 200 | 266.6 (429.051) | 1:36:46 | 161.205 | Report | ||
| 2007 | July 15* | Scott Dixon (2) |
Chip Ganassi Racing (2) | Dallara | Honda | 200 | 266.6 (429.051) | 1:35:06 | 164.03 | Report | ||
| 2008 | July 12 | Scott Dixon (3) |
Chip Ganassi Racing (3) | Dallara | Honda | 171* | 227.943 (366.838) | 1:30:05 | 148.072 | Report | ||
| 2009 – 2023 |
Not held | |||||||||||
| 2024 | September 15 | Colton Herta |
Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian (3) | Dallara | Honda | 206 | 273.98 (440.93) | 1:43:15 | 159.207 | Report | ||
| 2025 | August 31 | Josef Newgarden |
Team Penske (2) | Dallara | Chevrolet | 225 | 299.25 (481.49) | 1:54:50 | 156.342 | Report | ||
| 2026* | July 20* |  Álex Palou |
Chip Ganassi Racing (4) | Dallara | Honda | 225* | 299.25 (481.49) | 1:51:38 | 157.193 | Report | ||
Notes
- ↑ The race was originally scheduled on Saturday, July 14, before being postponed to Sunday, July 15.
- ↑ Race was shortened from 200 laps to 171 laps due to rain.
- ↑ The race was originally scheduled on Sunday, July 19, before being postponed to Monday, July 20. The race was also shortened from 300 laps to 225 due to extreme heat conditions.
Support winners
Indy NXT
| Season | Date | Winning driver | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | July 20 | Cory Witherill |
|
| 2003 | July 18 | Mark Taylor |
|
| 2004 | July 17 | Thiago Medeiros |
|
| 2005 | July 16 | Jaime Camara |
|
| 2006 | July 15 | Jay Howard |
|
| 2007 | July 14 | Robbie Pecorari |
|
| 2008 | July 12 | Ana Beatriz |
|
| 2009 – 2023 |
Not held | ||
| 2024 | September 15 | Louis Foster |
|
| 2025 | August 31 | Myles Rowe |
|
| 2026 | July 19 |  Matteo Nannini |
|
References
- ↑ Pruett, Marshall (14 February 2024). "IndyCar moves season finale to Nashville Speedway". racer.com. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
- ↑ "Tickets On Sale Now for Season Finale in Nashville". IndyCar.com. Retrieved July 7, 2025.
Previously known as the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix for the past four years, the Labor Day Weekend celebration will become the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix in 2025 and into the future.
- ↑ "INDYCAR Announces 17-Race 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Schedule". IndyCar.com. Retrieved 16 September 2025.
- 1 2 "Nashville Race Rescheduled for 3 P.M. ET Monday Due to Rain". IndyCar. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
- 1 2 "Nashville Race Distance Reduced to 225 Laps Due to Record Heat Forecast". IndyCar. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
- ↑ "2001 Harrah's 200". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2001 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2002 Firestone Indy 200". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2002 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2003 Firestone Indy 200". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2003 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2004 Firestone Indy 200". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2004 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2005 Firestone Indy 200". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2005 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2006 Firestone Indy 200". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2006 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "Nashville has first IndyCar rainout since 2000; Race rescheduled for Sunday". Taiwan News. Associated Press. July 15, 2007. Archived from the original on April 21, 2022. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2007 Firestone Indy 200". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2007 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- 1 2 "2008 Firestone Indy 200". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2008 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2024 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ↑ "2024 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
- ↑ "2025 Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
- ↑ "2025 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
- ↑ "2026 Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
- ↑ "2026 Nashville Indycars". Motor Sport. Retrieved July 20, 2026.
- ↑ "2002 Nashville 100". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2003 Cleanevent 100". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2004 Cleanevent 100". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2005 Cleanevent 100". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2006 Sun Belt Rentals 100". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2007 Sun Belt Rentals 100". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "2008 Sun Belt Rentals 100". Racing-Reference. Retrieved October 21, 2021.
- ↑ "Event - Summary" (PDF). IndyCar. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ↑ "Event - Summary" (PDF). IndyCar. Retrieved August 31, 2025.
- ↑ "Event - Summary" (PDF). IndyCar. Retrieved July 19, 2026.
External links
| Preceded by Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio |
IndyCar Series Music City Grand Prix |
Succeeded by Grand Prix of Portland |