It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that the fifth edition of the Music City Grand Prix (MCGP) last ran. If you look at the calendar, you realize that it has not yet been a year. For the past two seasons, the MCGP served as the season finale. In 2024, it was run in mid-September. Last season, it was run at the end of August. So if you think it’s odd to be running this event this early, you’re right. But if you go back to the 2000s when IndyCar ran at Nashville Superspeedway, this was the date when it always ran.
I know they are trying to capitalize on the World Cup lead-in this year. Some say nearly forty million will tune in the watch the World Cup Final between Argentina and Spain. Even if 90% of those fans tune out, that still leaves four million to watch the IndyCar race. Alexander Rossi says it is possible that the race at Nashville Superspeedway may eclipse this year’s Indianapolis 500 in ratings, but I’m not buying that one. Still, we’ve seen what going after or before a World Cup game does for ratings. IndyCar is enjoying a ratings bonanza this summer. Sunday’s race should be no different.
Keep in mind that the pre-race will be over on FS1, and will start at 4:30 EDT. The race itself will join the FOX Broadcast exactly twenty minutes after the end of the cover match. There will be no pre-race on FOX. Just minutes after FOX switches the IndyCar broadcast, they will give the command to start engines and the race will commence.
One other thing to keep in mind for your planning purposes – last year’s race at Nashville Superspeedway was 225 laps. This year’s race will be increased to 300 laps, which is a significant jump, and will surely affect pit strategy. Speaking of pit-strategy, they are continuing the trend of running the red (soft) alternate tires at this reace. That is not a normal practice for an oval, but this will be the third year in a row that this race has been designated an alternate tire oval.
IndyCar ran at Nashville Superspeedway from 2001 though 2008. Although the timers varied, this was usually a night race. Even with seventy-five extra laps, there is no conceivable way Sunday’s race could run at night, unless of course there was a rain delay. I don’t think anyone wants that. But if they continue with this mid-July date, they might want to consider running at night. Nashville can get very hot & sticky in July.
This will be the sixth edition of the Music City Grand Prix. The first three were run on the tight street course surrounding the current Nissan Stadium. With the new domed Nissan Stadium nearing completion for next spring, there is a lot of conjecture that this eve n may move back to downtown. Keep in mind, once the new stadium is finished, they still need to demolish the old one, as they sit adjacent to one another. I think the absolute earliest they could race again in downtown Nashville would be in 2028, and I think that would be pushing it.
Does this event need to move back downtown? There are opinions all over the board on this. Personally, being an oval fan, I like it on the oval and hope it stays there. But Alexander Rossi maintains that this even lost something when it moved forty-five miles to the east near Lebanon (pronounced LEB-nin, not Leb-a-NON like he was saying it on the Hinch & Rossi podcast)
I will be the first to say that the track is too far out. When the original track owners (Dover Motorsports) planned this track, they used Kansas Speedway as a model. If you build it, they will come – they meaning shops, bars and restaurants; like what has happened at Kansas, Barber and other tracks. It didn’t happen in Nashville. The area is just as desolate, as it was when it opened twenty-five years ago. Fortunately, Nashville is growing so much – it is creeping its way east, so a lot of people will find themselves living close to the track.
Unfortunately, I am not one of them. We live on the far western outskirts of Nashville. A couple of years ago I measure the distance. From our driveway to the track is 55-miles. But that’s still close enough that we can travel to the track after sleeping nights in our own bed. There is a lot to be said for that.
The track is unique in a lot of ways. The size of the track is unlike any other track I know of – 1.33 miles. The concrete surface is unlike any other oval that IndyCar runs on. Not only does it eat tires like a cheese grater, but it is the same surface put down over a quarter-century ago and it is very rough. Drivers will be dealing with conditions this weekend that they will not see for the rest of the season. There are still a handful of drivers that ran on this track in the 2000s, including Scott Dixon who won the last three races here, before IndyCar left the oval after the 2008 season.
Saturday will be a full day at Nashville Superspeedway. Practice One gets underway at 10:00 am EDT on FS1. Qualifying takes place at 3:00 pm EDT. Please take note that qualifying will be shown on Big FOX, for the first time. The Final Practice will began at 6:00 pm EDT and will be shown on FS1. As I already said, Sunday’s Pre-Race Show will start at 4:30 pm EDT and the Race Coverage will begin exactly twenty minutes after the soccer match.
Josef Newgarden won last year’s race – ending a horrible season on a bright note. He is a Nashville native, and had always dreamed of winning his home race. Given the fact that Newgarden has won two races and is only sixth in points, might suggest that he is now having a banner season, this season. Well, let’s just wait until the oval stats pile up. Newgarden has won the two short ovals where the series has already raced – Phoenix and Gateway. There is nothing telling me to pick anyone else this weekend besides Newgarden. He is lethal on short ovals and I think he will become a repeat winner at Nashville. We’ll see.
George Phillips
