This will serve as my post-race wrap-up and my Random Thoughts that I usually post on Mondays following a race – so please bear with me.
It was another race and another Alex Palou win. That makes five out of twelve races that have gone to Alex Palou. As I said in this morning’s post, pole-sitter Kyle Kirkwood had an opportunity to cut into Palou’s lead. But the phenomenon that has plagued whichever driver is in second place in points, bit again this afternoon – they end up with a disappointing race, and they get passed in the points. Such was the case today as David Malukas, who entered the day in fourth place, finished third and leap-frogged over Kirkwood and Christian Lundgaard. Kirkwood finished a disappointing tenth and Lundgaard finished sixteenth, adding fuel to the fire that he cannot perform on ovals. Malukas now trails Palou by 83 poimts with six races to go.
It was hot, but it was certainly not the hottest race I’ve ever been to. I think the 2012 Indianapolis 500 holds that record for me. The two Penske drivers on the podium, Josef Newgarden and David Malukas, looked like they had been run through the ringer, when they stepped out of the car. Alex Palou looked like he had been sitting in an air-conditioned room all day. What was remarkable for that last stint is that Palou was on the black primary tires, and the next seven drivers that finished behind him were all on the reds, yet Palou was never really threatened.
It was an entertaining race that started with a multi-lap battle up front between the two occupants of the front-row, Kirkwood and Newgarden. But when Caio Collet crashed on Lap 19, David Malukas ultimately ended up leading the next twenty-eight laps. When Malukas finally pitted for the first time on Lap 61, the lead changed almost every lap until Malukas reassumed the lead on Lap 88 for the next thirty-one laps.
When Scott Dixon slammed into the back of a slowing Alexander Rossi in a bizarre looking accident, Alex Palou eased into the lead and never left. He ended up leading 97 laps, compared to the 59 that Malukas led. Most, if not all, passes for the lead were done in the pits. But there were a lot of spirited battles behind the leaders. Those are the things you see in person that sometimes the TV cameras don’t get.
Alex Palou deserved this victory. He is just that good. But as usual, a lot of luck fell his way. You would think that at some point his charmed life will turn and his luck will run out. So far, it hasn’t happened. He seems to be appreciating the hot run he is on. I can’t blame him. It’s historic.
TV Coverage: With the hope of through-the-roof ratings gone, FOX just needed to focus on a good broadcast. I watched some of their Sunday night broadcast early this morning and it appeared they were well on there way Sunday night before the rains fell and cancelled the race for the night. I am assuming that things continued for today, but I was out in the heat all day.
On a side note…sometimes you meet semi-celebrities in person and you end up being disappointed. You find that they have a different private persona that doesn’t come close to the public image they present.
Saturday, Susan and I had the pleasure of eating lunch at the same table in Honda Hospitality with Georgia Henneberry and her spotter Patrick Stephan, whom we have known for years. While our conversation was initially with Patrick, Georgia gladly entered in and we ended up having a very leisurely visit between the four of us. So for those that have been wondering if she is really as nice and pleasant in-person as she seems on the IndyCar broadcasts – we can both vouch that she is.
Number 150: This was the 150th IndyCar win for Chip Ganassi Racing. Considering the team started in 1990, that’s an impressive number. Quick trivia question…who brought Chip Ganassi his first IndyCar victory? When and where was it? The answer is Michael Andretti in the 1994 season-opening race at Surfer’s Paradise. A small footnote is that the win cam in the debut of the Reynard chassis.
Things have come a long way since then for Ganassi. He has won IndyCar championships with Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi, Juan Montoya, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Alex Palou.
Palou and Strategist Barry Wanser discussed the accomplishment in the post-race press-conference and Wanser really enjoyed talking about the nostalgia of the event.
What’s the Future: One of the many topics floating around this weekend is the long-term future of this event. Without looking at Scott Borchetta’s books, there is no way to tell whether or not this weekend’s event was a success or not. Reportedly sales were going very well in the weeks leading up to it, but we never got a chance to see the stands due to the weather and the Monday date.
The Titans stadium will be finished by next spring, but the still have to demolish the current stadium and get that area cleaned up, before they can even think about hosting a race in that area. In my non-expert opinion, I don’t think there is any was they could host a race anytime in 2027. Since I don’t know how long it takes to raze a stadium and get the area ready for development – I don’t even know if 2028 is a realistic possibility. I think we are looking at at least two more years on the oval.
My question is…is it more desirable to move this event back to downtown Nashville where it started, or keep it on the oval for a better racing product that is out in the middle of nowhere? If it’s me making that call, I say keep it on the oval. But I’m old, and most people consider my views and opinions antiquated. Most of my contemporaries that I talked to this weekend seemed to be leaning toward returning to the streets of downtown – even though a few prominent journalists referred to the downtown races as a s**tshow.
Most people seemed to think this event will continue in some form, long into the future. If you have listened to Trackside recently, you’ve heard Kevin Lee mention the possibility of Nashville having both. As much as I would like to see Nashville host two IndyCar races each year – one in the spring and one late in the season – I’m not sure I see that happening.
You tell me…where would you like to see the Music City Grand Prix in the future?
The Crash: As I mentioned earlier, the crash that saw Scott Dixon slam into the back of Alexander Rossi was very strange and also frightening. The trouble with not watching television while watching the race in-person, is that you miss out on some valuable information. This race has been over for an hour and a half as I type, and I have heard no one mention what exactly happened to make Rossi slow down so drastically. So if someone can enlighten me – please do.
Drive of the Day: Sometimes this is a hard on to choose, and sometimes it’s a no-brainer. This week falls into the latter category. It’s David Malukas, plain and simple. The guy crashed hard very early in the only practice session before qualifying. After spending the day being evaluated in a nearby hospital, he returned in time for the Final Practice to lead the session, knowing that he would be starting last,
After starting dead-last today, he led 59 laps and finished third – just 1.2 seconds behind winner Alex Palou. He said in the post-race press-conference that he felt like that was the best drive of his career. So it has to be the Oilpressure.com Drive of the Day.
All in All: It was a tiring weekend for everyone, which is usually the case when rain enters the picture. I’ve been attending IndyCar races for more than sixty years. As far as I can remember, this is on the fourth time that a race I attended was pushed into the next day. They are in chronological order; the 1967 Indianapolis 500, the 2008 IndyCar race at Nashville Superspeedway, the 2016 IndyCar race at Pocono and the 2026 Music City Grand Prix. That’s not a bad personal average.
I know fans have griped, but that’s what they do. I really don’t know what IndyCar, the track or FOX could have done, once they decided to swing for the fences for ratings. I think given with the long soccer match, and the heavy rains of Sunday night – everyone involved did as good a job as possible. It ended well, the race ran the (adjusted) distance and finished in bright sunshine. Given the weather around Nashville lately – that’s about all we could hope for.
Now the NTT IndyCar Series enters a three week stretch with no racing. But there is some big news hopefully coming this week. The new car for 2028 is to be revealed soon and will hit the track for testing soon thereafter. I spoke with a couple of people who have seen it and I’m hearing mostly positive reports. I’ve heard one thing that sounds a little different, but I was sworn to secrecy because it may just be something for the prototype that may not show up on the final product. Whenever the photos are released, I will certainly be sharing my opinon here, for whatever that’s worth.
That will do it for me here this late afternoon. I miss Susan not being here, but she had to work today. So you were stuck with my two measly iPhone photos from today. Thanks for following along for the extended weekend.
George Philliips
