Oilpressure

Before we get started previewing this year’s season’s finale, I probably need to establish something. In case some don’t know, I live in Nashville and have for the past 25 years or so. Except for three years in the late 90s when I lived in Charlotte, NC; I have been a lifelong Tennessean. That’s why you will see me refer to Nashville as here in this post. I just wanted to clear that up before anyone got confused.

Although Alex Palou clinched the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series championship three weeks ago in Portland, he will have to wait be presented the Astor Challenge Trophy until after Sunday’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. The season-ending race is always a little awkward, because whoever wins the race is always overshadowed by the driver who clinches the championship.

This will be the fourth season-finale that Susan and I have attended – 2013 at Fontana, 2018 at Sonoma and 2024 at Nashville were the others. Actually Susan did not attend last year’s race in Nashville. She had to have emergency surgery for an obstruction on the Wednesday before the race, and she was still hospitalized. I’m a bad husband, and I went to the race anyway. But the good folks in charge of the Media Center last year sent her an event flag and cap; both signed by one of her favorite drivers – Santino Ferrucci.

I am happy to report that she is healthier right now than she has been in all of 2025, and will be in attendance for both days this weekend.

Each of those other three finales, the crowned champion did not win the season-ending race. Consequently, the race-winning driver didn’t get a whole lot of love. Will Power won at Fontana, while Scott Dixon got all of the praise for winning the championship. At Sonoma, Ryan Hunter-Reay won the race (which has been his last race win to date), while Dixon was crowned champion once again. Last year in Nashville, Colton Herta was the race winner. At least they let Herta celebrate first in Victory Lane, before they handed the championship trophy to Palou out in pit lane in front of the fans.

One thing that was barely mentioned about Herta’s win last year was that he was a Nashville resident winning the Nashville race. Herta quietly moved to Brentwood, a very nice area just south of Nashville, in January of 2023. With Josef Newgarden being born and raised in the Nashville area, and now living in Green Hills, an affluent suburb in Nashville – we have two IndyCar drivers that live in the Nashville area. It’s an odd thing – having two drivers who live so close together in an area so far away from their respective team shops. Oddly enough, neither of them have ever asked me to come over to hang out and watch football in the offseason. I’m sure one of them will get around to it eventually.

It’s good that the suspense is gone from the championship, so that more focus can be put on whoever wins on Sunday. Can you imagine how deflating it would be if Christian Rasmussen had earned his first win during the same race that the championship was decided? Fortunately, he got to bask in all of the glory he deserved last weekend in Milwaukee.

Last year’s race was much better than was expected. The previous IndyCar races run at Nashville Superspeedway in the 2000s had been very processional, so no one really knew what to expect. The fear was that it may be a repeat of the racing we had seen at Iowa just a few weeks earlier. Then there was a fear that no fans would come. Just a few months earlier, last year’s Music City Grand Prix had been moved from the streets of downtown Nashville to the 1.33-mile concrete tri-oval in Gladeville, TN – a small town in the middle of nowhere, situated halfway between Murfreesboro and Lebanon – and about 35 miles east of downtown Nashville.

Add to that, the NFL’s Tennessee Titans were holding their home-opener that day, diverting all local attention away from the IndyCar race. To make matters worse, the remnants of Hurricane Francine were predicted to pass through over the weekend. That played havoc with the schedule on Saturday. But by Sunday, the foul weather had passed through and it was really quite pleasant. Besides lucking out on the weather last year, the crowd was much better than expected.

Those fans who came out were treated to the best IndyCar race held at Nashville Superspeedway. I can say that because I have been present at every single one of them. In fact, last year was the only IndyCar race Susan ever missed at the oval in Nashville (although she missed the 2022 street race, due to another hospitalization).

Scott Dixon won the last three races during IndyCar’s first string of races at Nashville Superspeedway that ended in 2008. Although that was 17 years ago, there will be three drivers racing this Sunday, that raced here in 2008 – Scott Dixon, Will Power and Graham Rahal. Other notable Nashville winners from the 2000s included Buddy Lazier, Tony Kanaan, Gil de Ferran and Dario Franchitti.

Here’s a trivia question for you…Before Colton Herta won last year’s IndyCar race at Nashville’s oval; who was the only non-Indianapolis 500 winner to win an IndyCar race at Nashville Superspeedway? I’ll let you know a little further down to keep you in suspense. Bonus points, if you know the team and the car number.

The concrete surface poses a unique challenge to teams and drivers that they have not faced all season. The one saving grace to concrete is that track conditions do not change near as quickly as they do with asphalt. But it sure does eat tires.

Speaking of tires, this is one of the ovals that will feature alternate tires. The primary (black) and alternate soft (red) tires will be mostly the same compound as last year’s tire – except for a strengthened right-front tire. Last year’s tire held up pretty well as I recall. That must be the case if they are only making a subtle change to the right-front.

Although Kyle Kirkwood started on the pole last year, the Andretti cars were not that fast – at least not in qualifying. Herta started eleventh before working his way to the front to take his first and only career oval win. Marcus Ericsson qualified eighteenth. But besides Herta winning, all three Andretti cars finished in the Top-Seven.

The smart money was on the three cars of Team Penske. Will Power was still alive for the championship, and qualified fourth. Josef Newgarden started on the front row, alongside Kirkwood. Scott McLaughlin started ninth. Newgarden finished third, while McLaughlin finished fifth. Power had the now-infamous loose seatbelt at the start of the race, which ended any hopes of a championship battle with Alex Palou. Power finished twenty-fourth.

Last year, the Ganassi cars did not do all that well. They qualified tenth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth and twenty-first. In the race, Marcus Armstrong and Linus Lundqvist were the only two of the five Ganassi cars to finish in the Top-Ten – at seventh and eighth respectively. This might explain why all three Chip Ganassi Racing cars tested here one day in the off-week between Portland and Milwaukee.

The temperature that day was 98˚ and brutally humid. The teams will not face anything close to that this weekend. Just a couple of mornings ago, we woke up to 53˚ temps with clear sunny skies. It will warm up a little for the weekend, but the projected lows for Saturday and Sunday are in the low 60s, with highs in the mid-80s; with virtually no chance of rain either day. We’ve gotten very lucky. This is not typical for late August in Tennessee. It will be about ten to fifteen degrees cooler than normal this weekend. It will be perfect weather to be at the race track.

We can’t count on such cool weather every year. That’s why I am hopeful that this race will become a night race as early as next year. A Saturday night race on Labor Day weekend will compete with college football, but at least it’s not going against the NFL. If it’s a true night race, and not one run in twilight with some lingering daylight at the end of the race; IndyCar can look spectacular under the lights. That would be a great way to close out next season, and hopefully have a close championship battle heading into the race weekend.

Getting back to the trivia question from above; prior to Colton Herta winning last year’s IndyCar race at Nashville Superspeedway – the only non-Indianapolis 500 winner to win there was Alex Barron in 2002, driving car No. 44 for Blair Racing. Here is a photo from that exact same race (photo: IndyCar):

So who will win this year’s season-finale? Some say Alex Palou will dominate this race, as a possible parting gift to the series – since he is rumored to be headed to Red Bull in Formula One next season. Personally, I hope he goes. I’m tired of watching him make this series his personal playground. Regardless, I don’t think he will dominate or even win on Sunday. I’m not convinced the Ganassi cars will be that much better here than they were a year ago.

Others point to the Andretti cars. They raced much better than they qualified last year, but they have not been that strong in the second half of this season.

Although team Penske has had a nightmare season this year, Will Power showed us in Portland that they (and he) still know how to win. They are always dangerous on short ovals and have showed speed at every short oval this season. This is the track where they finally put it all together, and Josef Newgarden will finally get that coveted win on his home track – marking the second year in a row that a Nashville resident will win the Music City Grand Prix. We’ll see.

Practice One gets underway Saturday morning at 10:30 EDT on FS1. Due to college football, the rest of Saturday’s coverage will be on FS2. Qualifying will take place Saturday afternoon at 2:00 EDT (FS2) and the high-line and final practice will commence at 4:30 pm EDT (FS2). Sunday’s race coverage will begin at 2:00 pm EDT on Big FOX, with the green flag at approximately 2:40 pm EDT.

Susan and I will be in attendance and will be posting from the track all weekend, starting Saturday morning. I will also be keeping one eye on my Tennessee Vols, who open up in Atlanta against Syracuse on Saturday morning. Please check back here often throughout the weekend. Also, feel free to follow me on Twitter at @Oilpressureblog for photos, videos, updates and comments.

Please check back Saturday and Sunday.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 29, 2025 at 4:05 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.