Oilpressure

What a race! If you ever wondered why people keep harping about more ovals, look no further than the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. First of all, congratulations to Nashville native Josef Newgarden for winning today’s race on his home track. Victory in Nashville had been evading Newgarden, but today he was able to close the deal.

There was action from the very start, when Christian Rasmussen found the outside wall in Turn Two on the opening lap. Last week’s first time winner ended up finishing last this week. You wondered if that was going to set the tone for the day. In a way it didn’t because there was not another caution until Lap 83. But it did give us an indication of what a wild race we had in store for us.

The first few laps after the re-start on Lap 7 gave us an epic battle at the front between pole-sitter Pato O’Ward and Alex Palou, who started fourth. For eight laps, the two went back and forth, before O’Ward finally settled in at the top spot for the next forty laps or so – when the first round of pits stops began.

When the pit stops were over, it was O’Ward back in front for the entirety of the next stint. That stint ended abruptly on Lap 83, when David Malukas got the worst of making a pass on Louis Foster. Foster was able to continue, while Malukas hit the wall hard. Not only did Malukas have his day ended early, but he also left the track in a helicopter with a trip to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Initial reports were that he was awake and alert, and he was released about an hour later.

At the restart, it was still O’Ward up front – where he stayed until Lap 127, when there was another caution. Unfortunately for O’Ward, the caution was for him. From where I was in the pits, it looked like a tire failure caused him to drift slowly into the Turn Two wall. The pole-sitter and the driver who had led 116 of the 127 laps at that point was done.

Will Power had been moving up and was running second when O’Ward went out. Suddenly he was up front and I started envisioning Power winning the race and having the last word in his contract situation. But as soon as I was thinking about that, Power had a major bungle on a pit stop that was mostly his fault. He finally came out in twentieth. For the next eighty miles, the lead was swapped between Alexander Rossi, Scott McLaughlin, Conor Daly, Colton Herta and Alex Palou. It could have been anyone’s race at that point. But when Scott McLaughlin took the lead again on Lap 200, it seemed like it was his race to lose. But then the monster that had been residing in Turn Two all day, got another driver.

On Lap 205 McLaughlin brushed the wall just hard enough to lose the lead. He eventually finished third and on the podium, but it was Josef Newgarden who took the lead and led the next twenty laps to the end.

Considering he had just won his first race of the season, as well as on his home track – it was a rather subdued Newgarden who addressed the media after the race. The vibe I got was he was more relieved to finally get a win, but was just as happy to put this season in his rear-view mirror. (Photo: Susan Phillips)

I’ve been to every IndyCar race at this facility. The last two races were hands-down the best of the ten that have been run here, with today the best of them all. The final two races of the season were the best two races we saw all year. I think IndyCar has found a home in Nashville. The first three editions of this event were on the streets of downtown Nashville. The last two have been on the 1.33-mile oval. Personally, I hope this race stays on the oval for good.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on August 31, 2025 at 5:21 pm 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.