LEBANON, TN – Nothing about the Music City Grand Prix went as expected for IndyCar and those throughout its paddock.
The race was supposed to get a major TV lead-in from the World Cup final on Fox before lightning and rain at Nashville Superspeedway ended any hopes of that. Eventually, the track got wet enough for IndyCar to postpone a race to Monday for the first time in nearly a decade. Once the race got going, cars couldn’t pass and use both lanes of the track as they had in the past two years at Nashville Superspeedway.
The lone element of this weekend (or, in this case, weekday) that seemed normal was Alex Palou and Josef Newgarden being at the front of the pack on Nashville Superspeedway’s oval in the race’s final stint.
The inability to pass held true at the end, as Palou’s No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda held off Newgarden’s No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet on a restart with 32 laps left, got by lapped traffic and took the checkered flag for the Spainard’s fifth win of the season.
After the last restart, which was caused by Dale Coyne Racing rookie Dennis Hauger spinning out in Turn 3, Palou was concerned about what would happen when he caught up with the lapped cars on track. In most races, Palou’s the driver who feels unbeatable. But on this oval, Palou knew Newgarden – who has 11 oval wins since 2022 – had the upperhand. That provided more urgency for Palou to get by Louis Foster, who finished two laps down.
“I was a bit nervous to get into traffic because I know that’s when Josef kind of shines and he’s been the best the last (few) seasons,” Palou said. “I was like, ‘Please, Alex, you need to do it.’ I was committed. I wanted to try and give my best.”
The other part of this race that didn’t go as planned was its distance. After being a 225-lap, 299.25-mile race last year, IndyCar originally extended the race to be 300 laps and 399.9 miles. But the postponement and 3 p.m. (2 p.m. local) start time made the series scale it back down to 225 laps with temperatures in the mid-90s and a heat index that reached 105° F.
Newgarden, a two-time Indianapolis 500 champion, didn’t feel the heat was severe enough to shorten the race. He said a 300-lap race, which would’ve been nearly 80% the distance of the Indy 500, “would have been great because we would have had more full stints.”
“I don’t think it matters,” Newgarden said of heat concerns. “I think 300 (laps) would have been fine. We could have done 500 today. I wasn’t worried about it.”
When the track was swept before restarts, that gave drivers the best chance to pass. Otherwise, cars couldn’t consistently use multiple lanes of the track due to the marbles that were left by the rubber of the tires on the high line. (IndyCar’s high-line practice on Saturday ended 44 hours before the race began.) The marbles, shortened distance and heat gave drivers almost no chance to make on-track passes for the lead, as Palou led the final 95 laps of the race.
“It starts to marble up here and then you’re just stuck to one lane,” Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood told IndyStar. “Some guys can make another lane work for a short period of time, but it tends to go away pretty quick. And then everyone’s kind of nose-to-tail unless somebody makes a mistake.”
And Palou, like usual, didn’t make a mistake. The win increased Palou’s lead in the championship to 83 points over Newgarden’s Team Penske teammate David Malukas. Malukas finished third and leapfrogged Kirkwood (who finished 10th) in the championship, as those two have traded the second-place spot behind Palou for months.
After Palou told IndyStar he needed to “start pushing for better results” after losing ground in the championship at the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. He delivered the third oval win of his career and, more importantly, outdueled Malukas and Kirkwood, who combined to lead 83 laps on Monday.
“I know it’s going to be a tough fight until the end, especially being so back-to-back races,” Palou said. “But yeah, we’re ready for it. I think we’ve done – obviously – the best we could this weekend. I’m very happy we got a win here at a place that probably we didn’t expect coming into it. Yeah, it’s great. But although we have a good cushion, we need to keep making it bigger and keep it to the end.”
With six races left in the 18-race season, Palou is closing in on a fourth straight championship and fifth in six years. Malukas and Kirkwood will have the best chance to catch him, but another Palou win diminishes their shot to do so.
“Well, I don’t know,” Malukas said when asked if he can catch up to Palou. “That was the one thing at the end of the race, I’m saying this is such a good race, but I see (Palou) was in front. Look, he’s at the peak right now. He’s doing so good year by year. … We have to keep trying, keep pushing hard. Maybe it will come down to the end.”
What could be described as an abnormal three-day stretch at Nashville Superspeedway, the Music City Grand Prix ended with the most normal result possible. Palou returned to victory lane for the first time in four races and strengthened his position as IndyCar’s top dog in the process.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: After a wild, weather‑warped weekend, Palou delivers only predictable outcome: Another win
Reporting by Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
