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The 2026 Music City Grand Prix will be IndyCar's first Monday race since 2016 after the track was plagued by severe rains and thunderstorms until late in the evening. All of the teams, drivers, and media packed up to try again midday on Monday.
The Nashville Speedway is known for some of the best racing in the IndyCar series. The track is concrete, there is a speed bump around Turn 4, and the speeds are only topped by those at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the 500.
Coming into this race weekend, it wasn't the Championship Leader, Alex Palou, who was the one to beat, but instead Josef Newgarden – the hometown hero who won this race last year. Josef started on the front row, led by championship hopeful Kyle Kirkwood, with Alex Palou just behind in fourth.
In the end, it was Alex Palou who took home his first win at the Nashville Superspeedway over the three Penskes of Newgarden, Malukas, and McLaughlin.
ECR DNF Woes Continue
Ed Carpenter Racing has not been able to catch a break for much of this season. From mechanical problems to contact to injuries – in the case of Rossi – both Rossi and Rasmussen have had much of a season to forget. To top it all off, this includes a triple DNF at the Indianapolis 500.
At the Monday Nashville race, both ECR drivers came out of the race essentially back-to-back incidents. First, Rasmussen, known for his on-the-edge driving around ovals, came up into the marbles on the high line and hit the wall. This caused significant damage to the car. He was able to get back out on track, but many laps down. He then retired again.
Only a few laps later, Rossi and Dixon came together, taking Rossi out of the race and leaving Dixon to limp back to the pits, pushing his own broken front wing in front of him through the pit lane. ECR desperately needed a good result for both cars after at least one of them seemed not to complete each race on the calendar.
The pair presently sit 16th and 21st in the standings, respectively, with only one podium to their names from Rasmussen at Gateway.
IndyCar Music City Grand Prix Results
| Position | Driver / Team | Gap to Lead [s] |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Palou / Chip Ganassi | - |
| 2. | Newgarden / Penske | +0.873 |
| 3. | Malukas / Penske | +1.220 |
| 4. | McLaughlin / Penske | +5.444 |
| 5. | Rosenqvist / Meyer Shank | +6.075 |
| 6. | Ericsson / Andretti | +6.992 |
| 7. | O'ward / McLaren | +7.980 |
| 8. | Schumacher / RLL | +8.745 |
| 9. | Simpson / Chip Ganassi | +9.365 |
| 10. | Kirkwood / Andretti | +10.150 |
| 11. | Siegel / McLaren | +11.134 |
| 12. | VeeKay / Juncos Hollinger | +11.724 |
| 13. | Ferrucci / AJ Foyt | +13.001 |
| 14. | Grosjean / Dale Coyne | +16.668 |
| 15. | Robb / Juncos Hollinger | +19.054 |
| 16. | Lundgaard / McLaren | +23.864 |
| 17. | Foster / RLL | +1 lap |
| 18. | Dixon / Chip Ganassi | +6 laps |
| 19. | Rahal / RLL | +15 laps |
| 20. | Power / Andretti | +15 laps |
| 21. | Rasmussen / ECR | DNF |
| 22. | Hauger / Dale Coyne | DNF |
| 23. | Rossi / ECR | DNF |
| 24. | Armstrong / Meyer Shank | DNF |
| 25. | Collet / AJ Foyt | DNF |
Schumacher Shines in Nashville
Mick Schumacher may be rookie of the year, but he has still not had a strong year overall. It's difficult to blame his lack of performance on the team, with Graham Rahal taking home several podium finishes thus far.
However, in Nashville, Schumacher seemed to shine. Not only was he the only rookie who finished the race as Collet crashed early in the race and Hauger hit the wall with only 35 laps to go, but he also finished in the top 10. This is his first top 10 finish of the season.
What makes this even more interesting is that rumors have sparked in the paddock that RLL may look to sell one of its three charters (cars) at the end of this season. This would likely leave Schumacher without a seat. In short, the former F1 driver needed this result desperately.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/fannation/racing/f1briefings as IndyCar Results and Highlights From the Delayed Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.
