Alex Palou won the rain-delayed Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls at Nashville Superspeedway. Photo by Joe Skibinski

By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio

Alex Palou’s path to another Astor Challenge Cup trophy haul looms considerably shorter following his victory in the rain-delayed Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn.

Alex Palou – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Palou, the four-time/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion from Chip Ganassi Racing, has amassed an 83-point lead _ a gap of more than one full race _ over Team Penske’s David Malukas via his fifth victory of the season and 24^th of his mercurial career. Six races remain on the schedule as Palou attempts to earn a record-tying fourth consecutive series championship and fifth overall title.

SEE: Race Results

“That’s a pretty cool weekend for Spain,” said Palou, the 28-year-old Spaniard still celebrating his homeland’s 1-0 victory over top-ranked Argentina in FIFA’s soccer finale at East Rutherford, N.J. “It’s impressive what they did (Sunday, July 19) in the World Cup, and I’m happy to top it off.

Alex Palou – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Joe Skibinski

“I mean, I was following it obviously. I wanted them to score a little bit earlier so we could go racing. It’s just very cool for the country to get another World Cup. I’m sure that everybody in Spain is going crazy and they’re going to celebrate for the next probably six months or so.”

Palou’s win delivered team-owner Ganassi _ a 68-year-old native of Pittsburgh _ CGR’s landmark 150th INDYCAR victory. A five-time starter in the Indianapolis 500, Ganassi exited the cockpit to launch a one-car INDYCAR team in 1990 with former Formula One regular Eddie Cheever. Michael Andretti scored CGR’s first two INDYCAR wins in 1994 under sanction of the Championship Auto Racing Teams. CGR moved to the NTT IndyCar Series in 2003.

Alex Palou – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Joe Skibinski

“It’s incredible,” Team Manager Barry Wanser said. “An amazing achievement for the team. To reach 150 INDYCAR wins, it’s pretty special. I started in ’97. It’s been a pleasure being a part of such a great organization.”

Wanser jokingly added, “I want to thank the race car today for not crashing, because Alex tried to crash the car. Fortunately, the car didn’t want to crash today. As always, superior drive.”

Palou admitted his No. 10 DHL Honda initially was on the edge handling-wise. “It’s always tough, man,” Palou said. “Once you get into traffic, you’re fighting with the car a lot. I think everybody’s on the same page. That’s why you see biggest differences once you get through traffic. At the beginning I couldn’t really go up high. That’s when I think I got passed by Josef (Newgarden) and Santino (Ferrucci) before we pitted. Yeah, at the end I was very comfortable with it. It was a pleasure to drive it.

Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, David Malukas – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Joe Skibinski

“I mean, I’m tired. Like I can feel the heat. Yeah, I think also David probably is driving injured and Josef as well, right? That doesn’t help. The heat was very high. Especially once I got out of the car, I kind of felt everything. While I was driving, I think with the adrenaline and everything you just continue to go and you don’t really feel much.

“Yeah, I can’t imagine driving injured like they did.”

Palou, who started fourth, led the last 95 laps of the 225-lapper to beat defending event champion Newgarden and his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet by 0.8731-seconds. Malukas drove from 25th on the starting grid to finish third in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet.

“It was an all-right day, OK day. Just track-position day,” said Newgarden, a 35-year-old Nashville resident who notched his third podium of the season and third at Nashville Superspeedway. “Separator was past 40 (laps). We didn’t get many stints past 40. That’s why it was what it was. Once you’re settled in, a shootout was going to be what it was lineup-wise.

“Good job by the Astemo crew, Team Chevy. It’s just what we had today, so we’ll finish second and go to the next one.”

Scott McLaughlin – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Scott McLaughlin placed three Team Penske drivers in the top four in the No. 2 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet. Sweden’s Felix Rosenqvist, the reigning Indy 500 champion, completed the top-five in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Honda.

“Overall, a pretty good day,” said McLaughlin, a 33-year-old native of New Zealand. “We went for the race win there in the pit sequence and went back to 12th. Managed to come back through. Chevy power was great. We managed to get back to fourth, but I ran out of tire by the time I got to the leaders. I thought we had the car to beat today. We didn’t win, but it’s coming.”

Pato O’Ward – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Chris Owens

Pato O’Ward drove from 12^th to finish seventh in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. “That’s the first race on a Monday for me,” said O’Ward, a 27-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. “We’re lacking a lot of what we used to have here on these ovals. I don’t know what it is. Just gotta keep chipping away at it.

“I worked hard for the seventh today, really hard. It was a hot race, and I’m excited for these two weeks off that we have. It’s going to be a tough stretch of five weeks in a row, six races. On to Portland.”

Mick Schumacher – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Meanwhile, rookie Mick Schumacher started 16^th and finished eighth _ easily his best series result to-date _ in the No. 47 NEREUS Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

“I couldn’t have done it without the team,” said Schumacher, the 27-year-old son of seven-time Formula One World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher of Germany. “The pit stops have been amazing all day. We knew we had a good car after FP2 and we just put it to work. I think we can be really proud of everything we’ve done this weekend. Hopefully many more of those moments to come.”

Schumacher took the final restart in sixth and battled McLaughlin for several laps before dropping to eighth. “I think the car was so good that we could have really been higher up than that,” Schumacher said. “It was just difficult to pass and I felt a little loose at times.

“The open communication that we had all race with the team has been so good. Jeff (Troyer, spotter) and Ryan (Briscoe) on the stand coaching me throughout the whole race was good. This is how the weekend is supposed to go and you see it. When we have a clean weekend, this is the sort of finish _ a top-10 position _ that we can expect consistently, if not higher. I’m just very proud of the team. We’ve just got to build on that momentum, and do it until the end of the year.” 

Alex Palou – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Chris Owens

Palou methodically parlayed a mix of speed and good fortune to climb into the lead shortly past the halfway point of a race originally scheduled for 300 laps/399 miles. The distance was reduced in the wake of Sunday’s rainout and temperatures forecast in the 90s with a heat index of 100 on Monday.

Palou complained about the handling of the No. 10 Honda during his first two fuel stints, but adjustments during pit stops on Lap 123 and Lap 185 turned his yellow car into a rocket.

Palou also benefitted from some good fortune before the stop on Lap 123. Palou had just entered the pits three-tenths of a second before pit road was closed by the second of three caution flags for a collision between six-time series champion Scott Dixon of New Zealand in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda and 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet.

Kyle Kirkwood and Josef Newgarden – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Other members of the lead pack _ including Newgarden, McLaughlin, pole-sitter Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global and Rinus VeeKay in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet _ did not pit before the caution and were forced to wait until the pits opened.

Palou cycled into the lead on Lap 131 when those drivers made their stops and never trailed thereafter. But this was far from a stroll to the checkered flag around the 1.33-mile concrete oval.

On their final stops ranging between 40 and 47 laps to go, Newgarden, Rosenqvist and Malukas each took on the softer, grippier but less-durable red Firestone Firehawk alternate tires. Palou and strategist Wanser bucked that trend and chose Firestone’s black primary tire.

Dennis Hauger – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by James Black

That strategy played a role in the final restart on Lap 194 after rookie Dennis Hauger of Norway made contact with the SAFER Barrier in Turn 3 on Lap 181 to trigger the final caution. Palou appeared vulnerable on the harder primary tires compared to his pursuers on the grip-laden, softer alternates.

On-cue, Palou masterfully made minute adjustments to his racing line to keep Newgarden, Rosenqvist and Malukas behind him, maintaining a gap of two- to six-tenths of a second from Newgarden over the next 15 laps.

Palou’s more durable primary tires maintained his speed as he navigated lapped traffic over the last five laps en route to his third career victory on an oval.

“Saturday, I was not that comfortable in the car,” said Palou, a 28-year-old native of Barcelona, Spain. “But Julian (Robertson, engineer) and everybody on the No. 10 and CGR prepared a really, really good car for today. The beginning of the race we were not that comfortable in traffic, but the last two stints I was just super-comfortable.

“It was a close battle there with Newgarden. It just seemed like he had so much speed there, and I was flat-out for the last 30, 35 laps. Just awesome to win here.”

David Malukas – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Joe Skibinski

Malukas emerged as one of the stars in sunny, steamy conditions, with track temperatures approaching 140 degrees. Malukas climbed from 25th into the lead by Lap 33 via an alternate pit strategy and led McLaughlin by nearly two seconds when he was caught-out by pitting just before the caution involving Dixon and Rossi.

That dropped Malukas _ who spent time Saturday afternoon in an area hospital treating an injured right knee after a crash in practice _ to 14th on the restart on Lap 139. But Malukas threaded back into contention and was up to fourth by Lap 194.

“That was a team effort,” said Malukas, a 24-year-old native of Chicago. “I’ve never driven so hard in my life. I feel like I needed a proper recovery after that incident I made on myself. This team, Verizon, Team Chevy, anybody on-board.

“Big thank you to my physio guy. Any time I’m not in the car, he’s massaging me, making all my muscles start working after they cramped. Big thank you to the local hospital here in Lebanon. Everybody worked so hard. The AMR Safety Team. It’s so cool to see when you have all these people work on a collective project, you could see it come to fruition and it’s going to happen.

“What a result; we needed that for the championship. We’re still there…it was a good recovery.”

Santino Ferrucci leads the pack – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by James Black

Dallas resident Ferrucci led the two-car effort from Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in 13^th in the No. 14 Homes For Our Troops Chevrolet. Ferrucci was a victim of the yellow flag initiated by Hauger. Running fifth, Ferrucci made his last stop for tires and fuel on Lap 177. However, the caution flew four laps later after Hauger tagged the wall.

“Honestly the guys did a great job; our Homes For Our Troops Chevy was good, especially early,” said Ferrucci, 28, who looked none the worse for wear despite the sultry conditions. “I think late (in the race) with the heat and the rubber down, I think we started to pick up a little entrance instability to a little push on exit but nothing we really couldn’t cope with.

“We just got really unfortunate with a badly-timed yellow again. I don’t know what it’s going to take for us to turn this luck around. It’s a damn shame missing out on another top-five this year due to something that’s not our fault.”

Caio Collet – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls – Photo by Chris Owens

Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collet placed 25^th and last after bringing out the day’s first caution on Lap 17 in the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet. Battling a loose car from the outset, Collet tried to adjust the handling with his tools inside the cockpit. Entering Turn 4, the car shot up the track and pancaked the wall hard. Collet was examined at the mobile INDYCAR care unit and released.

“I’m all good, thanks once again to INDYCAR Medical for their attention on everything,” said Collet, a 24-year-old native of Sao Paulo, Brazil. “Since the beginning, I was a little bit loose and it was just a stupid mistake from my side. I should’ve just waited until the first round of (pit) stops to make an adjustment. I tried to correct what I had in the car but, I should’ve just been more patient and waited for the first round of stops.”

INDYCAR’s longest break of the summer will end in Portland, Ore., amid the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 9. The race on the 1.964-mile/12-turn Portland International Raceway road- course will air at 4 p.m. (EDT) on FOX and begin a stretch of six races in five weekends to close out the 2026 season.

Matteo Nannini earned his second victory of the INDY NXT by Firestone season in the Music City Grand Prix on Sunday, July 19, at Nashville Superspeedway _ and this one meant much more than his first.

Matteo Nannini – Music City Grand Prix – INDY NXT Presented by Firestone – Photo by Chris Owens

Pole-sitter Nannini led a 1-2 finish for Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR, driving the No. 20 ENVE Motorsports car to a 5.6449-second victory over teammate Nikita Johnson in the No. 21 machine. It was Nannini’s third career victory in INDYCAR’s developmental series and first 1-2 finish for the longtime junior formula standout Cape team in INDY NXT competition.

SEE: Race Results

This also was the first win this year in which Nannini actually took the checkered flag. He placed second on-track in Race 2 of the Road America double-header last month but was awarded the victory after a procedural violation during post-race inspection with the car of Alessandro de Tullio of A.J. Foyt Racing, which crossed the finish line first.

“I’m happy to get P1 on-track, actually get it here and not with some penalties and stuff,” said Nannini, a 23-year-old native of Faenza, Italy. “I think it’s great for the team, for me, the sponsors, everybody for confidence. Again, the first of many more.”

Myles Rowe – Music City Grand Prix – INDY NXT Presented by Firestone – Photo by James Black

Myles Rowe, who had won three of the series’ last four oval races, finished third in the No. 99 Abel Motorsports with Force Indy machine. Rookie Max Garcia tied his career-best finish by placing fourth in the No. 12 Abel Motorsports car, with Max Taylor completing the top-five in the No. 28 Susan G. Komen car of Andretti Global.

The fierce championship race also took on a new look as Johnson returned to the lead by one point, 451-450, over previous leader Enzo Fittipaldi, who finished 11th in the No. 67 HMD Motorsports machine. There are just four races remaining this season as drivers vie for the INDYCAR career enhancement package awarded to the series champion.

Nannini led 64 of 65 laps from pole, eventually pulling away to victory by more than five seconds. But those are perhaps two of the most deceiving statistics from the race on the 1.33-mile concrete oval. The only time Nannini lost the lead was on Lap 17, when Rowe dove under him and Johnson in Turn 1 as they dueled for the point, jumping from third to first in one move. But the last of two caution flags flew on the next lap for debris as Nannini had just nosed past Rowe to regain the lead.

Matteo Nannini – Music City Grand Prix – INDY NXT Presented by Firestone – Photo by Joe Skibinski

On the Lap 20 restart, Nannini stayed out front. The gap to his rivals never exceeded one second over nearly the next 30 laps, as Johnson, Rowe and Australian Lochie Hughes in the No. 26 Andretti Global car all took turns hounding Nannini’s gearbox.

The complexion of the race changed on Lap 49 when Rowe and Hughes began a wheel-to-wheel duel for second, with Johnson right behind. That joust stirred the crowd, but it also added wear to their Firestone Firehawk tires and let Nannini pull away.

“We had the car to stay out-front,” Nannini said. “I was not sure if we were going to get passed, but I wanted to get clean air, so I was driving some different lines depending on how close the guys behind were to me.”

Nannini padded his lead to 1.5-seconds by Lap 50 ahead of the slicing-and-dicing behind him. By Lap 58, that edge had mushroomed to 4.2-seconds, and Nannini continued to drive away.

Meanwhile, Johnson was able to pass Rowe and Hughes to regain second and grab the point lead. His climb to second comprised some of the track-record 184 on-track passes, including another record 140 for position.

“I tried passing Matteo early-on and burned my tires a little bit,” said Johnson, an 18-year-old native of St. Petersburg, Fla. “I just settled in, kind of cleared my mind and made sure the tires got back to normal, pushed again and then at the very end I held off Myles. He was really fast, as well.”

Next INDY NXT by Firestone race is the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 9, at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway.

NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _ 1, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 457; 2, David Malukas, Team Penske, 374; 3, Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global, 370; 4, Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren, 353; 5, Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren, 336; 6, Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 310; 7, Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 296; 8, Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, 295; 9, Marcus Ericsson, Andretti Global, 250; 10, Rinus VeeKay, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 237;

11, Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 236; 12, Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 229; 13, Marcus Armstrong, Meyer Shank Racing, 225; 14, Will Power, Andretti Global, 220; 15, Kyffin Simpson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 216; 16, Alexander Rossi, Ed Carpenter Racing, 197; 17, Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Racing, 196; 18, Louis Foster, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 173; 19, Nolan Siegel, Arrow McLaren, 164; 20, Dennis Hauger, Dale Coyne Racing, 157;

21, Romain Grosjean, Dale Coyne Racing, 155; 22, Christian Rasmussen, Ed Carpenter Racing, 151; 23, Caio Collet, A.J. Foyt Racing, 137; 24, Mick Schumacher, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 132; 25, Sting Ray Robb, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 123; 26, Derek Daly, Dryer & Reinbold Racing, 24; 27, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 20; 28, Jack Harvey, Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, 8; 29, Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports, 6; 30, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, 5;

31, Ed Carpenter, Ed Carpenter Racing, 5; 32, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Arrow McLaren, 5; 33, Katherine Legge, HMD Motorsports with A.J. Foyt Racing, 5.

FOX SPORTS’ 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE/(RACE WINNER)

Note _ All times Eastern

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, May 24 _ 110^th Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, (Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian)

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m., (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, (Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren)

Monday, July 20 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, 4 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon

Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA

Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.

Note _ Dates and times subject to change.

2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE/(RACE-WINNER)

Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)

Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)

Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2, (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Myles Rowe, Abel Motorsports)

Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1, (Lochie Hughes, Andretti Global)

Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2, (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports powered by ECR)   

Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1 (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2 (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)

Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)

Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway

Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.

Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1

Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2