{"id":59815,"date":"2026-07-23T13:25:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=59815"},"modified":"2026-07-23T13:25:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T18:25:31","slug":"palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/","title":{"rendered":"Palou\u2019s latest INDYCAR victory adds to Spain\u2019s World Cup futbol celebracion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_59818\" style=\"width: 650px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59818\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-3\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784581910&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;158&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Alex Palou &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n&lt;p&gt;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59818\" class=\"size-large wp-image-59818\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?resize=640%2C427\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59818\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Palou won the rain-delayed Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls at Nashville Superspeedway. Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Alex Palou\u2019s path to another Astor Challenge Cup trophy haul looms considerably shorter following his victory in the rain-delayed Borchetta Bourbon Music&nbsp;City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59821\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59821\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-4\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160627.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784576394&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0003125&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Alex Palou &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160627.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59821\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59821\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160627.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160627.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160627.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160627.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160627.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160627.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160627.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59821\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Palou &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>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\u2019s David Malukas via his fifth victory of the season and 24<sup>th<\/sup> 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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEE:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/link.indycar.com\/NTEwLUxURS02ODAAAAGjIKj5JpCE8hRsC2kEap8iHs6Q9GmFDtUnT3vrNNuRMrQ51WqZzMvIlqQNRcnCHEOH8yOvrMQ=\">Race Results<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a pretty cool weekend for Spain,\u201d said Palou, the 28-year-old Spaniard still celebrating his homeland\u2019s 1-0 victory over top-ranked Argentina in FIFA\u2019s soccer finale at East Rutherford, N.J. \u201cIt\u2019s impressive what they did (Sunday, July 19) in the World Cup, and I\u2019m happy to top it off.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59822\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59822\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-5\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160583.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;6.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784581191&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;16&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.00625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Alex Palou &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160583.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59822\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59822\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160583.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160583.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160583.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160583.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160583.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160583.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160583.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59822\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Palou &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI mean, I was following it obviously. I wanted them to score a little bit earlier so we could go racing. It&#8217;s just very cool for the country to get another World Cup. I&#8217;m sure that everybody in Spain is going crazy and they&#8217;re going to celebrate for the next probably six months or so.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Palou\u2019s win delivered team-owner Ganassi _ a 68-year-old native of Pittsburgh _ CGR\u2019s 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\u2019s first two INDYCAR wins in 1994 under sanction of the Championship Auto Racing Teams. CGR moved to the NTT IndyCar Series in 2003.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59823\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59823\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-6\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160591.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784581625&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Alex Palou &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160591.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59823\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59823\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160591.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160591.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160591.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160591.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160591.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160591.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160591.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59823\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Palou &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s incredible,\u201d Team Manager Barry Wanser said. \u201cAn amazing achievement for the team. To reach 150 INDYCAR wins, it&#8217;s pretty special. I started in &#8217;97. It&#8217;s been a pleasure being a part of such a great organization.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wanser jokingly added, \u201cI want to thank the race car today for not crashing, because Alex tried to crash the car. Fortunately, the car didn&#8217;t want to crash today. As always, superior drive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Palou admitted his No. 10 DHL Honda initially was on the edge handling-wise. \u201cIt&#8217;s always tough, man,\u201d Palou said. \u201cOnce you get into traffic, you&#8217;re fighting with the car a lot. I think everybody&#8217;s on the same page. That&#8217;s why you see biggest differences once you get through traffic. At the beginning I couldn&#8217;t really go up high. That&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59824\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59824\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-7\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josef-Newgarden_-Alex-Palou_-David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160593.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784582019&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0002&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, David Malukas &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josef-Newgarden_-Alex-Palou_-David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160593.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59824\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59824\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josef-Newgarden_-Alex-Palou_-David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160593.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josef-Newgarden_-Alex-Palou_-David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160593.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josef-Newgarden_-Alex-Palou_-David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160593.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josef-Newgarden_-Alex-Palou_-David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160593.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josef-Newgarden_-Alex-Palou_-David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160593.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josef-Newgarden_-Alex-Palou_-David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160593.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Josef-Newgarden_-Alex-Palou_-David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160593.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59824\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Josef Newgarden, Alex Palou, David Malukas &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u201cI mean, I&#8217;m tired. Like I can feel the heat. Yeah, I think also David probably is driving injured and Josef as well, right? That doesn&#8217;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&#8217;t really feel much.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, I can&#8217;t imagine driving injured like they did.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was an all-right day, OK day. Just track-position day,\u201d said Newgarden, a 35-year-old Nashville resident who notched his third podium of the season and third at Nashville Superspeedway. \u201cSeparator was past 40 (laps). We didn&#8217;t get many stints past 40. That&#8217;s why it was what it was. Once you&#8217;re settled in, a shootout was going to be what it was lineup-wise.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGood job by the Astemo crew, Team Chevy. It\u2019s just what we had today, so we\u2019ll finish second and go to the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59825\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59825\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-8\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Scott-McLaughlin-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160631.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784576468&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.01&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Scott McLaughlin &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Scott-McLaughlin-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160631.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59825\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59825\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Scott-McLaughlin-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160631.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Scott-McLaughlin-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160631.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Scott-McLaughlin-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160631.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Scott-McLaughlin-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160631.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Scott-McLaughlin-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160631.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Scott-McLaughlin-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160631.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Scott-McLaughlin-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160631.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59825\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scott McLaughlin &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Scott McLaughlin placed three Team Penske drivers in the top four in the No. 2 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet. Sweden\u2019s Felix Rosenqvist, the reigning Indy 500 champion, completed the top-five in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian Honda.<\/p>\n<p><strong>\u201c<\/strong>Overall, a pretty good day,\u201d said McLaughlin, a 33-year-old native of New Zealand. \u201cWe 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\u2019t win, but it\u2019s coming.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59826\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59826\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/pato-o_ward-borchetta-bourbon-music-city-grand-prix-presented-by-onlybulls-by_-chris-owens_ref-image-without-watermark_m160565\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pato-O_Ward-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160565.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;11&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;CHRIS OWENS&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784395307&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;CHRIS OWENS 2026\\rIG:@CHRISOWENS\\rCHRISOWENSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Pato O_Ward &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; By_ Chris Owens_Ref Image Without Watermark_m160565\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Pato O&amp;#8217;Ward &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Chris Owens&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pato-O_Ward-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160565.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59826\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59826\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pato-O_Ward-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160565.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pato-O_Ward-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160565.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pato-O_Ward-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160565.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pato-O_Ward-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160565.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pato-O_Ward-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160565.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pato-O_Ward-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160565.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pato-O_Ward-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160565.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59826\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Pato O&#8217;Ward &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Chris Owens<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Pato O\u2019Ward drove from 12<sup>th<\/sup> to finish seventh in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. &#8220;That&#8217;s the first race on a Monday for me,\u201d said O\u2019Ward, a 27-year-old native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, Texas. \u201cWe&#8217;re lacking a lot of what we used to have here on these ovals. I don&#8217;t know what it is. Just gotta keep chipping away at it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI worked hard for the seventh today, really hard. It was a hot race, and I&#8217;m excited for these two weeks off that we have. It&#8217;s going to be a tough stretch of five weeks in a row, six races. On to Portland.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59827\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59827\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-9\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mick-Schumacher-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160216.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;6.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784386587&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;320&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.000625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Mick Schumacher &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mick-Schumacher-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160216.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59827\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59827\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mick-Schumacher-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160216.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mick-Schumacher-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160216.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mick-Schumacher-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160216.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mick-Schumacher-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160216.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mick-Schumacher-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160216.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mick-Schumacher-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160216.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Mick-Schumacher-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160216.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59827\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mick Schumacher &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Meanwhile, rookie Mick Schumacher started 16<sup>th<\/sup> and finished eighth _ easily his best series result to-date _ in the No. 47 NEREUS Honda fielded by Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI couldn&#8217;t have done it without the team,\u201d said Schumacher, the 27-year-old son of seven-time Formula One World Driving Champion Michael Schumacher of Germany. \u201cThe&nbsp;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&#8217;ve done this weekend. Hopefully many more of those moments to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Schumacher took the final restart in sixth and battled McLaughlin for several laps before dropping to eighth. \u201cI think the car was so good that we could have really been higher up than that,\u201d Schumacher said. \u201cIt was just difficult to pass and I felt a little loose at times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe 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\u2019m just very proud of the team. We\u2019ve just got to build on that momentum, and do it until the end of the year.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59828\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59828\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/alex-palou-borchetta-bourbon-music-city-grand-prix-presented-by-onlybulls-by_-chris-owens_ref-image-without-watermark_m160618\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160618.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;CHRIS OWENS&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784561844&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;CHRIS OWENS 2026\\rIG:@CHRISOWENS\\rCHRISOWENSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;35&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Alex Palou &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; By_ Chris Owens_Ref Image Without Watermark_m160618\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Alex Palou &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Chris Owens&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160618.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59828\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59828\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160618.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160618.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160618.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160618.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160618.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160618.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160618.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59828\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Alex Palou &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Chris Owens<\/p><\/div>\n<p>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\u2019s rainout and temperatures forecast in the 90s with a heat index of 100 on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59829\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59829\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-10\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kyle-Kirkwood-and-Josef-Newgarden-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160668.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784578611&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.001&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Kyle Kirkwood and Josef Newgarden &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kyle-Kirkwood-and-Josef-Newgarden-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160668.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59829\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59829\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kyle-Kirkwood-and-Josef-Newgarden-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160668.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kyle-Kirkwood-and-Josef-Newgarden-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160668.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kyle-Kirkwood-and-Josef-Newgarden-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160668.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kyle-Kirkwood-and-Josef-Newgarden-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160668.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kyle-Kirkwood-and-Josef-Newgarden-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160668.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kyle-Kirkwood-and-Josef-Newgarden-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160668.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Kyle-Kirkwood-and-Josef-Newgarden-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160668.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59829\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kyle Kirkwood and Josef Newgarden &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Other members of the lead pack _ including Newgarden, McLaughlin, pole-sitter Kyle Kirkwood in the No. 27 Sam\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s black primary tire.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59830\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59830\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/dennis-hauger-borchetta-bourbon-music-city-grand-prix-presented-by-onlybulls-by_-james-black_ref-image-without-watermark_m160327\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dennis-Hauger-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160327.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;5&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;JAMES J BLACK&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z 9&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784398759&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;160&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0004&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Dennis Hauger &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; By_ James Black_Ref Image Without Watermark_m160327\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Dennis Hauger &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by James Black&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dennis-Hauger-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160327.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59830\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59830\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dennis-Hauger-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160327.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dennis-Hauger-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160327.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dennis-Hauger-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160327.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dennis-Hauger-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160327.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dennis-Hauger-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160327.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dennis-Hauger-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160327.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Dennis-Hauger-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160327.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59830\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dennis Hauger &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by James Black<\/p><\/div>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Palou\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSaturday, I was not that comfortable in the car,\u201d said Palou, a 28-year-old native of Barcelona, Spain. \u201cBut 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59831\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59831\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-11\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160634.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;9&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784577910&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.01&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;David Malukas &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160634.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59831\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59831\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160634.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160634.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160634.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160634.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160634.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160634.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/David-Malukas-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160634.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59831\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">David Malukas &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was a team effort,\u201d said Malukas, a 24-year-old native of Chicago. \u201cI\u2019ve 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBig thank you to my physio guy. Any time I\u2019m not in the car, he\u2019s 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\u2019s so cool to see when you have all these people work on a collective project, you could see it come to fruition and it\u2019s going to happen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat a result; we needed that for the championship. We\u2019re still there\u2026it was a good recovery.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59832\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59832\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/santino-ferrucci-leads-the-pack-borchetta-bourbon-music-city-grand-prix-presented-by-onlybulls-by_-james-black_ref-image-without-watermark_m160696\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Santino-Ferrucci-leads-the-pack-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160696.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;1.2&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;JAMES J BLACK&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z 9&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784564299&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;320&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;3.8461538461538E-5&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Santino Ferrucci leads the pack &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; By_ James Black_Ref Image Without Watermark_m160696\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Santino Ferrucci leads the pack &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by James Black&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Santino-Ferrucci-leads-the-pack-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160696.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59832\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59832\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Santino-Ferrucci-leads-the-pack-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160696.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Santino-Ferrucci-leads-the-pack-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160696.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Santino-Ferrucci-leads-the-pack-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160696.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Santino-Ferrucci-leads-the-pack-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160696.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Santino-Ferrucci-leads-the-pack-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160696.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Santino-Ferrucci-leads-the-pack-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160696.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Santino-Ferrucci-leads-the-pack-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160696.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59832\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Santino Ferrucci leads the pack &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by James Black<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Dallas resident Ferrucci led the two-car effort from Waller, Texas-based A.J. Foyt Racing in 13<sup>th <\/sup>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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Honestly the guys did a great job; our Homes For Our Troops Chevy was good, especially early,&#8221; said Ferrucci, 28, who looked none the worse for wear despite the sultry conditions. &#8220;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&#8217;t cope with.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe just got really unfortunate with a badly-timed yellow again. I don&#8217;t know what it&#8217;s going to take for us to turn this luck around. It&#8217;s a damn shame missing out on another top-five this year due to something that&#8217;s not our fault.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59833\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59833\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/caio-collet-borchetta-bourbon-music-city-grand-prix-presented-by-onlybulls-by_-chris-owens_ref-image-without-watermark_m160607\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Caio-Collet-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160607.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;4&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;CHRIS OWENS&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784556798&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;CHRIS OWENS 2026\\rIG:@CHRISOWENS\\rCHRISOWENSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;500&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;125&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0005&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Caio Collet &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; By_ Chris Owens_Ref Image Without Watermark_m160607\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Caio Collet &amp;#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &amp;#8211; Photo by Chris Owens&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Caio-Collet-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160607.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59833\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59833\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Caio-Collet-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160607.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Caio-Collet-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160607.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Caio-Collet-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160607.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Caio-Collet-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160607.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Caio-Collet-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160607.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Caio-Collet-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160607.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Caio-Collet-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160607.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59833\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Caio Collet &#8211; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls &#8211; Photo by Chris Owens<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collet placed 25<sup>th<\/sup> and last after bringing out the day\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019m all good, thanks once again to INDYCAR Medical for their attention on everything,&#8221; said Collet, a 24-year-old native of Sao Paulo, Brazil. &#8220;Since the beginning, I was a little bit loose and it was just a stupid mistake from my side. I should\u2019ve 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\u2019ve just been more patient and waited for the first round of stops.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>INDYCAR\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Matteo Nannini earned his second victory <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59834\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59834\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/matteo-nannini-music-city-grand-prix-indy-nxt-presented-by-firestone-by_-chris-owens_ref-image-without-watermark_m160425\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160425.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;9&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;CHRIS OWENS 2025&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784468360&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;CHRIS OWENS 2025\\rIG:@CHRISOWENS\\rCHRISOWENSPHOTOGRAPHY.COM&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;43&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;50&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.004&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Matteo Nannini &amp;#8211; Music City Grand Prix &amp;#8211; INDY NXT Presented by Firestone &amp;#8211; By_ Chris Owens_Ref Image Without Watermark_m160425\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Matteo Nannini &amp;#8211; Music City Grand Prix &amp;#8211; INDY NXT Presented by Firestone &amp;#8211; Photo by Chris Owens&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160425.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59834\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59834\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160425.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160425.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160425.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160425.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160425.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160425.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Chris-Owens_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160425.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59834\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Matteo Nannini &#8211; Music City Grand Prix &#8211; INDY NXT Presented by Firestone &#8211; Photo by Chris Owens<\/p><\/div>\n<p>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\u2019s third career victory in INDYCAR\u2019s developmental series and first 1-2 finish for the longtime junior formula standout Cape team in INDY NXT competition.<\/p>\n<p><strong>SEE:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/link.indycar.com\/NTEwLUxURS02ODAAAAGjGqxgAsixXRy8VEvtL4QE-L_LtyagXwzMc2zuqVLZoIuvMSnhDmL9iPJA0WPbv4fKSCx5CJ8=\">Race Results<\/a><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m happy to get P1 on-track, actually get it here and not with some penalties and stuff,\u201d said Nannini, a 23-year-old native of Faenza, Italy. \u201cI think it\u2019s great for the team, for me, the sponsors, everybody for confidence. Again, the first of many more.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59835\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59835\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/myles-rowe-music-city-grand-prix-indy-nxt-presented-by-firestone-by_-james-black_ref-image-without-watermark_m160489\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Myles-Rowe-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160489.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;13&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;JAMES J BLACK&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON Z 9&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784466950&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;32&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Myles Rowe &amp;#8211; Music City Grand Prix &amp;#8211; INDY NXT Presented by Firestone &amp;#8211; By_ James Black_Ref Image Without Watermark_m160489\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Myles Rowe &amp;#8211; Music City Grand Prix &amp;#8211; INDY NXT Presented by Firestone &amp;#8211; Photo by James Black&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Myles-Rowe-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160489.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59835\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59835\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Myles-Rowe-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160489.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Myles-Rowe-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160489.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Myles-Rowe-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160489.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Myles-Rowe-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160489.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Myles-Rowe-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160489.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Myles-Rowe-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160489.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Myles-Rowe-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-James-Black_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160489.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59835\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Myles Rowe &#8211; Music City Grand Prix &#8211; INDY NXT Presented by Firestone &#8211; Photo by James Black<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Myles Rowe, who had won three of the series\u2019 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59836\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"59836\" data-permalink=\"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/23\/palous-latest-indycar-victory-adds-to-spains-world-cup-futbol-celebracion\/music-city-grand-prix-at-nashville-superspeedway-12\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160526.jpg?fit=1080%2C720\" data-orig-size=\"1080,720\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;6.3&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Joe Skibinski&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS R3&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1784480612&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;2026 Joe Skibinski\\rIG: @skibbyy&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;320&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Matteo Nannini &amp;#8211; Music City Grand Prix &amp;#8211; INDY NXT Presented by Firestone &amp;#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160526.jpg?fit=640%2C427\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-59836\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-59836\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160526.jpg?resize=300%2C200\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160526.jpg?resize=300%2C200 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160526.jpg?resize=640%2C427 640w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160526.jpg?resize=768%2C512 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160526.jpg?resize=284%2C190 284w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160526.jpg?resize=99%2C66 99w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Matteo-Nannini-Music-City-Grand-Prix-INDY-NXT-Presented-by-Firestone-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160526.jpg?w=1080 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-59836\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Matteo Nannini &#8211; Music City Grand Prix &#8211; INDY NXT Presented by Firestone &#8211; Photo by Joe Skibinski<\/p><\/div>\n<p>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\u2019s gearbox.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had the car to stay out-front,\u201d Nannini said. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI tried passing Matteo early-on and burned my tires a little bit,\u201d said Johnson, an 18-year-old native of St. Petersburg, Fla. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Next INDY NXT by Firestone race is the Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 9, at Portland (Ore.) International Raceway.<\/p>\n<p><strong>NTT IndyCar Series Point Standings _<\/strong> 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\u2019Ward, 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;<\/p>\n<p>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;<\/p>\n<p>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 &amp; Reinbold Racing, 24; 27, Takuma Sato, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 20; 28, Jack Harvey, Dreyer &amp; Reinbold Racing, 8; 29, Jacob Abel, Abel Motorsports, 6; 30, Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, 5;<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><strong>FOX SPORTS\u2019 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES BROADCAST SCHEDULE\/(RACE WINNER)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>Note _ All times Eastern<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, March 7 _ Phoenix Raceway, Avondale, Ariz., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Global)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, April 19 _ Streets of Long Beach, Calif., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course, (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, May 24 _ 110<sup>th<\/sup> Indianapolis 500, Indianapolis Motor Speedway Oval, (Felix Rosenqvist, Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Josef Newgarden, Team Penske)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., 2 p.m., (Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, (Pato O\u2019Ward, Arrow McLaren)<\/p>\n<p>Monday, July 20 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn., (Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway, 4 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, Aug. 16 _ Streets of Markham, Canada, Noon<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, Aug. 23 _ Freedom 250 Grand Prix of Washington, D.C., TBA<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, Aug. 29 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 1, West Allis, Wis., 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile Race 2, West Allis, Wis., 1 p.m.<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, Sept. 6 _ WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n<p><em>Note _ Dates and times subject to change.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>2026 INDYCAR NXT BY FIRESTONE SCHEDULE\/(RACE-WINNER)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Sunday, March 1 _ Streets of St. Petersburg, Fla., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, March 15 _ Streets of Arlington, Texas, (Max Taylor, Andretti Global)<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, March 28 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Nikita Johnson, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, March 29 _ Barber Motorsports Park, Birmingham, Ala., (Alessandro de Tullio, A.J. Foyt Racing)<\/p>\n<p>Friday, May 8 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 1, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, May 9 _ Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road-Course Race 2, (Tymek Kucharczyk, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, May 31 _ Streets of Downtown Detroit, (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, June 7 _ World Wide Technology Raceway, Madison, Ill., (Myles Rowe, Abel Motorsports)<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, June 20 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 1, (Lochie Hughes, Andretti Global)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, June 21 _ Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wis., Race 2, (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports powered by ECR)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, July 4 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 1 (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, July 5 _ Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Lexington, Ohio, Race 2 (Enzo Fittipaldi, HMD Motorsports)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, July 19 _ Nashville Superspeedway, Lebanon, Tenn. (Matteo Nannini, Cape Motorsports Powered by ECR)<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, Aug. 9 _ Portland (Ore.) International Raceway<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, Aug. 30 _ The Milwaukee Mile, West Allis, Wis.<\/p>\n<p>Saturday, Sept. 5 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 1<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, Sept. 6 _ Weather Tech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, Calif., Race 2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio Alex Palou\u2019s path to another Astor Challenge Cup trophy haul looms considerably shorter following his victory in the rain-delayed Borchetta Bourbon Music&nbsp;City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. Palou, the four-time\/reigning NTT IndyCar Series champion from Chip Ganassi Racing, has amassed an 83-point [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":678,"featured_media":59818,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[12],"tags":[824,22,1097,672],"class_list":["post-59815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","tag-alex-palou","tag-indycar","tag-nashville-superspeedway","tag-ntt-indycar-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-fyL","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Alex-Palou-Borchetta-Bourbon-Music-City-Grand-Prix-presented-by-OnlyBulls-By_-Joe-Skibinski_Ref-Image-Without-Watermark_m160577.jpg?fit=1080%2C720","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59815","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/678"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59815"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59815\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59837,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59815\/revisions\/59837"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59815"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59815"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59815"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}