By Cayman Compass contributor Ted Nesbitt
IndyCar’s latest stop was at Nashville Superspeedway this past weekend for the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix.
Drivers and teams look forward to this stop on the calendar as the 1.33-mile, 14-degree banked concrete tri-oval provides great grip and great racing.
With two days of action scheduled Saturday and Sunday, both IndyCar fans and FOX (TV) were looking forward to racing immediately after the conclusion of the World Cup final on Sunday afternoon, which was also broadcast on FOX, capitalising on huge viewership numbers.
Saturday morning practice saw Penske driver David Malukas spin and hit the outside wall very hard, his knee actually knocking the steering wheel loose from the car. Malukas was transported to a local hospital for observation and it was unsure if he would be cleared to race on Sunday.
Qualifying Saturday afternoon saw Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood take his first pole of the season and the fourth of his career at a two-lap average speed of 196.852 mph. Penske teammates Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin qualified second and third respectively, with Championship leader Alex Palou qualifying fourth in his DHL Ganassi Honda.
Ganassi teammate Scott Dixon qualified fifth, with Cayman’s Kyffin Simpson qualifying 18th with an average speed of 194.355 mph in his Sunoco Honda.
Penske’s David Malukas would start 25th and last in the field after missing out on qualifying due to his earlier crash Saturday.
After a thrilling World Cup final, Mother Nature unfortunately had other plans for Sunday night with torrential rains and thunderstorms in the Nashville area. The decision was made to cancel Sunday night’s events and instead race Monday afternoon at 3pm, missing out on that anticipated World Cup viewership bump.
Monday proved to be clear, but very hot and steamy. The decision was made that the race distance would be shortened from the scheduled 300 laps down to 225 laps based on conditions. The track temperature was hovering around 140 degrees Fahrenheit when the green flag flew.
Kirkwood, Newgarden and McLaughlin battled up front while Alex Palou faded from fourth with handling issues. Early green-flag pit stops saw some jumbling up front of positions, with Kyffin Simpson shooting up as high as eighth at one point before a lengthy yellow flag when Alexander Rossi went into the outside wall on Lap 123 after Scott Dixon crashed into him from behind. Rossi was on the racing line when he slowed to pit, leaving Dixon with nowhere to go but to nose into Rossi’s gearbox, spinning him out.
While the Dixon/Rossi incident played out, Alex Palou had just pitted before the yellow flag, allowing him to gain positions as well as make some much need adjustments to his car. These adjustments worked out quite well as Palou’s car turned into a yellow and red rocket for the last part of the race. Palou took the race lead when frontrunners Kirkwood, Newgarden and McLaughlin pitted during the yellow. Dixon fell well down the order after being involved with Rossi while Kyffin Simpson had held on to earlier gains and was cycling around in 11th place.
With around 40 laps to go, it was time for the last set of pit stops. Newgarden, Malukas (now up front after starting last) and McLaughlin took the grippier Firestone red tyres while Palou and his team opted for the harder Firestone blacks that offered longer life.
As the laps wound down, Palou’s choice of the longer life tyres paid off as he took the checkered flag in first place, his third career oval win ahead of Newgarden, Malukas and McLaughlin for a Penske 2, 3, 4 finish. Cayman’s Kyffin Simpson came home in 9th, earning precious points for him in the Championship Standings.
“That was a great points day,” Simpson said after the race.
The race was a great showing from David Malukas after starting last in the field and coming home third. “That was a great team effort,” Malukas said after the team completely rebuilt his car from Saturday’s crash. “I’ve never driven so hard in my life”.
Palou’s win was his fifth this season, and was a milestone win for Ganassi Racing, as it was its 150th Team Victory in the IndyCar series.
The IndyCar Series returns to action 9 August in Portland Oregon at the OnlyBulls Grand Prix. It’s the first of six races in five consecutive weekends (one doubleheader weekend) in a fevered sprint to the end of the 2026 season as Alex Palou tries to hold onto his IndyCar Championship lead to win his fourth Consecutive Astor Cup.
Ted Nesbitt is a regular contributor for the Cayman Compass.
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