By: Spencer Neff
September 16, 2020

On Wednesday, a new addition was confirmed for the 2021 NTT Indycar Series schedule, the Music City GP. Following months of speculation, a temporary 2.1-mile street course in Nashville, Tennessee was added for next year’s schedule.

The race will be run on August 6-8, 2021. The race is signed on for a three-year agreement with IndyCar.

For IndyCar’s street racing portion of the calendar, Nashville marks the firs brandt new street venue since Baltimore in 2011. Previously, street races in Qingdao, China (2012) and Boston, Massachusetts (2016) were announced but later called off.

“The Tennessee Titans and Nissan Stadium are excited to partner with the Music City Grand Prix to bring the NTT INDYCAR SERIES to Nashville and the stadium campus,” Burke Nihill exclaimed. Nihill is the president and CEO of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.

Nissan Stadium, home of the Titans, will be one of the landmarks surrounding the 11-turn circuit.

“This is in keeping with our organizational goal of making our city, this venue and our organization as versatile and as busy as possible.”

Although this venue will be new for the series, the Nashville area has experienced IndyCar racing before. From 2001 to 2008, the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway oval, located about 35 miles southeast of the new venue (Lebanon, Tennessee) hosted the series.

In the series’ last trip their, Scott Dixon won for the third consecutive time on the concrete oval.

Bringing the series to one of America’s trendiest big cities also presents a bigger showcase for both sponsors and drivers.

“The Music City Grand Prix will be a one-of-a-kind NTT INDYCAR SERIES experience anchored in the heart of Nashville’s action-packed, exhilarating downtown corridor. Nashville is a world-class city and global entertainment capital that provides an exceptional platform for our Series,” Penske Entertainment Corp (IndyCar’s parent company) CEO Mark Miles exclaimed.

“From professional sports teams and top live music acts to a burgeoning food and culture scene, it is a perfect home for a racing event of this magnitude,” said Miles.

“Urban street festivals have become a huge part of our DNA at INDYCAR and this three-day festival—complete with a course that pushes the limits—will highlight everything Nashville and the sport have to offer, providing international travelers, racing enthusiasts and local thrill seekers alike with an experience of a lifetime.”

Firestone, the lone tire supplier of IndyCar since 2000, is headquartered in the downtown area. Two-time and defending Series Champion Josef Newgarden is a native of nearby Hendersonville, less than 20 miles northeast of the venue.

“I can’t wait to show INDYCAR fans from all over how amazing my hometown is,” Newgarden exclaimed.

“Nashville’s streets will provide a challenging and completely unique course built for a one-of-a-kind city. Music City GP Race Day is circled on every driver’s calendar and I know all my Nashville friends and neighbors are ready for an epic weekend.”  

The full 2021 NTT Indycar Series calendar will be released at a later date. More info on the Music City Grand Prix can be found at their website.

Header Image By Music City GP/Facebook