By: Spencer Neff
August 29, 2025
This weekend marks the 17th and final round of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Championship. For the 10th time and second as the final race of the season, the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway oval hosts INDYCAR.
Sunday’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix is the fifth oval race of the season and the only full concrete track.
After hosting events from its 2001 opening to 2008, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returned to the Lebanon, Tennessee venue last y7ear when the planned street race in Nashville was canceled due to ongoing construction and logistical concerns.
Before on-track activity commences for the season finale, here’s a look at the major storylines around the series.
Headlines
First and second have been clinched, with Arrow McLaren solidifying his career-best finish in the standings behind champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing.
Scott Dixon, Christian Lundgaard and Kyle Kirkwood are separated 28 points with the last three spots of the Top Five up for grabs.
Dixon remaining third would give CGR first and third in the standings. Lundgaard could give Arrow McLaren second and third in the championship in his first year as part of the organization.
Andretti Global’s Kirkwood, who has earned a career-high three wins in 2025, will already surpass his previous best points finish of seventh a year ago.
The Rookie of the Year crown is yet to be decided as well. Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster leads PREMA Racing’s Robert Shwartzman by eight points.
Foster would be the first driver since Ed Jones in 2017 to win Rookie of the Year in the season after winning the INDY NXT by Firestone (then Indy Lights) Championship.
Shwartzman can join Walt Faulkner and Teo Fabi (1950 and 1983) as the only drivers to win Rookie of the Year and the Indianapolis 500 pole in the same yar. (Fabi and Shwartzman also won Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year, which was established in 1952.)
Among the rest of the 27-car field looking to close out the year with a victory are Tennessee native Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and Colton Herta. Each won multiple races in 2024 but enter the season finale winless. Herta scored his first career oval victory in last year’s race.
Following his first career victory at the Milwaukee Mile, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen looks to follow up with another oval win. Rasmussen would be the first driver since A.J. Allmendinger (2006 ChampCar) to win their first two races in consecutive starts.
| Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot Fast Facts |
| Race weekend: Saturday, Aug.30-Sunday, Aug. 31 Track: Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33-mile oval in Lebanon, Tennessee Race distance:NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot: 225 laps/299.25 milesINDY NXT by Firestone: INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix: 65 laps/86.45 miles Hybrid energy deployment parameters:NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Unlimited activation with a maximum deployment of 155 kilojoules (kJ) per lap. Firestone tire allotment: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Six sets primary, four sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. Teams must use one set of primary and two sets of alternate tires during the race. One additional set is available for use during the group session Saturday.INDY NXT by Firestone: Three new sets for use throughout the event weekend. A carryover set from the Iowa Speedway race in July may be used during the pre-qualifying practice session Saturday. X: @musiccitygp, @IndyCar, @INDYNXT, #INDYCAR, #MusicCityGP Instagram: @musiccitygp, @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #INDYCAR, #MusicCityGP Threads: @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT Facebook: @MusicCityGP, @INDYCAR, @INDYNXT, #INDYCAR, #MusicCityGP TikTok: @MusicCityGP, @INDYCAR, #INDYCAR, #MusicCityGP YouTube: @INDYCAR Event website: www.musiccitygp.com INDYCAR website: www.indycar.com 2024 race winners: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Colton Herta (No. 26 Gainbridge Honda)INDY NXT by Firestone: Louis Foster (No. 26 Andretti Global) 2024 NTT P1 Award winner: Kyle Kirkwood (No. 27 AutoNation Honda), 47.5178 seconds, 201.520 mph (two laps) 2024 INDY NXT by Firestone pole winner: Louis Foster (No. 26 Andretti Global), entrant points after qualifying was canceled. One-lap qualifying record:NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Scott Dixon, 22.6952 seconds, 206.211 mph, July 18, 2003 INDY NXT by Firestone: Thiago Medeiros, 25.6508 seconds, 182.386 mph, July 16, 2004 FOX Sports telecasts: NTT INDYCAR SERIES: Practice 1, 10:30 a.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live); Qualifying, 2 p.m. ET Saturday, FS2 (live); Final practice, 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS2; Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot, 2 p.m. ET, Sunday, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One (live). Will Buxton is the play-by-play announcer for FOX’s coverage of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, alongside analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Georgia Henneberry, Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters. | INDY NXT by Firestone:Practice 1, 9 a.m. ET Saturday, FS1 (live); Qualifying, 12:30 p.m. ET Saturday, FS2 (live); Race, 11:30 a.m. ET Sunday, FS1 (live). Kevin Lee is the play-by-play announcer for FOX Sports’ coverage of INDY NXT by Firestone alongside analyst Jack Harvey. Georgia Henneberry is the pit reporter. INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the anchor alongside driver analyst Davey Hamilton. Nick Yeoman is the turn announcer. Jake Query, Michael Young and DJ Clark are the pit reporters. The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot race (1:30 p.m. ET Sunday) can be heard live on network affiliates nationwide. The NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, INDY NXT by Firestone race (11:25 a.m. ET Sunday), NTT P1 Award qualifying (2 p.m. ET Saturday) and all NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices also air live on SiriusXM 218, www.indycar.com/leaderboard and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA. At-track schedule (all times Central): SATURDAY, AUG. 30 8:05-8:55 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Practice 1, FS1 9:20 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Installation Laps 9:30-10:30 a.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Practice, FS1 11:35 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Qualifying (Single car, Two laps), FS2 1:05 p.m. – Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Single car, Two laps), FS2 3:45-4:15 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Group Session (Two groups, 15 minutes each), FS2 4:30-5:30 p.m. – NTT INDYCAR SERIES Final Practice, FS2 SUNDAY, AUG. 31 10:31 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix “Drivers, start your engines” 10:35 a.m. – INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix (65 laps/86.45 miles), FS1 1 p.m. – FOX on air 1:40 p.m. – “Drivers, start your engines” 1:45 p.m. – Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot (225 laps/299.25 miles), FOX (Live) Header Image By Joe Skibinski/INDYCAR, Fast Facts by INDYCAR |
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