By: Spencer Neff
August 31, 2025

2025 Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix Results

Following a string of bad luck throughout 2025, Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden closed out 2025 with a victory in the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot at Nashville SuperSpeedway.

Newgarden, a native of nearby Hendersonville, earns his first victory in the last race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

A year after finishing third in the series’ return to the 1.33-mile concrete oval in Lebanon, Tennessee, Newgarden extends his streak to 11 consecutive years with a victory.

Team Penske earns their 345th INDYCAR victory, second of 2025 and first at Nashville since 2003 (Gil de Ferran).

He started sixth on the 27-car grid and led 60 of 225 laps, including the last 21.

Newgarden is now in sole position of 10th on the all-time INDYCAR win list, breaking a four-way tie with Helio Castroneves, Dario Franchitti and Paul Tracy.

Closing out a historic championship season, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou finished .5021 of a second behind Newgarden. Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin bookended the podium for his team, with Palou’s teammate Kyffin Simpson earning his best oval finish in fourth.

Rounding out the Top Five, Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Conor Daly earns his best finish of 2025 in fifth.

Despite a late drive-through penalty for blocking, PREMA Racing’s Robert Shwartzman would finish 14th, best among the rookies.

Ultimately, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster took home NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year honors by two points over Shwartzman. Foster was 20th in today’s race.

Race Recap

Exiting Turn 2 on the opening lap, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen got loose and made contact with the outside wall. He walked away from the incident but his season was over without competing a lap just a week after his first INDYCAR victory.

During the start, Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist fell out of alignment and was required to moved to the back of the field.

Following the Lap 8 restart, O’Ward and Palou swapped the lead four times in six laps before O’Ward gained a decisive advantage prior to working lapped traffic.

Palou would suffer a cut tire on Lap 56 but rebounded and was running third following the conclusion of green-flag pit stops.

On Lap 83, A.J. Foyt Racing’s David Malukas made contact with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster, sending him spinning into the outside wall by Turn 2.

Malukas climbed from his car but was airlifted to a local trauma center for imaging and further evaluation, per INDYCAR Medical Director, Dr. Julia Vizer.

After the Lap 100 restart, right-front tire issues plagued another contender. O’Ward suffered a right-front tire failure, which led to a heavy impact in Turn 2 on Lap 127. It is O’Ward’s lone DNF (did not finish) of 2025. The Arrow McLaren driver led a race-high 116 laps after earning his first career oval pole.

Working a different fuel strategy, Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi would inherit the lead ahead of the Lap 140 restart.

Newgarden’s fresher tires would prove too much for Rossi, as he would take over the lead with 78 to go and would hold the lead for the next 39 laps. During the final sequence of pit stops, McLaughlin would find the lead of the race. On Lap 205, he drifted high and brushed the wall, prompting the fifth caution of the afternoon.

Following the Lap 214 restart, Newgarden and Palou sped away while Mclaughlin held off Simpson for third.

The race would feature 20 lead changes between 12 leaders. A quartet of cautions spanning 46 laps slowed the average speed to 156.342 mph.

Among other notable finishers in the race were sixth-place Kyle Kirkwood, who captured a career-best finish of fourth in the points standings, highest of the Andretti Global organization. Palou and Simpson’s teammate Scott Dixon’s 12th-place effort was enough to score third in the standings.

Despite mechanical issues dropping him out of the race in 25th, Christian Lundgaard finished his first season with Arrow McLaren fifth in points, best of his career. Newgarden and McLaughlin’s teammate Will Power held on to ninth in points despite finishing three laps down in 21st.

Up Next

With the 2025 season concluded, the focus now shifts to the offseason leading into the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES campaign.

Driver lineups and schedule for the season will be announced in the coming months. The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is slated to kick off the 2026 season on March 1.

Stay with IndyCar1909 for the latest on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES.

Header Image By James Black/INDYCAR