IndyCar
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson wins the inaugural Music City Grand Prix
NASHVILLE, TN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Chip Ganassi Racing’s Marcus Ericsson survived an early incident, subsequent penalty and rebounded to win Sunday’s inaugural Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Ericsson in victory lane. “It just show in INDYCAR that anything can happen. You can never give up and if you have a good team and a good car, you can still get to victory lane.”
The incident started on a lap 5 restart when the middle of the field slowed-up and Ericsson made contact with A.J. Foyt Racing’s Sebastian Bourdais, who was stopped in front of him.
REPLAY: Yellow Flag is back out after an incident involving @Ericsson_Marcus and @BourdaisOnTrack.
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📺: NBCSN#INDYCAR // #MusicCityGP pic.twitter.com/uHz8a7GD5x— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 8, 2021
Ericsson limped his wounded No. 8 Honda back to pit road where his Bryant crew replaced the front wing and sent him back out. Ericsson was issued a ‘stop & go’ penalty for avoidable contact.
“After the stop and go I couldn’t see any other cars,” said Ericsson. “So I just tried to start laying down lap times.”
At that point Ericsson started to work his way through the field and, thanks to a number of caution flags, was able to use pit strategy to work his way higher up the grid.
Ericsson inherited the lead when Romain Grosjean pitted for service on lap 58 and held off a ferocious charge from pole-sitter Colton Herta to win his second race of 2021 and of his INDYCAR career.
“We needed some luck today but we also needed to perform when we needed to and we did that,” said Ericsson.
Herta, who had the fastest car all weekend, was trying to chase down Ericsson when he locked up the left front tire heading into turn 9 and hit the wall with six laps-to-go.
“I feel terrible,” said Herta. “We had the car to win all weekend and I threw it away. I feel really bad. Congrats to Marcus, he drove a hell of race there at the end. I didn’t think he was going to make it but he just kept pulling away from me.”
Ericsson’s teammate Scott Dixon finished second in the No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Honda to give Chip Ganassi a 1-2 finish.
“The weekend went really well for all of the Ganassi cars,” said Dixon. “I think with where we ended up, with where we were in some parts of the race, we can’t be disappointed with second place.”
Andretti Autosport’s James Hinchcliffe finished third, which was his best finish of the season and first podium finish since Iowa in 2019.
The next race for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is Saturday, August 14 on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
WASHINGTON D.C. (August 22, 2026) – Alex Palou’s blistering lap of 56.8993 seconds in the No. 10 OpenAI Chip Ganassi Racing Honda puts the four-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion on the pole position for Sunday’s Freedom 250 on the streets of Washington D.C.
“Incredible,” said Palou. “My car was on rails. Super-fun lap, super-fun car to drive. Couldn’t be happier. Looking forward to tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a long day, man, 250 miles.”
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood lines up second after a lap of 57.4661 in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.
“P1 both first and second group, and the last one Alex Palou is just a legend and goes faster on his one-lap dash than he did the whole rest of the run, I think,” Kirkwood said. “He made us look silly out there.”
Scott McLaughlin spoiled the Honda party up front, putting the No. 3 PPG Chevrolet third on the grid after a fast lap of 57.4200.
Palou’s CGR teammates Scott Dixon and Kyffin Simpson did not fare as well as their teammate.
Dixon was on a lap that would have allowed him to transfer into the next round of qualifying, when Simpson hit the wall, triggering a red flag which cancelled Dixon’s lap. The No. 9 PNC Bank Honda will start 14th.
Bringing out the red flag penalized Simpson of his two fastest laps so the No. 8 Sunoco Honda will start last in 25th.
Coverage of the Freedom 250 starts at 11:30 a.m. on Fox and IndyCar Radio with the green flag waving in our nation’s capital at 1 p.m.
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 15, 2026) – The NTT IndyCar Series is making it’s first visit to a new street circuit in Markham, Ontario but a familiar face topped the speed charts after the first practice.
Four-time Series Champion Alex Palou turned the fastest lap around the 12-turn, 2.19-mile temporary street course, a 1-minute, 14.9915-seconds (100.811 mph) lap in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collett was second quick with a 1-minute, 15.0454-seconds (100.739) in the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Louis Foster was third quick in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda at 1:15.0278 (100.702) followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin 1:15.2981 (100.401). Will Power rounded out the Top 5 at 1:15.3152 (100.378).
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates were not as strong. Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon was 20th at 1:16.4583 (98.877) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Kyffin Simpson was 24th at 1.17.3893 (97.688) in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda. Simpson made contact with the wall at Turn 6, causing damage to the rear suspension. Simpson limped to pits for repair and returned to action later in the session.
Practice 2 is set for 2:30 p.m. as delayed track construction forced officials to cancel Friday’s activities and condense Saturday’s schedule. NTT P1 Pole Qualifying is set for 6:30 p.m. ET
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 14, 2026) – Issues with the completion of the temporary street circuit in Markham Ontario has forced the NTT INDYCAR SERIES first practice to be moved to Saturday as all of Friday’s on-track activity had to be scrubbed from the schedule.
“INDYCAR is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on site,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended today is a shining example of that. New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.”
Green Savoree Promotions also issued a statement.
“Ensuring the safety of the drivers and the completion of the certification process of competing on a brand-new racetrack delayed all on-track activities today. Today’s sessions have been rescheduled to Saturday, August 15, to allow for further track preparations.”
“We greatly appreciate all the fans who made it out to the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham today and chose to spend the day with us. The attendance and support were overwhelming.”
The revamped schedule calls for the first practice to take place at 10:00 a.m. followed by a second practice at 2:30 p.m. and P1 Pole Qualifying at 6:30 p.m.
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Palou quickest in first Markham practice
