IndyCar
Newgarden Salvages Season With Home Victory at Thrilling Nashville
By INDYCAR Communications
LEBANON, TN (August 31, 2025) – Sweet relief finally arrived at home, sweet home after the most frustrating of seasons for Josef Newgarden.
Nashville-area native Newgarden broke a 20-race drought dating back to August 2024 to earn his first victory of 2025 and 32nd of his illustrious NTT INDYCAR SERIES career at his home track Sunday, winning the season-ending Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot at Nashville Superspeedway.
SEE: Race Results
“Glad we got one without anything going wrong,” Newgarden said. “Happy to celebrate this team. They deserve it. It’s rewarding for our team. Tough, tough year, but good to get a win at the end.”
Two-time series champion Newgarden drove his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by .5021 of a second over the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda of four-time and reigning series champion Alex Palou, who celebrated with the Astor Challenge Cup for the third straight year in post-race ceremonies.
“It’s been an amazing season for us,” Palou said. “I just had the pleasure to be the driver of that No. 10 DHL Honda car, to get so many wins and so many podiums this year.”
Scott McLaughlin finished third in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet after prevailing in a stirring duel down the stretch of the 225-lap race with Kyffin Simpson in the No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. It’s just the second time this season that Team Penske – the most winning team in INDYCAR SERIES history – put two drivers on the podium.
Simpson capped a strong second season in the series by holding on to fourth for his best career oval result. Conor Daly rounded out the top five in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Chevrolet after starting 24th, gaining more spots than any driver in the race.
Louis Foster of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing hung on to clinch the series Rookie of the Year honors by just two points over Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing. Foster finished 20th in the No. 45 Desnuda Tequila Honda, while Shwartzman was 14th in the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet.
Newgarden took the lead for good on Lap 205 when he passed McLaughlin when McLaughlin’s car drifted off the racing line and brushed the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2, triggering the fourth and final caution period of the frenetic race.
On the restart on Lap 214, Newgarden rocketed away while Palou – who remarkably clawed back to the front despite a flat right front tire early in the race – dove under McLaughlin for second place in Turn 1.
But Palou never could catch Newgarden over the final 11 laps, as the reigning series champion admitted he lacked the confidence to put his car in the higher groove where Newgarden, McLaughlin, Daly and others did some of their best, most breathtaking passing of the race.
The joyous relief was palpable for Newgarden after the race when he stopped his car on the front straightaway and climbed into the grandstands to exult with fans, reminiscent of his celebrations at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after winning the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in 2023 and 2024.
“I think we should be racing in Nashville to end the championship all the time,” Newgarden said. “We don’t need to need to go anywhere else. It’s great to be home. Pumped, just pumped.”
It was a fitting ending to a race that featured so many twists, turns and heartbreak that nearly everyone who watched it probably needed a moment to exhale after the checkered flag. There were 284 passes for position, including 130 in the top 10 and 74 in the top five – all series records for Nashville Superspeedway.
McLaughlin wasn’t the only driver to lose the lead due to hitting the SAFER Barrier. NTT P1 Award winner Pato O’Ward led a race-high 116 laps from the pole in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, but his race ended in heartbreak when a flat right front tire pushed him into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 on Lap 127.
David Malukas was running in second on Lap 83 in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet of A.J. Foyt Enterprises when he backed hard into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 after side-by-side contact from Foster, who was penalized for blocking. Malukas was awake and alert after the incident, according to INDYCAR Medical Director Dr. Julia Vaizer, and was released from a local hospital following precautionary evaluation and advanced imaging.
Christian Rasmussen, who earned his first career victory last Sunday at the Milwaukee Mile, saw his chance for a repeat end on Lap 1 when his No. 21 ECR Splenda Stevia Chevrolet wiggled in traffic and hit the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2.
The varying pit and tire strategies spawned by these accidents and caution periods resulted in 12 of the 27 drivers leading at least one lap and 20 lead changes, both series records at this track.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 2, 2026) – Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon is leaving Chip Ganassi Racing following the conclusion of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series Season the team announced in a statement Thursday before the series races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Complex this weekend.
MADISON, IL (Sunday, June 7, 2026) – The king of World Wide Technology Raceway has returned to his throne.
Josef Newgarden won for the sixth time in 11 starts at the 1.25-mile oval just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, enduring two rain delays during the race Sunday night to win a feverish, fascinating Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline. The victory was Newgarden’s second this season, as he also won in March at the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway oval.
SEE: Race Results
The two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has captured 15 of his 34 career victories on ovals shorter than 1.5 miles. This win came as he was still recovering from a lower leg injury suffered two weeks ago in the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
“Great job to the group,” Newgarden said. “Just a methodical night. We had a good car to start. It wasn’t perfect, but it really came to us just when we needed it. It was a track position day.”
Newgarden, who started eighth, drove his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by .6613 of a second over the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of fellow Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who still managed a season-best finish. Christian Rasmussen finished a season-best third in the No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet of ECR.
Rinus VeeKay continued the trend of season-best finishes by ending up fourth in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, with Scott McLaughlin rounding out the top five in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet that featured a throwback livery honoring the 2009 Indianapolis 500-winning car driven by Helio Castroneves.
Newgarden took the lead for good on Lap 221 after a spirited duel with Rasmussen that began almost immediately after a restart on Lap 212. Rasmussen dove under Newgarden in Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 215, but Newgarden drove past Rasmussen in Turn 3 for the top spot on Lap 219.
One lap later, Rasmussen again drove under Newgarden for the lead in Turn 1, one of his race-high 38 on-track passes. But Newgarden countered again in Turn 3 one lap later for a lead he would not surrender. It was the most decisive of an event-record 268 passes for position in this frantic race.
Ericsson sped under Rasmussen for second in Turn 3 on Lap 225 and set his sights on Newgarden. But one lap later, a plume of smoke trailed from the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Enterprises for Caio Collet, who was enjoying the best race of his rookie season by leading seven laps and running consistently in the top five in the second half of the race.
That triggered the last of four caution periods, with another wrinkle to concern Newgarden and the lead pack. A host of trailing cars entered the pits for fresh Firestone Firehawk tires, while the top eight cars stayed out.
McLaughlin made a spirited charge toward the front on the restart on Lap 234, climbing from ninth to fifth in just four laps. But the Kiwi and the other cars that pitted for tires didn’t have enough traction from the fresher rubber or speed to challenge the top four down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Newgarden maintained a gap of around one-half of a second over Ericsson over the closing 10 laps and never was threatened.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Marcus,” Newgarden said. “I thought he was incredibly strong. I don’t really think there was much between us, so it was a matter of who was going to get position on each other, and that was going to seal the deal. He drove a great race.”
Said Ericsson, seeking his first win since March 2023 at St. Petersburg: “I’m very proud of our performance, but at the same time it’s tough to lead that many laps … I thought we had it at some points, but Josef is the best in the business on these short ovals.”
Two red-flag periods totaling 50 minutes kept strategists’ heads spinning on the pit wall as various permutations and fuel options were considered.
Chip Ganassi Racing rolled the dice earlier in the race by calling NTT P1 Award winner Alex Palou and his teammate Scott Dixon to the pits to top off fuel as soon as the pits opened after the first red flag period, which lasted 38 minutes. The hope was to get enough caution to need one fewer fuel stop than rivals or be out front when a race-ending rain shower arrived.
But neither happened, and Palou paid the price dearly.
The four-time series champion entered the pits on Lap 203, two laps after Dixon had to enter a closed pit for emergency service as his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was running out of fuel. Palou’s No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda sputtered when it entered the pit lane and ran out of fuel, and he was forced to coast to his pit box for a stop made even longer when his engine wouldn’t refire.
Palou’s car restarted, and he returned to the track to finish 17th. The two short oval races this season have been Palou’s Achilles’ heel. He finished 24th after contact in March at Phoenix, and that result and tonight’s disappointing showing are his only finishes outside of the top seven all season.
Reigning series champion Palou’s lead in the standings was trimmed to 49 points over Kyle Kirkwood, who finished sixth in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 21 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
MADISON, IL (June 6, 2026) – Alex Palou and the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team are continuing to lay down fast laps when it counts with Palou earning the pole position for Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway. The pole position is Palou’s fourth straight NTT P1 Pole award.
“It was incredible and so much fun, especially that first lap,” said Palou, who turned a two-lap average speed of 174.353 mph in the No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. “The #10 Honda Honda had so much speed. The team I have around me is incredible. My car was on rails today; it was incredible.”
David Malukas starts second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after a two-lap average of 173.244 mph. Malukas could only look on in disbelief as Palou knocked him off the pole.
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood starts third in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda following a two-lap average of 173.206 mph.
“ It was a good run for us,” said Kirkwood, the 2025 WWWT Raceway winner. “P3 is a really good starting spot and we can definitely do some great things from there. Last year we won from 10th, so it’s nice to be able to be at the front.”
2026 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Felix Rosenqvist starts fourth in the No. 60 SiriusXM Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin will start 5th in the No. 3 Dex Imaging Chevrolet.
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Dixon starts 7th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda and CGR’s Kyffin Simpson will start 14th in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda.
Television coverage of Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 begins at 8 PM CT / 9 PM ET on Fox. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 160).
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