What caught your attention in Nashville?

Today’s question: Alex Palou’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship win and Colton Herta’s first oval victory drew a lot of attention last Sunday at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix presented by Gainbridge. What else caught your attention at Nashville Superspeedway?

Curt Cavin: Let’s be honest and say that some doubted the quality of racing when the Milwaukee Mile and Nashville Superspeedway returned, but those two ovals, along with World Wide Technology Raceway, provided some of the best action the series has seen in recent years. The four races held at those tracks down the stretch totaled 2,759 laps, an average of nearly 689.8 per race, and that’s even more impressive when you consider the total number of laps (966). Do the math: That’s nearly three laps for position per turnand there were plenty of memorable moments, including the battle between Colton Herta and Pato O’Ward for the lead late in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix presented by Gainbridge on Sunday. Four different drivers representing three different teams have also won those races, and the last five races overall, including the BITNILE.COM Grand Prix of Portland, have seen five different race winners, an incredible example of the elite talent behind the wheel. Bottom line: The final march to the championship was about everything you could have hoped for.

Eric Smith: The thing that caught my attention the most is that we could be seeing a changing of the guard. Yes, Scott Dixon, Will Power and Josef Newgarden have combined for seven wins in 17 races this season, including marquee events at Long Beach (Dixon) and the Indianapolis 500 (Newgarden). Additionally, Newgarden finished third in the Nashville race. But Dixon and Power finished 17th and 24th, respectively. Colton Herta (24) won the race on a day that Alex Palou (27) won his second straight championship and third in the last four years. Pato O’Ward (25) finished second in the race behind Herta. Another 25-year-old, Kyle Kirkwood, earned NTT P1 Award honors Saturday and led the most laps by leading the field for 67 of 206 laps Sunday while finishing fourth. These were not fluke results. Herta has two wins, a career-high six podiums and nine top-six finishes in the last 11 races. O’Ward has two top-two finishes in the last three races, along with a runner-up finish in the 500. Kirkwood has career-high totals of top-fives (five) and top-10s (13). While Dixon has flashed championship potential at times and Power had the best chance to beat Palou in the finale, both have made too many mistakes to add another title to their highly decorated resumes. Given how the last half of the season has unfolded, Nashville has shown that the “youth movement” could be here to stay in 2025.

Paul Kelly: For over a decade, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES has been comprised of three or four major teams, consisting of Chip Ganassi Racing, Team Penske, Andretti Global and Arrow McLaren. Drivers from Penske, Ganassi or Andretti have won every season title since the sport was unified in 2008. Drivers from those teams have won all 17 races this season. But after Nashville, I have a feeling another team could make a big splash in 2025: AJ Foyt Racing. The team clearly benefited from its technical partnership with Team Penske, as Santino Ferrucci drove a Foyt car into the top 10 of the season-ending standings for the first time since 2002 with Airton Dare. It seems to be a matter of when, not if, Santucci earns his first NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory. That victory could come on his traditional oval home turf or on a road course, as he won the NTT P1 award at Portland on the strength of his pure pace. The addition of David Malukas to the team in 2025 creates a quality American team for Super Tex. While it may be difficult for Foyt’s team to topple Penske or Ganassi for the title, it won’t be a surprise to see Ferrucci and Malukas battling with the big boys all season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IT4b7-vbM2g