Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Fast Facts
Race weekend: Friday, Aug. 6 – Sunday, Aug. 8
Track: Streets of Nashville, an 11-turn, a 2.17-mile temporary street course in Nashville, Tennessee
Race distance: 80 laps / 173.6 miles
Media links: Entry List | Driver Video Quotes | Trackside Book
Push-to-pass parameters: 150 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 15 seconds per activation.
Firestone tire allotment: Seven sets primary, four sets alternate to be used during the event weekend. One additional set of primary tires may be used by teams fielding a rookie driver. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new (sticker) alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.
Twitter: @MusicCityGP, @IndyCar, #MusicCityGP, #INDYCAR
Event website: www.musiccitygp.com/
INDYCAR website: www.IndyCar.com
2020 race winner: Inaugural event
2020 NTT P1 Award winner: Inaugural event
Qualifying record: Inaugural event
NBCSN telecast: 5:30 p.m. ET Sunday, NBCSN (live). Kevin Lee is the lead announcer for NBC Sports telecasts this weekend alongside analysts Townsend Bell and Paul Tracy. Marty Snider and Dave Burns will report from the pit lane.
Peacock Premium Live Streaming: All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice sessions and qualifying will stream live on Peacock Premium, NBC’s direct-to-consumer livestreaming product.
INDYCAR Radio Network broadcasts: Mark Jaynes is the chief announcer alongside analysts Davey Hamilton and Rob Blackman. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are the turn announcers with Ryan Myrehn and Michael Young in the pit lane. The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 205, Sirius 119, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app powered by NTT DATA. All NTT INDYCAR SERIES practices and qualifying are available on SiriusXM 205, indycar.com and the INDYCAR Mobile app.
At-track schedule (all times local):
Friday, Aug. 6
3:10-4:25 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 1, Peacock Premium (live)
Saturday, Aug. 7
Noon-12:45 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES practice 2, Peacock Premium (live)
3:30–4:45 p.m.: Qualifying for the NTT P1 Award (Three rounds of knockout qualifying), Peacock Premium (live)
Sunday, Aug. 8
Noon-12:30 p.m.: NTT INDYCAR SERIES final practice, Peacock Premium (live)
4:30 p.m.: NBCSN on air
4:38 p.m.: “Drivers, start your engines”
4:45 p.m.: Big Machine Music City Grand Prix (80 laps/173.6 miles), NBCSN (Live)
Race notes:
- There have been eight different winners in 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Alex Palou (Barber Motorsports Park, Road America), Colton Herta (Streets of St. Petersburg), Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway-1), Pato O’Ward (Texas Motor Speedway-2, Raceway at Belle Isle Park-2), Rinus VeeKay (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis 500), Marcus Ericsson (Raceway at Belle Isle Park-1) and Josef Newgarden (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course) have all won in 2021. The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
- There have been eight different winners in the last 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races (Alex Palou, Colton Herta, Scott Dixon, Pato O’Ward, Rinus VeeKay, Helio Castroneves, Marcus Ericsson and Josef Newgarden) The only repeat winners in that stretch are O’Ward (Texas-2, 2021 and Belle Isle-2, 2021) and Palou (Barber 2021 and Road America 2021)
- The NTT INDYCAR SERIES will compete on the streets of Nashville for the first time using a new street circuit that incorporates some of the city’s most iconic sites. Among the landmarks incorporated into the 2.17-mile, 11-turn track is the Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge and the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. The race’s start of the race will take place over the bridge’s eastbound lanes between Turns 8 and 9.
- Middle Tennessee hosted INDYCAR SERIES racing from 2001-2008 at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tennessee. Scott Dixon, who won three consecutive races at the 1.33-mile oval from 2006-2008, is one of five drivers entered who raced in the most recent Nashville event along with Helio Castroneves, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Will Power and Graham Rahal.
- The last driver to win an inaugural event was Will Power, who won the Grand Prix of Baltimore in 2011. The last driver to win the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship after winning an inaugural event at a track was Dario Franchitti in 2007. Franchitti is grand marshal for this weekend’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.
- The 27 cars entered in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix is the most in a non-Indianapolis 500 NTT INDYCAR SERIES race since Long Beach in 2013 when 27 cars started that race.
Sources: Dave Furst/INDYCAR PR