Kyle Kirkwood earned his second win of the season today at Nashville, but the championship picture remains the same. Alex Palou earned another podium result in today’s race, adding to his points lead heading into the home stretch. His gap over Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden now stands at 84 points. Today’s event in Nashville was the final street course on the 2023 schedule.
Four races remain in the season, with a return home to Indianapolis up next. The IMS road course will take center stage as IndyCar and NASCAR take turns navigating the 14-turn circuit. The Gallagher Grand Prix will be the IndyCar portion of the weekend, with practice and qualifying on Friday, and a race on Saturday. This could be the final time the two series run at the same location, as NASCAR is expected to return to the Brickyard oval next season.
There have been 14 IndyCar races on the road course with Palou taking the checkered flag earlier this season. Qualifying has proven to be vital, as eight of the 14 races have been won from the front row. Will Power has dominated this event in the past, to the tune of five wins and six poles. He has led 348 laps on the road course, where no other driver has led more than 98. He and Scott Dixon are the only two drivers to complete all 1,156 laps.
Dixon won this race in 2020 but has struggled since. His last seven qualifying results here are 12th, 15th, 16th, 26th, 21st, 20th, and 9th. He has only led a total of six laps in those last seven races. Power and Dixon are still searching for their first victory of the season. Both have long streaks of consecutive seasons with a win that is in jeopardy. Dixon holds the all-time record (18 straight seasons) and will break Tony Kanaan’s consecutive starts record (318) next weekend at Indianapolis.
Race weekend schedule (Eastern Standard Time)
Friday August 11
9:00 am – Practice
12:30 pm – Qualifying
Saturday August 12
2:00 pm – Race
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