Racing fans, start your engines … then point them toward Wilson County. In what seems a win-win for NASCAR and IndyCar fans alike, the green flag is about to drop on the biggest summer of motor sports ever at Nashville Superspeedway.
NASCAR returns to the 1.33-mile oval this weekend in Gladeville for the fourth running of the Cup Series Ally 400 Sunday at 2:30 p.m., on NBC, topping off three full days of racing with the Rackley Roofing 200 Truck Series set for Friday night and the Tennessee Lottery 250 Xfinity Series Saturday afternoon.
Sept. 15, the superspeedway located 35 miles east of Nashville will host its first open-wheel race since 2008 – the fourth annual Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, which serves as IndyCar’s season-ending championship event (3 p.m., NBC).
“It’s wonderful for us to be able to host two of the premier motor sports attractions in the country with NASCAR’s Cup Series and then the NTT IndyCar Series,” says Matt Greci, Nashville Superspeedway’s CEO.
IndyCar’s return to the superspeedway was due in part to construction of the new $2.1 billion Tennessee Titans stadium, and it’s not a one-and-done IndyCar event at the concrete track. After 16 seasons on NBC, it was recently announced that starting in 2025 all IndyCar races will air on FOX, including both the Indianapolis 500 and the season-ending championship race at Nashville Superspeedway on Labor Day weekend.
“Nashville and Tennessee just got the Super Bowl of IndyCar for the foreseeable future,” says Music City Grand Prix CEO Scott Borchetta, leaving the door open to a possible downtown return. “We have a multiyear deal with IndyCar and the Nashville Superspeedway. It’s not realistic that we would be back downtown until after the new stadium is completed. So we’re here for at least the next three years.
“My biggest goal is to keep IndyCar in Middle Tennessee and make sure that we have a great show,” he adds. “We’ve become such an important market from 20 years ago. IndyCar loves being here, we love having them and whether it’s at the Nashville Superspeedway or downtown, my mission is to keep IndyCar here.”
Greci hails the move as good for all parties and an economic boon to the local economy.
“For them to come back and be the season championship race for 2025 with the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix is tremendous,” Greci says. “I think it’s tremendous for us as a venue and us as a county and region here in Middle Tennessee.”
NFL’s role in IndyCar detour
It was announced in August that construction of the Titans stadium scheduled to open in 2027 meant rerouting the Grand Prix across the Cumberland River to a new layout that would include racing on Broadway.
That remained the plan until early 2024 when Borchetta says he got a heads-up from Titans president and CEO Burke Nihill about the soon-to-be-released NFL schedule for the 2024 season, followed by a meeting with new Mayor Freddie O’Connell.
After those meetings, Borchetta called Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports, and asked if the Superspeedway was available for the mid-September race.
“When I saw the challenges with downtown and it became untenable, I went to Marcus and said, ‘Can I bring IndyCar out to the Superspeedway?’ He said, ‘We’d love to have you.’ So it’s literally that kind of relationship,” Borchetta explains, calling Smith “a great friend for a lot of years.”
Asked to clarify what made the situation “untenable,” Borchetta says it was the very real possibility that NFL schedule-makers could have the Titans playing a home game on IndyCar’s announced date of Sept. 15.
“We have a great relationship with the mayor and with the Titans,” Borchetta says. “And when I met with Burke and the Titans, he was very honest. He goes, ‘Look, we’ve requested that your race weekend be an away game, but the NFL at the end of the day makes the ultimate decision.’
“Then having the same conversation with Mayor Freddie, he’s like, ‘Scott, if there’s an NFL game that weekend, you can’t race. You can’t shut down Korean Vets Bridge.’ And so, I couldn’t chance it.”
Then the NFL schedule was officially released and, sure enough, the Titans host the New York Jets Sept. 15 at noon. The race would have either been canceled or faced a shorter window to find a new location.
“Look what would have happened if I had tried to stay downtown. We’d have even more of a problem because I would have had to cancel the race because (the Titans) have a home game on the same day,” Borchetta says. “We’ve been working with the Titans. We’re coming up with a bunch of great co-promotions to work on together. They’re great partners and the mayor has been super supportive. But thank God I moved it. Otherwise, this would be a really not-fun interview.”
‘We need a packed grandstand’
Ten days out, Sunday’s Ally 400 had only a limited number of singles and standing-room-only tickets remaining. Borchetta says he hopes for the same fan response for his event, even though they’re butting heads with the Titans’ home game.
“It’s incredibly important that we get this year right, having to change course in midstream and move everything out here, integrate with the Nashville Superspeedway team. … We’re making sure that we’re not missing anything and it’s incredibly important that this year is successful,” Borchetta says.
“We need a packed grandstand. We have a huge opportunity to have this event for years to come and … it automatically becomes one of the most important IndyCar races on the schedule.”
Greci and back-to-back defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden of Nashville say they are confident IndyCar’s championship race will be as big a hit with fans as the Ally 400.
“You only get one opportunity to make a good first impression. We’re on the same page for that,” Greci says. “I think Scott and his team, us and Speedway Motorsports are well aligned on everything from fan experience to safety and enjoyment coming out here for a long weekend of motor sports. I think you’re going to see a lot of great things.”
Newgarden says IndyCar’s championship will draw fans from across the nation.
“The great thing about our product is it’s on the rise again. People are excited to come to IndyCar races. The Indianapolis 500 this year was one of our most-viewed events since 2016, which is a great trend,” Newgarden says. “We’re trending upward and (with) the near-sellout crowd at the Indianapolis 500, I think we’re positioned nicely to execute in the city of Nashville.
“You can’t beat IndyCar racing right now. I really stand by our product. I think we’ve got the best racing on the planet.”
As for going head-to-head with the Titans, Newgarden isn’t worried.
“(IndyCar fans are) going to get a great show,” Newgarden adds. “You can’t go to an NFL game and talk with the team members and go get an NFL player’s autograph or speak to them or see the way that they’re training before they go on the field,” he says. “You can do all those things at an IndyCar event.
“So I think the value for a customer is very high within our championship and we can do great in this finale.”
Butting heads with the NFL might be an issue this year, but not for the 2025 IndyCar championship, Borchetta says.
“The importance of (moving to Labor Day weekend) is we’re out of the way of NFL. All those last NFL preseason games will happen on Saturday,” Borchetta says. “They never play NFL preseason on that Sunday. We’re going to build IndyCar’s Championship Sunday for years to come.”
But first things first – this weekend’s NASCAR Ally 400.
“We continue to amplify the entertainment with music and driver appearances and premium buildouts,” Greci says. “New campsites and further improvements on just the fan experience and us with the Ally 400 inching closer to a sellout, which we’re confident to do. We’re looking forward to putting on a great experience for all our fans.”
Indeed, it’s gonna be a super summer at the superspeedway.