At the very beginning of 2024, little did anyone suspect IndyCar would be racing at Nashville Superspeedway this year. After three years of racing downtown across the Cumberland River and around the grounds of Nissan Stadium, IndyCar's event in Tennessee's capital is moving to a familiar place.
Though there were plans for a new course that would take the series onto Broadway, the most notable street in Nashville, conflicts with the Tennessee Titans schedule and the construction of a new stadium on the property forced IndyCar out of the city and about 45 minutes southeast to a 1.333-mile concrete oval that last hosted the series 16 years ago.
For eight seasons, Nashville Superspeedway hosted the Indy Racing League, joining the series in its infancy as it struggled to find footing and tracks to race on. Opened in 2001, Nashville Superspeedway was a new track primed to host a new series in an area of the country that had never hosted IndyCar before.
It was a tumultuous time in American open-wheel racing, and Nashville became a new outpost for racing. While the market was untapped, it emerged when competition was scattered and technical sophistication was at an all-time low.
Nashville Superspeedway returns at a choppy time for IndyCar. The series has remained unified, it was last on the schedule during the first season after reunification. There are now multiple engine manufacturers, but the series has been searching for a third for over a decade. There are 27 full-time cars, one of the largest full-time grids in series history. Driver salaries are higher than they have been in recent years. Hybrid technology has been introduced. Yet, IndyCar remains struggling for a position on the sports landscape with an audience that is no larger than when it last visited Lebanon, Tennessee in 2008. The only reason why IndyCar is racing at Nashville Superspeedway is because a street race failed to maintain a spot in the series as the infrastructure downtown changed.
This return has been celebrated, as it is another oval track added to the schedule. Nashville Superspeedway became the fifth oval track on the 2024 schedule and the seventh race, the most oval races in a single season since 2011. However, memories from my youth are not fond of Nashville Superspeedway. It was not a track that I recall being wildly celebrated. Passing was not in an abundance during the series first visit to the location. It also didn't quite become a mainstay, a true event, though crowds may have been acceptable.
As I have done previously when IndyCar has returned to a circuit after a long absence, I went back and watched every Nashville race from the first stint at the facility. This is a chance to assess how those races were, what went right, how they were received and prepared for what we may see in 2024 while also acknowledging things are much different than they were when IndyCar was last there. What occurred two decades or so ago might not repeat but it is the measuring stick for what comes next.
With IndyCar in the midsts of its Olympic break, we will spread out the eight Nashville races into three parts, which can actually be broke up nicely into three acts of IndyCar's time at the track.
This first part will cover the first two Nashville Superspeedway races held in 2001 and 2002.
2001
Concrete was still unknown in IndyCar racing. While Dover had hosted a pair of races a few seasons earlier, the series was a concern going into the race. Though high tire wear was expected, there was an anticipation that passing would be difficult. There was a sold-out crowd on hand with additional grandstand brought in and standing room tickets sold.
Greg Ray started on pole position but he was not comfortable with his car going into the race. Buddy Lazier made up four spots in first five laps and he passed Ray into turn three on lap seven. Ray lost another spot to Sam Hornish, Jr. on the front straightaway.
Hornish, Jr. took the lead into turn three on lap 20 as Lazier was balked behind some traffic. An early caution for debris had some drivers stop early while the leaders remained on track.
Jaques Lazier was making moves and used the high line to work his way into fourth around Eddie Cheever. Ray had fallen a lap down on lap 43 despite starting on pole position. Within the first 50 laps, Hornish, Jr. had lapped up to 12th.
Hornish, Jr. was chopped trying to lap Al Unser, Jr. and this forced Hornish, Jr. to walk up the racetrack. He kept the car out of the wall, but it allowed Buddy Lazier to re-take the lead. A caution came out five laps later, which brought the leaders to the pit lane and a better pit stop put Hornish, Jr. back into first.
For the most part, cars remained to the lower lane and only got off the bottom when it came time to pass a back-marker. Hornish, Jr. opened up a sizable lead over Lazier before a caution for Jeff Ward losing an engine.
The Lazier brothers went wheel-to-wheel for a lap with Jaques attempting to use the outside, but Buddy was able to hold onto second.
Cheever and Ray got together in turn two as Cheever was trying to get around the lapped car of Ray on the outside. Donnie Beechler spun attempting to avoid the accident, but he clipped Unser, Jr. Behind the incident, Mark Dismore was run over slowing down for the accident. Airton Daré did not slow sufficiently and hit the back of Dismore, taking the Brazilian's front wheels off the ground, but fortunately the car did not get airborne or into the catchfence.
Cheever took sole responsibility for the accident and said Ray had nowhere to go on the bottom of the track. Daré said he hit the brakes but the car did not slow down.
Four of the top ten was taken out in this accident, and only 13 cars remained running out of 21 starters.
Pit stops were missed on the broadcast under caution. Hornish, Jr. lost the lead after a slow pit stop due to a wheel nut issue. This dropped him to sixth. Eliseo Salazar inherited the lead after staying out though Salazar would need to stop soon.
Salazar made his pit stop just prior to the restart with 80 laps remaining. Buddy Lazier took the lead. Three laps into the run, Billy Boat made an ambitious move into turn one on the inside of Lazier and took the lead. Jaques Lazier dropped to fifth after unsuccessfully making a move to the inside of Scott Sharp, which slowed him and allowed Hornish, Jr. to make a run on the front straightaway.
Boat and Lazier remained close over the stint as they started to negotiate slower traffic. With help of traffic, Lazier used Felipe Giaffone as a pick into turn three and re-took the lead. Hornish, Jr. was able to get up to third, but in the final 50 laps, he started to experience engine issues and started losing time, about 10 mph per lap. He would soon fall to fifth.
Lazier opened up a 2.2-second lead as the final pit stop window was open. Lazier and Boat made their final stop on lap 173. Both drivers had smooth stops and held their positions. There were no issues through the pit cycle and Lazier reassumed the lead with 24 laps to go. Jaques Lazier and Robby McGehee took fuel-only on their final stops in hopes of saving time.
Buddy Lazier ran unchallenged to the checkered flag, winning by over ten seconds to Boat, the only two cars on the lead lap. Lazier backed it off in the final laps, notably after his brother Jaques took some air off Buddy's front wing when Buddy attempted to lap his brother. Coincidentally, Jaques Lazier had an accident in turn two on the final lap!
Signs of the times:
Buddy Lazier had Tae-Bo as his sponsor. Robby McGehee picked up Pringles as an associate sponsor prior to this race. Al Unser, Jr. was sponsored by Starz. Didier André had Playstation 2 as his sponsor.
Broadcasting Gems :
The ESPN broadcast mentioned the next race at Kentucky on ABC on lap ten. I know we want each race promoted, but lap ten seems early to mention the next race. Let's get into this one! If you thought that was early, another graphic came up promoting the Kentucky race on lap 67 and on lap 87. It should also be noted there were three weeks between Nashville and Kentucky. Nashville was the ninth of 13 races. There was more time out of sight, which meant more time out of mind.
Vince Welch was the only pit reporter as Jake Artue had laryngitis.
2002
Airton Daré entered as the most recent winner in IndyCar after he won at Kansas and Buddy Lazier was entering Nashville not only as the defending winner of this race, but fresh off an IROC victory at Chicagoland.
Billy Boat was on pole position as 20 of the 22 starters qualified faster than the pole position speed from the year before. Boat settled into the lead early with Hélio Castroneves and Sam Hornish, Jr. holding the top three spots as they had started. Hornish, Jr. took second on lap seven after making a run on the outside into turn three. Hornish, Jr. then set his sights on Boat, and two laps later he was looking to take the lead on the outside of turn one but pulled out of it.
Hornish, Jr. took another look on the inside of Boat into turn three and Hornish, Jr. swept through to the point on lap 13.
It was not a good race for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing. Sarah Fisher suffered an engine failure on lap 19. Five laps later, Robbie Buhl lost his engine and brought out a caution.
All but two cars stopped under that caution. Debutant Tony Renna, who was substituting for Al Unser, Jr., led ahead of Eliseo Salazar with Hornish, Jr. in third. Salazar had to share his pit crew with Daré during the race because A.J. Foyt Racing only had enough pit crew members for two cars and it was a three-car team with Greg Ray as its other driver.
Salazar held up Hornish, Jr. as Renna pulled away. Tomas Scheckter ran wide exiting turn four and lost significant ground. Hornish, Jr. fell behind Castroneves on lap 42 while Boat and Gil de Ferran rounded out the top five. De Ferran would soon be up to fourth with a move on the inside of Boat into turn three.
Greg Ray got into the wall exiting turn four just prior to Renna making his first pit stop. On the same lap, Raul Boesel had also brushed the wall. Nearly the entire field came in for pit stops under this caution. Castroneves and Hornish, Jr. were the first out ahead of Renna, but Renna spun exiting pit lane and lost three laps.
Eddie Cheever and Alex Barron stayed out under the second caution. Between Cheever and Barron was the lapped car of Salazar. Again, Salazar backed up the field and Castroneves lost spots as the field stacked up with Hornish, Jr. and de Ferran making their way by. Barron also fell down the order.
Once clear of Salazar, Hornish, Jr. and de Ferran took no time overtaking Cheever. Castroneves continued to struggle in traffic and could not get ahead of Barron. A caution for debris brought Cheever and Barron to pit lane.
This ended up being a rather choppy race. There were eight total cautions, five in the final 90 laps. Cheever did not stop under the caution for Salazar getting into the wall in turn two.
Castroneves was trying to get ahead of Cheever, but he lost momentum, allowing Daré to swing through for second and Daré took the lead immediately exiting turn four. Cheever dropped like a rock on the worn tires. Hornish, Jr. would soon get second from Castroneves.
Hornish, Jr. made a move on the inside of Daré into turn three for the lead. Hornish, Jr. got the position, but Daré was forced slightly out of the bottom lane and Daré walked up the racetrack into the wall, making it a hat-trick of accidents for A.J. Foyt Racing. Cheever made a pit stop, as did de Ferran under this caution.
Castroneves had some concern as his tire pressure was going down on the right rear and he was forced to make an early stop, though he was in the window to make it to the end of the race. The Brazilian did have a slight puncture.
With 30 laps remaining, Tomas Scheckter got into the marbles trying to pass the lapped car of his teammate/team owner Eddie Cheever in turn two. Scheckter was in the wall and Billy Boat also walked up the track and got into the wall at the same spot. As the caution came out, George Mack did not slow down quick enough and hit the left rear tire of Hornish, Jr., puncturing the leader's tire and damaging his sidepod. Hornish, Jr. was able to limp around under caution.
Scott Sharp, Richie Hearn and Barron did not stop under this caution, and they led as the race restarted with 22 laps remaining. Sharp said he was good on fuel to the finish. A number of drivers walked up the track in turn one on that restart as Hornish, Jr. and de Ferran tried to carve through lapped traffic to get back to the front.
Buddy Lazier would get into the wall on lap 182 after being caught on the outside when Felipe Giaffone went underneath him into turn two.
With 11 laps remaining, Sharp and Barron restart first and second. Barron took the lead on the inside of Sharp into turn three. Sharp fell back with de Ferran and Hornish, Jr. breathing down his neck. Barron opened up a 1.5-second lead.
Jeff Ward spun with six laps remaining exiting turn four, but Ward suffered no damage. Ward was quickly restarted, and a restart would occur with two laps remaining. De Ferran dove up the inside of Sharp for second into turn one. Barron was able to hold off de Ferran and take an upset victory for him and Blair Racing. It was Barron's first career victory.
Signs of the times:
This isn't a fun one. Al Unser, Jr. was out of this race due to an arrest for domestic abuse and he checked into a rehabilitation center for substance abuse. Unser, Jr. has been public about his struggles with sobriety over the course of his life and this was a low period for him.
What didn't sit well listening to this 22 years later is Paul Page paraphrasing the IRL's statement that it was "an outside problem" and "not something they would deal with." Though Page mentions Kelley Racing supported Unser, Jr., I would hope in 2024 IndyCar would step in and help a driver who was experiencing substance abuse issues.
I don't believe motorsports in general has done a great job supporting those with substance problems. There is the understandable anger about a driver potentially racing under the influence and putting the life of that individual and fellow competitors at risk, but it is too common that a driver is outcasted. I would hope a driver undergoing treatment would have the support of the series and contemporaries through such a difficult time and not be isolated on the road to recovery alone.
Lighter signs of the times:
I completely forgot Raul Boesel ran for Bradley Motorsports. My last memory of Boesel in American open-wheel racing was his front row start in the Indianapolis 500 earlier in 2002. I had no recollection of him running seven races for the Calkins’ family-owned team.
This was Bradley Motorsports’ final season in IndyCar, and it’s only season with Buzz Calkins not as its driver. Shigeaki Hattori had run six of the first seven races. The team missed the season opener and did not run at Richmond prior to Boesel joined the outfit at Kansas. Boesel was fifth in this race, his 30th and final top five finish in IndyCar competition, still the most in a career without a victory.
Broadcasting Gem:
Sarah Fisher mentioned in her interview after she retired from the race that the Infiniti Pro Series tire rubber held with track conditions. Something we should keep in mind for this year's race with Indy Lights before the IndyCar finale.
The pit stops under the first caution were not shown. There was a pit reporter on Sam Hornish, Jr.'s stop, but there were two pieces aired about the drivers racing at night, so that was something. Later in the race, another piece ran asking drivers who was their favorite country musician.
There was a rush to get to Baseball Tonight, so Alex Barron was interviewed with his helmet on as he pulled onto pit lane.
Thoughts After These Two Races?
About a lane-and-a-half opened up for racing, and any passes that did occur were moves into the corners, usually after the car in front lost momentum.
Other than the lap the Lazier brothers ran side-by-side, we didn't see constant side-by-side action. This didn't run like Texas, Chicagoland or Kansas where two cars could spend three to five laps wheel-to-wheel. Passes were in and out. They were not drawn out.
For all the talk about tire wear and the worn surface, it didn't play a role in this race. Nobody seemed to lose spots due to tire wear. We saw Eddie Cheever in the 2002 race get shuffled back but he was on significantly older tires while the rest of the field had just made pit stops. Airton Daré was nearing cords after he changed tires in the middle of the race.
We must remember these two races were each over 22 years ago. What Firestone was doing in 2002 is much different than in 2024. The cars are different. We have hybrid systems now! The right combination can be found that forces the drivers to watch their tires while also allowing them to run together and hold two lines in the corners.
The concern is Firestone has had one test at this circuit in the buildup to the race. It struggled to bring a tire suitable for good racing at Iowa as the introduction of the hybrid has been a challenge for all those involved.
Concrete is still an unusual surface to race on for IndyCar. We have seen IndyCar struggle to run on some ovals where it does not lend to two lanes in the corner. Iowa was crushingly bad a few weeks ago. Gateway comes to mind. Moves happen into turn one and that is it. Maybe someone tries one into ten three, but that is rare. It wasn't that long ago IndyCar had nothing but single-file racing at Phoenix.
If there is any hope, we see tire wear on the level of Iowa prior to this year's re-pave while the cars could run side-by-side somewhat like Texas prior to when the surface was ruined with all the PJ1 traction compound laid down from NASCAR.
There are six more past Nashville races to watch. We could see an evolution in how the track was raced over those years.
