In less than two months, the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series season will conclude at Nashville Superspeedway, not the original place for this year's finale. In preparation for this return, we are looking back at IndyCar's first eight races at the circuit to get a sense of what races were like and set expectations for this year's event.
In the first part, we covered the first two races held at the circuit while part two covered the next three races after a significant turn in the CART-IRL Split had occurred.
This final part will cover a period of dominance at Nashville Superspeedway, as Scott Dixon won the final three races at the circuit. Now second all-time in IndyCar victories, Dixon has cemented himself as one of the greatest in IndyCar history, and we saw the first glimmers of his brilliance in the final three races held at Nashville, though he did have some fortunate go in his favor for to earn three consecutive victories.
2006
Sam Hornish, Jr. was coming off a victory at Kansas and took the championship lead. That was the lead story. The second story in pre-race? Danica Patrick getting interest from NASCAR teams. That took up about six minutes of the ten-minute opening segment.
Anyway, Dan Wheldon started on pole position with Hornish, Jr. in second. Tony Kanaan went from sixth to third in the opening corner of the race. Hélio Castroneves dropped from fourth to eighth on the opening lap after a slight touch with Kanaan. Both drivers had no issues.
Scott Dixon had a slight moment brushing the wall exiting turn four but it was to no detriment as the field ran single-file as the first stint went on. Dixon was a focus after the contact as he had not had comfort with the car during practice and was not carrying much positivity into this race.
Kanaan pulled into the pit lane with a power issue 45 laps into the race. He had been running third as Wheldon hit lapped traffic.
The first round of pit stops began around lap 59. Scott Sharp stalled exiting his pit box and the crew had to run out and pull him back into the pit box. No caution was thrown despite the crew members on the pit lane. The pit cycle went through without any issues and Wheldon was back in the lead. It was on lap 64 a caution came out for a slow Buddy Rice on the back straightaway.
Wheldon continued to lead after the restart with Hornish, Jr. behind him. Vitor Meira had moved up to third ahead of Dixon. Hornish, Jr. took the lead from Wheldon on lap 89 with a move to the inside in turn three. Hornish, Jr. was able to get into the draft of Wheldon exiting turn two and got a run up the inside. Meira also closed in on the top two. Wheldon made the same move on Hornish, Jr. five laps later to re-take the lead.
The second pit window opened on lap 122 with Tomas Scheckter the first to stop, and Scheckter broke the half shaft when the car was dropped from the pneumatic jack. Wheldon was in two laps later with Hornish, Jr. in two laps after that. Only five laps after his pit stop, Hornish, Jr. brushed the wall exiting turn two. This ended his race and brought out a caution.
Hornish, Jr. was attempting to get around Meira, who leaped ahead of the American in the pit cycle. Kosuke Matsuura was the pit leader as the pit cycle had not finished through. Matsuura had to stop under the caution, and this put Dixon into the lead. Wheldon and Meira each came in for a splash of fuel.
Dixon benefitted from having the lapped car of Ed Carpenter between him and Wheldon on the restart. It took Wheldon a handful of laps to get around Carpenter and Dixon opened up nearly a two-second lead. Wheldon did run down Dixon, as Dixon was watching his fuel, but Wheldon's effort to close in on Dixon led to poor fuel mileage and meant Wheldon had to settle in line and watch his fuel.
Fuel concerns were eased when Matsuura got in the turn four wall on lap 164. Dario Franchitti and Hélio Castroneves did come in for tires and fuel despite running fifth and sixth at the caution. There were only six cars on the lead lap and there would be less than 30 laps remaining once the race restarted. The caution was extended as the SAFER Barrier needed a repair.
Meira made a move for Wheldon into turn three on the first lap after the restart to move into second place. Meira and Wheldon closed in on Dixon. Wheldon lost momentum catching a bit of a block from Meira into turn one with about 20 laps remaining.
Meira closed in on the rear wing of Dixon with 17 laps to go, however, Meira could not find an opening. While the top ten were stuck together, Wheldon drove down the top two and it was three cars covered by about three-tenths with 14 laps to go. Dixon pulled a way a little and Wheldon dove to the inside of Meira for second into turn three with ten laps remaining.
Wheldon chipped at the gap to Dixon and became a two-car race for the victory with five laps remaining. Wheldon made a look to the outside with four laps to go but did not have the speed to get alongside Dixon. That was the closest Wheldon got at a pass in the closing lap. Wheldon had one more run off the final corner but Dixon took the victory in a Chip Ganassi Racing 1-2 with Meira rounding out the podium.
Signs of the times:
Bobby Rahal declined all interviews during the weekend with the Danica Patrick news coming out. It was also stated on the broadcast Graham Rahal could run some IRL races in 2007.
Broadcasting Gems :
Do you remember Rusty Wallace's one year as an IndyCar analyst as practice before becoming a NASCAR analyst on ABC/ESPN in 2007? Yeah. That happened. Not the worst experiment in the world, but not the greatest either.
It only took five years for the cheese-grater skit to come out again. Jack Arute brought his own block of cheddar. By the way, what did they do with that cheese afterward? That wasn't a cheap hunk of cheese. I hate to think it was immediately thrown away but that's likely what happened. Such a waste.
2007
Rain pushed the Nashville race to Sunday afternoon. Scott Dixon was on pole position a week after he won at Watkins Glen while championship leader Dario Franchitti started second.
Franchitti made a move for the lead on the back straightaway on the opening lap and on the second lap, Tony Kanaan moved to second ahead of Dixon. Franchitti opened up a lead over a second in the early laps while Dixon and Dan Wheldon remained close to Kanaan before a gap to Sam Hornish, Jr. in fifth.
It was an uneventful opening 30 laps or so with Franchitti opening the lead to over two seconds, but on lap 36, Kanaan spun in turn two after attempting to get around the lapped car of Sarah Fisher. Kanaan slapped the wall and that ended his race while running second.
The Kanaan caution brought everyone to the pit lane where Franchitti held the lead over Dixon and Wheldon with Hélio Castroneves up to fourth. The positions remained mostly unchanged at the restart with the only notable move being Scott Sharp moving up to eighth around Jeff Simmons. The top three remained within a second of one another with nearly three seconds back to Castroneves in fourth.
Fisher created some racing as she was off pace and backed up the middle of the top ten. It allowed Darren Manning to climb into the top ten while Vitor Meira was the big loser in that incident.
Traffic caused more issues at the front of the field Wheldon took second from Dixon on the outside of turn one. Four laps after that, Franchitti was balked behind Meira and Tomas Scheckter. Wheldon made the high work into turn one to take the lead, but both were slowed running side-by-side and Dixon went from third to first shooting through on the bottom into turn three. Wheldon held onto second ahead of Franchitti.
Franchitti came in four laps after losing the lead with Dixon following on the next lap. Wheldon was in the lap after Dixon and Wheldon lost time after his team did not get the fuel hose removed in a timely fashion.
Right as the pit cycle finished, a drizzle started to fall over the circuit and that brought out a caution. The good news was the series did reach halfway under caution and the brief drizzle did pass without the track being lost.
The race was restarted on lap 109. Wheldon lost third to Marco Andretti after Andretti had a run into turn three. About 12 laps later, Wheldon would re-take third going into turn three. Dixon and Franchitti had pulled away as the rest of the leaders were stuck behind Ed Carpenter. About 7/10ths were between the top two, but there were nearly five seconds back to third.
Franchitti was the first to come in for the final set of pit stops with 49 laps remaining. Dixon went three laps longer than Franchitti and remained ahead of Franchitti. Wheldon lost time after a bobble on the right rear tire being changed. Dixon was back in the lead with 42 laps to go, almost two seconds clear of Franchitti and over ten seconds ahead of Patrick in third.
As the field navigated more traffic, Dixon increased his lead as Franchitti was stalled behind Meira. With 22 laps to go, Dixon's lead was over six seconds, and it kept increasing as Patrick closed in on Franchitti for second.
This race was all Dixon's until Kosuke Matsuura brushed the wall in turn four after Jeff Simmons slid out of the access lane inside of turns three and four and caused Matsuura to take invasive action with 12 laps to go. This was the second consecutive year a late Matsuura accident bunched up the field.
The lead was erased, but lapped cars were not waived around from between the top two, meaning Dixon had a four-car buffer when the race restarted with six laps remaining. Dixon went unchallenged to the checkered flag while Franchitti took second and Patrick held onto third ahead of Hornish, Jr. and Andretti.
Signs of the times:
This was a week after Sam Hornish, Sr. had a physical altercation with Tony Kanaan after the Watkins Glen race. Coincidentally, the broadcast was in the middle of a piece about the incident when Kanaan had his accident. Kanaan said he knew how to lose and Hornish, Jr. didn't. Unfortunately, we never got to hear what Hornish, Jr. said due to the accident.
We don't have lapped cars remaining between the leaders anymore, especially with a restart with less than ten laps remaining. The booth was suggesting that should be adopted considering NASCAR removed lapped cars at that time in the race. It is amazing how in 17 years things change. This was a strong debate at the time. Now, we wouldn't accept it being the other way.
It was noted that the wall on turn four corner exit was painted blue to help drivers with visibility. Due to the concrete surface, a blue line was painted along the bottom of the wall to differentiate the track from the barrier. After a few incident in turn four, a large portion was painted blue.
Broadcasting Gems :
Second consecutive year of the cheese-grater demonstration. But this time we got marbles as well!
It is incredible how much a broadcast has changed when it comes to covering pit strategy and pit cycles. Under the two green flag pit cycles, at no point did we see how the leaders transitioned onto the racetrack and whether Franchitti got around Dixon in the pit cycle. We had to wait for the stops to cycle through before seeing Dixon maintained the lead. A current broadcast would keep you abridged on that throughout the pit cycle. In 2007, that wasn't something difficult to cover either. The philosophy has changed slightly and it makes for a better broadcast.
2008
Rain fell in the lead up to the 2008 race, but it started on time with Hélio Castroneves on pole position ahead of Danica Patrick and Hideki Mutoh though the weather remained threatening. Marco Andretti had his car bottom out in turn two and collided with Ryan Briscoe to his outside on the third lap of the race. Both cars hit the barrier and were knocked out of the race.
After the restart, Scott Dixon felt he was having a gearing issue, and he was running third. Tony Kanaan had moved up to fourth ahead of Mutoh. The leaders started to battle back-markers about 30 laps into the event. The weather was believed to be 30 minutes away and drivers were going all-out with that known dilemma.
Patrick made a few looks to the inside of Castroneves, but the door was shut each time. It eventually caused her to lose momentum and fall to fourth behind Dixon and Kanaan.
On lap 55, Dixon got a run to Castroneves' inside into turn on and took the lead. With Castroneves up high, he fell down to fourth and the leaders tangled with lapped cars at that time. Dan Wheldon soon moved ahead of Castroneves as well.
Patrick was one of the first leaders to make a pit stop with Wheldon, Kanaan and Castroneves the next to follow. Dixon went longer than the rest of them, stopping on lap 63. Once the cycle was over, Dixon was back in the lead with Kanaan ahead of Patrick and Wheldon. Vitor Meira had climbed into the top five. Kanaan was close to Dixon, and he remained in Dixon's tracks.
Dark skies approached the racetrack, but Dixon was saving fuel on the run. The Ganassi team was not convinced the race would end early. Kanaan took the lead on lap 90 when Kanaan caught a draft into turn three. Kanaan opened up about a second lead before Ryan Hunter-Reay hit the barrier exiting turn four just as the race hit the halfway point and became official. Hunter-Reay was caught on the outside attempting to overtake Will Power and the car walked up the track.
Everyone dove into the pit lane. Kanaan was out first with Dixon, Patrick, Meira, Castroneves and Wheldon following. There was no passing though the weather was bound to occur at any moment. Kanaan opened up a two-second lead over Dixon while Patrick was right on Dixon's rear wing.
With 62 laps to go, a caution came out for moisture. Just prior to the caution, Patrick had a slight moment when caught on the outside exiting turn four. She kept the car out of the wall, but Meira moved up into third.
The pit lane opened and Kanaan came in with most of the leaders, but the two Ganassi cars stayed out with Dixon moving into the lead. All the cars that stopped could make it to the end of the race, but Ganassi suddenly was betting on the race ending early.
The restart came with 48 laps remaining and it had been 49 laps since the Ganassi cars had stopped. They could possibly go another 20 laps. Castroneves had an aggressive restart on the outside of turns one and two and passed Patrick and Kanaan to get up to third.
It was lap 166 when the caution came out for more moisture, notably heavier than the previous caution. The cars were brought to pit lane at the end of lap 171 under red flag conditions. Dixon admitted in his interview that he was told to come under the previous caution and could not make the turn onto pit lane in time.
The rain did not let up, the track was lost and the race was called. Dixon picked up his third consecutive Nashville victory.
Signs of the times:
E.J. Viso and HVM Racing was absent from this race after Viso came down with the mumps.
Marco Andretti had run the American Le Mans Series race earlier in the day at Lime Rock Park. Andretti and co-driver Franck Montagny ended up sixth overall and fifth in LMP2, three laps down.
A.J. Foyt had cataract surgery in the week leading up to the Nashville race.
At the end of Dan Wheldon's post-race interview, Vince Welch said that Wheldon had agreed to terms for an extension with Chip Ganassi Racing, but he had not signed it yet... yikes!
Broadcasting Gems :
Nothing stood out. Perhaps the weather meant the broadcast had to be focused and they didn't get ahead of themselves.
What Should We Expect?
It should be acknowledged that 16 years have passed since the last time IndyCar has raced at Nashville Superspeedway. The 2008 race was in the first year of reunification. Newman-Haas Racing was still on the grid. Dale Coyne Racing was running Mario Moraes. Marty Roth was out there. Times have changed.
For eight races, Nashville was a predominately single-file race. It never became more than a lane and a half. There was no consistent side-by-side racing. This wasn't Texas, Kansas, Chicagoland or even Kentucky. It looked more like Phoenix or Milwaukee than any of the 1.5-mile ovals.
I am not sure we should expect much different. Nashville is a concrete surface. The only time IndyCar races on concrete is patches of street courses. Firestone has its work cutout trying to figure out what tire compound to bring in 2024 to a surface that has only become rougher and was causing tire failures during the test held there in June.
Add in the extra weight of the hybrid, which Firestone is still adjusting to, and there should be no expectation Firestone will bring the perfect tire for this race. In fairness to Firestone, that is ok. Nashville Superspeedway was a late replacement with little time to prepare. Firestone is going to bring the most conservative tire, which isn't going to make the already unfavorable conditions any better.
Track position will be key and any passing will come on the first three or four laps after a restart or when back-markers are caught. That is about it. The high lane will have two or three good laps after it is swept, and even then it will only work for the four or five cars that are dialed in and can hold it.
Again, things are different. The DW12 never ran on this circuit. The DW12 chassis has put on some decent races at places where we were not confident would have good racing. There is less topside downforce with the DW12, which means less turbulent air. That was a constant problem for the previous generation Dallara chassis at almost every track.
It will come down to a combination of things. It is the car, the track surface, the tires, the conditions, the wind, the race distance, so on and so on. The car could be suited for a thrilling race but if the surface cannot rubber up and become more than one lane then it would be moot.
The one thing to say about the crowd is every year the grandstand was full. Apparently, Nashville's capacity was about 50,000 people during that first era of the track. I don't buy that the capacity was 50,000 people because the main grandstand has not changed at all and when NASCAR has raced at Nashville the last few years, with the inclusion of temporary bleachers alongside the main grandstand, the capacity has been about 40,000 people.
I don't buy that 50,000 people were at the IndyCar races from 2001 to 2008. However, I would buy the generous 30,000 in attendance. The delayed 2007 race was the only one with some pockets in the grandstand, but if that crowd is what we saw in 2024, people would be pleased.
It is not clear how many people will come out to Lebanon, Tennessee, who were otherwise going to be attending the downtown street race, especially since the Tennessee Titans will be playing at that same time. It isn't the easiest location to get to. A recent buy-one, get-one free deal on tickets suggests it has been a difficult draw. There is not much around the track. This was a late change to the schedule even though there was seven-month notice between the announcement of the move to the actual date of the race. The race might not be that good. It is not the greatest turn of events for what was supposed to be IndyCar's big season finale event.
At least it's another oval, am I right?
Optimism would say IndyCar and Firestone can come up with something that produces a respectable race and at least lay the ground work for 2025, which we know will see Nashville Superspeedway return. We said the same thing ahead of the Iowa weekend with that re-pave, and that did not go well. Eight years tells us what to expect, and for a track that has not changed even though it sat vacant for 14 years, we know well more than half the equation, and should not be surprised if we get a similar result.
