IndyCar Music City GP at Nashville: How to watch, start time, etc

When is the IndyCar Music City Grand Prix at Nashville? 

The event will be held from Friday, Aug. 6 through Sunday, Aug. 8, with first practice on Friday, second practice and qualifying on Saturday, and warm-up and the race on Sunday.

The on-track schedule (all times are local/Central) is as follows:

Friday, Aug. 6

11.00am – Trans-Am Practice 1
12.40pm – SRO GT America test
1.15pm – SRO GT America Practice 1
2.15pm – Trans-Am Practice 2
3.10pm – NTT IndyCar Series Practice 1
4.45pm – Stadium SuperTrucks Practice
6.15pm – SRO GT America Practice 2

Saturday, Aug. 7

11.00am – Trans-Am Qualifying
12.00pm – NTT IndyCar Series Practice 2
1.20pm – Trans-Am Race
2.50pm – SRO GT America Qualifying
3.30pm – NTT IndyCar Series Qualifying
6.15pm – Stadium Super Trucks Race 1
7.35pm – SRO GT America Race 1

Sunday, Aug. 8

12.00pm – NTT IndyCar Series Warm-up
12.35pm – Lane Motor Museum parade lap
12.45pm – Vintage Indy cars lapping session
1.45pm – Stadium SuperTrucks Race 2
2.45pm – SRO GT America Race 2
4.45pm – NTT IndyCar Series Big Machine Music City Grand Prix (80 laps)

How can I watch the IndyCar Music City Grand Prix at Nashville? 

Practice 1 (Fri. 3.10-4.25pm), Practice 2 (Saturday 12.00-12.45pm), Qualifying (Saturday 3.00-4.45pm) and Warm-up (Sunday, 12.00-12.30pm) will all live stream on Peacock Premium.

Coverage of Sunday’s race itself starts on NBCSN at 4.30pm, with the “Drivers, start your Engines” command being given at 4.38pm and the green flag waving at 4.45pm.

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 pit lane.

Can I stream the IndyCar Music City Grand Prix at Nashville? 

The race itself cannot be streamed, just practice and qualifying.

How can I listen to the race?

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.

Mark Jaynes is chief announcer alongside analysts Davey Hamilton and Rob Blackman. Jake Query and Nick Yeoman are turn announcers with Ryan Myrehn and Michael Young in pit lane.

Race weekend details

Track: 11-turn, a 2.17-mile temporary street course in Nashville, TN.
The course incorporates some of the city’s most iconic sites including the Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge and the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans.

Race distance: 80 laps / 173.6 miles. The start line is over the bridge's eastbound lanes between Turns 8 and 9.

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 can be used by teams fielding a rookie driver. Teams must use one set of primary and one set of new alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.

Race notes:

There have been eight different winners in 10 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this season. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou (Barber Motorsports Park and Road America), Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta (Streets of St. Petersburg), Ganassi’s Scott Dixon (Texas Motor Speedway-1), Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward (Texas Motor Speedway-2 and Belle Isle-2), Rinus VeeKay (Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course-1), Helio Castroneves (Indianapolis 500), Marcus Ericsson (Belle Isle - 2) and Josef Newgarden (Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course). The modern record (1946-present) for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.

Scott Dixon, who won three consecutive races at the Nashville 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 IndyCar event was Will Power, who won the Grand Prix of Baltimore in 2011.

The 27 cars entered in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix is the most in a non-Indy 500 IndyCar race since Long Beach in 2013 when again 27 cars started.