Nashville observations: Music City Grand Prix remained chaotically on brand for IndyCar

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Same song, different verse for the Music City Grand Prix and the NTT IndyCar Series?

Well, maybe on the track — but the notes also weren’t exactly the same for the second trip to Nashvegas.

The bright lights and bachelorette parties of Broadway still welcomed IndyCar with open hearts and full Solo cups – but amid signs that the race lost some of its inaugural energy and sheen.

Though there was a massive new NetJets-branded Club RPM luxury suite in Turn 3 and sharp blue grandstands perched over the entrance to Turn 9, the weekend slate of nightly concerts was reduced.

It was difficult to discern the crowd size (and race organizers provided no figures but indicated attendance on par with the 110,000 estimated last year, including 60,000 on race day), but 90-minute lightning delays on Saturday and Sunday made the grounds seem sparser.

And though the grandstands filled in well and seemed packed when the race finally began after 4 p.m. CT, local ratings indicated a softening in interest from last year’s huge splash that dominated the market’s attention.

But when the green flag fell on IndyCar’s second race through downtown Nashville and past Nissan Stadium, there was no waning of action on the tight street course layout.

Despite layout alterations and restart tweaks that drivers had expected would make the race smoother, there still were eight caution flags, which marked only one fewer than last year and actually three extra laps run under yellow vs. 2021, and a red flag to ensure a finish under green.

Just like Marcus Ericsson’s win in a damaged car that required seven pit stops in 2021, Scott Dixon won this year after five stops and repairs for a No. 9 Dallara-Honda that suffered a bent left-rear