– After a race-free weekend, the IndyCar series is back in action this weekend, and this time on an oval. The race will take place late Sunday at the Nashville Superspeedway. It is located in the US state of Tennessee about 45 minutes east of downtown Nashville, near the suburb of Lebanon.
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The Nashville oval is a concrete-surfaced oval that is 1.333 miles (2.145 kilometers) long. However, the official track name, Nashville Superspeedway, is misleading. By definition, it is not actually a superspeedway. On one hand, the oval is less than two miles long, and on the other hand, the banking in the turns is a relatively moderate 14 degrees.
Strictly speaking, the Nashville Superspeedway is an intermediate oval, but in the IndyCar calendar it is even classified as a short oval. For comparison: the oval in St. Louis, where a race was held in early June, is only slightly shorter at 1.25 miles. The reason the currently used Nashville oval was given the “Superspeedway” label is purely marketing.
When the concrete oval was opened shortly after the turn of the millennium, the track operators wanted to distinguish it by name from the even shorter Fairgrounds Nashville Speedway. That is a classic short-track oval with a length of only 0.596 miles (0.959 kilometers), which was used by NASCAR before the turn of the millennium. It is located in the middle of the city of Nashville.
There have never been IndyCar races at the Fairgrounds Nashville Speedway, but from 2021 to 2023 on the spectacular city circuit in Nashville. This was characterized, among other things, by its two long bridge sections and an extremely tight track section. In 2024, the IndyCar caravan moved back from downtown to the Nashville Superspeedway, where it last raced in 2008. A return to downtown is not completely off the table for the medium term future.
Mick Schumacher: No Nashville experience, but new sponsor
In the 2026 IndyCar calendar, Nashville is the twelfth of a total of 18 season races and the fourth of six oval races. Mick Schumacher has performed at least as well on ovals as on road courses, sometimes even better. In Phoenix, he finished 18th, also 18th at the Indy 500, and in St. Louis he achieved his best result of his rookie season with 16th place. In qualifying, his fourth starting position at the Phoenix oval clearly stands out.
However, the Nashville oval is the only oval on the calendar where Mick Schumacher did not test before the race weekend. What the rookie from Germany will achieve over the weekend remains to be seen and will also depend on how well Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing (RLL) is positioned overall.
In the past two years, since the comeback in the IndyCar calendar, the highlights for the Rahal team on the 1.333-mile oval have been modest. They were a 19th place in qualifying (Pietro Fittipaldi 2024) and an 18th place in the race (Devlin DeFrancesco 2025).
Mick Schumacher will appear at the Nashville weekend with a new main sponsor for his Rahal Honda with car number 47. It is Nereus, a product of the pharmaceutical company Vanda for the prevention of travel-related discomfort. Schumacher will race with the white-green-blue design at a total of four races this season. Besides Nashville, these are Portland (August 9), Washington (August 23), and Laguna Seca (September 6).
IndyCar Nashville 2026 Schedule (CEST)
Seven hours must be subtracted for local time.
Saturday, July 18
4:00 PM – 5:00 PM: 1st Free Practice
9:00 PM – 10:00 PM: Qualifying
Sunday, July 19
12:05 AM – 12:45 AM: Special Practice (High Line Practice)
1:00 AM – 2:00 AM: 2nd Free Practice
11:40 PM: Race start *
* The race start time in Nashville is not fixed. Because the US TV channel Fox will first broadcast the World Cup final and then the IndyCar race live on July 19, the IndyCar start time may be pushed back. This will happen if the soccer final between Argentina and Spain goes into extra time (race start at 12:20 AM CEST) or even a penalty shootout (race start at 12:40 AM CEST).
The “High Line Practice,” the special practice before the final practice, is a deliberately scheduled session in which the IndyCar drivers run the outside lane of the oval to lay down tire rubber and thus grip for the race.
Livestream and TV Broadcast IndyCar 2026
The TV rights in Germany for the 2026 IndyCar season are split, but the series is not available on free TV: As usual, the pay-TV channel Sky in Germany broadcasts all IndyCar races – again on Sky Sport F1, the channel that primarily covers Formula 1. (IndyCar 2026 on TV and livestream: All details)
Photo gallery: Mick Schumacher’s results in the 2026 IndyCar season
Motorvision is another pay-TV channel that has been broadcasting IndyCar races live since 2025. The coverage is broadcast via Motorvision+ and is available not only in Germany but also in Austria and Switzerland.
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There is also a paid offer from IndyCar with livestreams of all sessions on the official website Indycarlive.com. These can also be watched “on demand” at any time.
Saturday, July 18
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM: 1st Free Practice (Sky)
9:00 PM – 10:00 PM: Qualifying (Sky)
Sunday, July 19
1:00 AM – 2:00 AM: 2nd Free Practice (Sky)
11:30 PM – 2:00 AM: Race live (Sky)
11:30 PM – 2:00 AM: Race live (Motorvision+)
Monday, July 20
10:00 PM – 12:00 AM: Race replay (Sky)
Entry list IndyCar Nashville 2026
In the 2026 IndyCar series, 25 drivers from ten different teams are registered. All 25 cars have a so-called charter, which entitles them to start all races but also obliges them to do so. Guest starters in the form of additional entries are still allowed at all races until the end of the 2026 season, from 2027 only at the Indy 500.
All rookie cars in the IndyCar series are marked with a yellow marking on the rear so that those behind know they are dealing with an inexperienced driver. (Overview: Mick Schumacher and his 24 opponents in detail)
#2 – Josef Newgarden – Team Penske – Chevrolet
#3 – Scott McLaughlin – Team Penske – Chevrolet
#4 – Caio Collet – A.J. Foyt Enterprises – Chevrolet (Rookie)
#5 – Patricio “Pato” O’Ward – Arrow McLaren – Chevrolet
#6 – Nolan Siegel – Arrow McLaren – Chevrolet
#7 – Christian Lundgaard – Arrow McLaren – Chevrolet
#8 – Kyffin Simpson – Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda
#9 – Scott Dixon – Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda
#10 – Alex Palou – Chip Ganassi Racing – Honda
#12 – David Malukas – Team Penske – Chevrolet
#14 – Santino Ferrucci – A.J. Foyt Enterprises – Chevrolet
#15 – Graham Rahal – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Honda
#18 – Romain Grosjean – Dale Coyne Racing – Honda
#19 – Dennis Hauger – Dale Coyne Racing – Honda (Rookie)
#20 – Alexander Rossi – Ed Carpenter Racing – Chevrolet
#21 – Christian Rasmussen – Ed Carpenter Racing – Chevrolet
#26 – Will Power – Andretti Global – Honda
#27 – Kyle Kirkwood – Andretti Global – Honda
#28 – Marcus Ericsson – Andretti Global – Honda
#45 – Louis Foster – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Honda
#47 – Mick Schumacher – Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing – Honda (Rookie)
#60 – Felix Rosenqvist – Meyer Shank Racing – Honda
#66 – Marcus Armstrong – Meyer Shank Racing – Honda
#76 – Rinus “VeeKay” van Kalmthout – Juncos Hollinger Racing – Chevrolet
#77 – Sting Ray Robb – Juncos Hollinger Racing – Chevrolet
Data on the Nashville Superspeedway
Type: Short Oval
Location: Lebanon (Tennessee)
Length: 1.333 miles (2.145 kilometers)
Banking: 14 degrees (turns), 9 degrees (start/finish), 6 degrees (backstretch)
On the calendar since: 2001 (with interruption)
Race title: Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix
Race distance: 300 laps
Lap record: 23.271 seconds – 206.211 mph (331.793 km/h)
Lap record holder: Scott Dixon (2003)
Most poles: Scott Dixon (2)
Most wins: Scott Dixon (3)
All IndyCar winners in Nashville (oval only)
2025 (IndyCar): Josef Newgarden
2024 (IndyCar): Colton Herta
Not on the calendar from 2009 to 2023
2008 (IndyCar): Scott Dixon
2007 (IRL): Scott Dixon
2006 (IRL): Scott Dixon
2005 (IRL): Dario Franchitti
2004 (IRL): Tony Kanaan
2003 (IRL): Gil de Ferran
2002 (IRL): Alex Barron
2001 (IRL): Buddy Lazier
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