Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Preview: Drivers To Watch

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This NTT IndyCar Series season has been an exciting one with many young and veteran drivers fighting for the top spot. The inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix will add to this season’s excitement as it will level the playing field since no one has driven on the newly designed Nashville course.

Before heading to the race, fans should know which drivers to look out for and which drivers may put on the best show.

The top drivers this season are Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, and Nashville native Josef Newgarden. Along with the top drivers in the standings, fans will get a chance to watch four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and 2021 winner Hélio Castroneves race in the streets of Nashville. Fans of Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive To Survive will also recognize fan favorite and former Haas driver Romain Grosjean in his rookie season in IndyCar. Additionally, NASCAR fans will be familiar with the No. 48 driver as seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson who will also be driving in the inaugural Grand Prix.

Now, let’s take a look at each driver, what to know about them, and how good their chances are to take the win.

Dixon is one of the most successful drivers in IndyCar history, winning 51 races, six championships, and one Indy 500. He is the reigning IndyCar champion and is currently sitting at third place in the standings with 328 points. A New Zealand native, he is in his 20th season in IndyCar and currently has the most wins among all active drivers. Since his win at the third race of the season at Texas’ Genesy’s 300, he’s finished in the top 10 six times, three of which were top five. As the most experienced and most successful driver in the series, he will likely race well in qualifiers, attempting to put himself in a great position to win.

In only his second IndyCar season, Palou, a native of Barcelona, is currently sitting in first place in the standings with 384 points. He has two wins this season–the first at Grand Prix of Alabama and the second at the REV Group Grand Prix–and finished second at the Indy 500. The 24-year-old started his racing career in Europe Formula 3 and made his open-wheel racing debut in the Euroformula Open Championship in 2014. Palou went on to win the Super Formula Championship race in 2019, and finished third in the Honda Indy 200 Mid-Ohio on July 4. He will be looking for his third win of the season in Nashville to help create some separation between him and the rest of the pack in the standings.

Josef Newgarden wins at The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio on July 4, 2021. Photo: Chris Owens/IndyCar Media

The driver set to get the most support from fans will most likely be Newgarden, a Nashville native and two-time IndyCar champion. Newgarden won the series championship in 2017 and 2019–his first year with Team Penske. He is a graduate of the Road to Indy, and he won the 2011 Indy Lights championship with five race victories. He’s won 19 races over his career and won his first race of the season on July 4 at the Mid-Ohio. He is currently sitting in fourth place in the standings with 315 points and will have the edge in the Grand Prix after coming off of a win and having the support and attention of his hometown crowd.

Hélio Castroneves after winning the Indy 500 on May 30, 2021. Photo Courtesy of IndyCar.

One of the most exciting drivers to watch will be Castroneves who has officially paved his way to racing immortality, winning the Indy 500 for his fourth win. The Brazilian has won 31 wins in his IndyCar career and is one of the most experienced drivers in the series alongside Dixon. Castroneves is sitting at 22nd in the standings, but he is the reigning Indy 500 winner so you can’t count him out just yet. With the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix being the most anticipated race of the year, he will be an exciting driver to watch on this newly designed track.

In his first season in IndyCar, Swiss born Grosjean has put up some great performances, picking up his first IndyCar pole in May at the Indianapolis Road Course. So far this season, he has had four top 10 finishes, including a podium at the GMR Grand prix where he finished second. Grosjean spent 10 years in Formula 1, five of them with Haas F1 team where he saw success and struggles. In his last year in F1, Grosjean suffered severe burns to his hands and feet after a devastating accident in the Bahrain Grand Prix where his car crashed into the dividers, split in half, and was engulfed in flames. He has had some success this season, but is due for another podium and even a win.

One name that will definitely stand out to NASCAR fans in this IndyCar season is Jimmie Johnson. Johnson has solidified himself as one of the greatest NASCAR drivers ever, winning seven cup championships–the most ever tied with Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt. He is in his first year in IndyCar after retiring from NASCAR in 2020, and is driving only road courses. Johnson has only one top 20 finish so far this season, finishing 19th at the Grand Prix of Alabama. He hasn’t had the most impressive rookie season, but he will be welcomed with a warm embrace in Nashville as a NASCAR legend.

Steven Boero
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