Lightning Delays Music City Grand Prix Start at Nashville

Showers and lightning in Middle Tennessee delayed the start of Sunday’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway, with track drying underway while officials waited for the weather to clear. Lightning sent teams back to the garage, and at one point officials said an updated start timeline was not immediately available.

The race had been set to begin after the FIFA World Cup final on FOX, and the planned start moved from 5:30 p.m. ET to about 6:20 p.m. ET, with engines scheduled to fire around 6:15 p.m. ET. The start time could change again if the final went to extra time or penalties, and the weather delay reduced the chance of a crossover audience from the soccer match to the race.

The NTT INDYCAR SERIES event was scheduled for 300 laps on the 1.33-mile concrete oval, marking the first time since Nashville returned in 2024 that the race was not the season finale. Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global won the pole with a two-lap average speed of 196.852 mph and was set to share the front row with 2025 Nashville winner Josef Newgarden. The race featured 25 cars and was carried live on FOX, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.