IndyCar Plots Nashville Street Race for 2021

In 2019, Roger Penske purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the IndyCar Series and all of its properties. He set out and renovated the iconic venue ahead of Sunday’s Indy 500, and now he and IndyCar executives could be expanding with another race. The fan-favorite series could soon head to Music City.

According to Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal, IndyCar executives will fly to Nashville in the coming weeks for negotiations about a future race. They will meet with Music City Grand Prix and finalize a deal for a street race, which would take place in 2021. If completed, this would be the first new race in IndyCar since Penske’s purchase in 2019. It would also create even more reasons for tourists to visit the popular city.

The deal is not complete, but fans expect that IndyCar will soon make its way to Music City. One reason is that Stern previously reported on the ongoing negotiations back in June. He tweeted that “Music City GP is deep in negotiations with IndyCar.”

When the news broke, fans on social began laying out their dream tracks. Stern specifically mentioned that this is a street race as opposed to one on an oval, so the cars will travel through the city. Fans don’t know the exact route, but they are hoping that the race will go down Broadway and travel around Nissan Stadium.

Interestingly enough, this potential addition to the IndyCar schedule coincides with another major change in motorsports. NASCAR will make its long-awaited return to Middle Tennessee in 2021 with a race at Nashville Superspeedway. Dover International Speedway will drop from three events to two while the Cup Series heads to Lebanon, Tennessee.

“Thanks to the collaboration of Dover Motorsports and our broadcast partners, we are excited to bring NASCAR racing back to Nashville, a place where the passion for our sport runs deep,” NASCAR President Steve Phelps said in a statement. “The Nashville market is a vital one for our sport, and bringing NASCAR Cup Series racing to Nashville Superspeedway will be an integral building block in helping us further deliver on our promise in creating a dynamic schedule for 2021.”

This change will also impact Penske, considering that he also owns a very successful NASCAR team. Team Penske currently has three Cup Series drivers (Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Ryan Blaney) and one Xfinity Series driver (Austin Cindric). This group has secured six Cup Series wins in 2020, and five Xfinity Series wins. Now Penske’s team will search for more wins during a race at Nashville Superspeedway.