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Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix
Gladeville, TN - July 20, 2026

JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 ASTEMO CHEVROLET

START: 2ND 
FINISH: 2ND 
POINTS: 6TH (-147)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Astemo Chevrolet team had a shot to win their second consecutive Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway on Monday afternoon but could not make the final pass needed to get the victory, finishing second. The Nashville native began the race, which was delayed a day due to heavy rain on Sunday, from the second position and nearly took an immediate lead after a strong battle with Kyle Kirkwood over the opening laps. Newgarden settled in nicely on the hot track despite a near incident on Lap 72 when he and Kirkwood nearly came together off the second corner. After starting on the primary Firestone tire, the team elected to run their red, option tires on the second and third stints of the day to give themselves options as to which tire they would choose for the run to the checkered flag. Following a caution flag on Lap 182, they selected the red tires on their subsequent pit stop and lined up in the second position with 35 laps remaining. Despite Newgarden giving everything he had over the final laps, he was not able to muster one final move around Alex Palou and crossed the finish line in runner-up position.

NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: "It was a good day. Just a track position day. Good job by the Astemo crew, Team Chevy. It's just what we had today, so we'll finish second and go to the next one."

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN No. 3 ODYSSEY BATTERY CHEVROLET

START: 3RD 
FINISH: 4TH  
POINTS: 8TH (-162)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 Odyseey Battery Chevrolet team led 32 laps in Monday's Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix and used a late-race charge to score a fourth-place finish in Nashville. A strong, third-place qualifying effort on Saturday afternoon gave McLaughlin his fifth, top five starting position on the year. He and the "Battery Wagon" crew elected to begin the race on the primary Firestone tire, and they stayed inside the top five through the first stint. After pitting for the option tire on their first pit stop of the day at Lap 23, McLaughlin took control of the race for the first time on Lap 61. He would lead twice on the day as different strategies played out at the front of the field. Unfortunately, following the team's fourth pit stop of the day, McLaughlin was caught out by an untimely caution before the pit cycle could be completed, trapping him a lap down until he could take the wave around to restart the final stint from the 12th position. Propelled by the speed in his No. 3 Chevy and determined to make up the lost track position, McLaughlin went to work and made his way back inside the top five by Lap 205. Moving into the fourth spot behind his teammates, McLaughlin simply had used up his tires before he could climb further up the scoring pylon and finished with his fourth, top five of the year. 
 

MCLAUGHLIN'S THOUGHTS:  "Overall, a pretty good day for the Odyssey Battery Chevy. We went for the race win there in the pit sequence and we went back to 12th. Managed to come back through. Chevy power was great. We managed to get back to 4th, but I ran out of tire by the time I got to the leaders. I thought we had the car to beat today. I thought we had the car to beat today. We didn't win, but it's coming."

DAVID MALUKAS No. 12 VERIZON CHEVROLET

START: 25TH  
FINISH: 3RD  
POINTS: 2ND (-83)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: David Malukas has shown plenty of speed and skill in his first year behind the wheel of the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. In Monday's Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, he displayed grit and courage in scoring a third place finish, his fifth podium finish of 2026. After a hard accident in Saturday's practice session, Malukas spent the rest of the afternoon being attended to by doctors - both at Nashville Superspeedway and at a local hospital - before returning to lead the final practice session that evening. He was likely the driver that benefited the most from the race moving to Monday due to weather, giving him an extra day of rest. After missing qualifying and receiving a grid penalty for an engine change, Malukas started last in the 25-car field. He and race strategist Travis Law elected to stay out under the first caution flag on Lap 19, hoping to catch another yellow that would bring him down pit lane with the rest of the field to secure precious track position. When that did not occur, Malukas spent much of the afternoon cycling in and out of the lead until resetting their strategy following a Lap 123 caution. After restarting in the 13th position, Malukas made aggressive, masterful passes on a hot, slick track to race his way into the top five by the time the next caution flag flew on Lap 182. He stayed at the front of the field through his third place finish to score the Hard Charger Award for his efforts. 
 

MALUKAS' THOUGHTS: "Oh my goodness, that was a team effort. I've never driven so hard in my life. I feel like I needed to a proper recovery after that incident I made on myself. This team, Verizon, Team Chevy, anybody on board. Everybody worked so hard. The AMR Safety Team. It's so cool to see when you have all these people work on a collective project, you could see it come to fruition and it's going to happen. What a result, we needed that for the championship. We're still there, it was a good recovery."

The 13th round of the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season will be held at the 1.694-mile Portland International Raceway on August 9. Coverage begins at 4:00 pm ET on FOX.