Big Machine Music City Grand Prix 2023-08-06

Home / Sport / Motorsport / IndyCar Series / 2023 / Big Machine Music City Grand Prix

Event
Big Machine Music City Grand Prix

Date
Sun 6th August 2023 (UTC)
Sun 6th August 2023 (Local)

Timestamp
2023-08-06T00:00:00

Time

00:00:00 UTC (00:00:00 Local)

Poster

Your Rating (Click a star below)

Star off icon

Total Rating
Star Icon (0 users)

Thumb

Square Poster

League
IndyCar Series

Season
2023

Round
13

Status

Location
Nashville Street Circuit

Video Highlights

Description

The Music City Grand Prix, known as the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix for sponsorship reasons, is an IndyCar Series race held at the Nashville Street Circuit in Nashville, Tennessee. Marcus Ericsson won the inaugural event in 2021.

History
Background
On September 16, 2020, the IndyCar Series announced the addition of the Music City Grand Prix as a street circuit race in downtown Nashville for its 2021 schedule. This announcement came after three years of discussion between Nashville sports and tourism officials and IndyCar executives, which had previously resulted in three failed proposals for a race in Nashville. Two of the three failed attempts, which occurred in 2010 and 2015, respectively, were led by former Pocono Raceway president Joseph Mattioli III. The Music City Grand Prix is privately funded and has a three-year contract for IndyCar Series races. Nashville's successful hosting of the 2019 NFL Draft was one of the deciding factors in the race becoming a reality, according to Penske Entertainment Corporation President and CEO Mark Miles. The Tennessee Titans serve as a host for the race.

Two-time IndyCar Series champion and Nashville-area native Josef Newgarden called the race "the number-one destination outside of the Indy 500". He further opined that "it is going to showcase the town of Nashville probably the best way possible." Nashville mayor John Cooper called the race "a catalyst for our economic recovery".

The Music City Grand Prix became the first new street circuit race for the IndyCar Series since the Grand Prix of Houston in 2013. It also became Nashville's first IndyCar race since the Indy 200 was held at Nashville Superspeedway between 2001 and 2008. The Music City Grand Prix was scheduled as the sixth street circuit race of the 2021 season, joining the doubleheader at Detroit along with races at Long Beach, St. Petersburg, and Toronto. All of these races have been run since at least 2012, however, and more recent events on street circuits have already become defunct, including races in Baltimore, Boston (which was never held), and Houston.