INDYCAR - Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix
Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix
Gladeville, TN – July 20, 2026
JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 PPG 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.”
