Sunday’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City GP is On Tap Next for Rahal, Foster and Schumacher

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix – Nashville Superspeedway
Pre-Race Notes
Round 12 of 18 in the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES

DATE:     July 18-19, 2026

PRACTICE BROADCAST:     Live on FS1 on Saturday from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. ET and FS2 from 6:00 – 7:00
p.m. ET. Also live on the INDYCAR Radio Network (IRN) and www.indycar.com (timing & scoring + live analysis).

QUALIFYING BROADCAST:     Live on FOX, the IRN and www.indycar.com from 3:00 – 4:00 p.m. ET Saturday.

RACE BROADCAST:     Live on FOX on Sunday, July 19 from 5:30 – 8:00 p.m. ET. And also on the IRN Sirius
XM INDYCAR Nation 218.

TRACK LAYOUT:     1.33-mile, D-shaped oval
RACE LENGTH:     300 laps (up from 225 in 2025) / 399 miles

2025 WINNER:     Josef Newgarden
2025 POLESITTER:     Pato O’Ward (202.621 mph)

RAHAL’S BEST START / FINISH AT NASHVILLE (OVAL):     10th in 2008 / 12th in 2008; will be his fourth race here
RAHAL’S BEST OVAL START / FINISH:     Pole (Kansas 2009) / 1st (Fontana 2015; Texas 2016)
RAHAL’S HIGHEST SERIES START / FINISH:     5 poles – Pole at St. Pete (street) 2009, Kansas (oval) 2009, Detroit Race 1 (street) 2017, IMS (road) 2023 August, Portland (road) / 6 wins – 1st in St. Pete in 2008, Fontana & Mid-Ohio 2015, Texas 2016, Detroit Race 1 & Race 2 2017

FOSTER’S BEST NASHVILLE START / FINISH:     23rd / 20th – 2025; will be his second INDYCAR race here
FOSTER’S BEST OVAL START / FINISH:     12th (Iowa 1 2025) / 12th (Indy 500 2025)
FOSTER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     Pole at Road America 2025 / 11th (Indy GP and Road America 2025)

SCHUMACHERS BEST START / FINISH AT NASHVILLE:     Will be his first race here
SCHUMACHER’S BEST OVAL START / FINISH:     4th (Phoenix 2026) / 16th (WWTR 2026)
SCHUMACHER’S BEST SERIES START / FINISH:     4th (Phoenix oval 2026) / 16th (WWTR oval 2026)

RLL’S BEST START / FINISH AT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY:     1st by Buddy Rice in 2004 / 4th by Danica Patrick in 2006

NEWS & NOTES:

NASHVILLE AND RAHAL LETTERMAN LANIGAN RACING
The 2026 Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix will mark the third consecutive return to oval racing in Nashville for INDYCAR, who held three races on the streets of downtown Nashville from 2021-2023. Prior to the return in 2024, the series previously conducted eight races on the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway oval from 2001-2008. The team’s highest start at the superspeedway is pole in 2004 by Buddy Rice and highest finish is fourth with Danica Patrick in 2006.

GRAHAM IN NASHVILLE
The 2026 race will mark the fourth time Graham will race at Nashville Superspeedway. His best start and finish came in his first race at Nashville Superspeedway in 2008 where he started 10th and finished 12th with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in a rain-shortened event. In 2024, he started 19th and finished 23rd and in 2025, he started 21st and finished 22nd. His best start on the streets of Nashville is ninth in 2022 and best finish is fifth in 2021. Rahal anticipates two key factors will be making the correct strategy calls in the longer race and maximizing the setup with Firestone’s new right front tire.
“We struggled last year in Nashville, but we have made some improvements on ovals since then which we showed at Phoenix and others. We struggled at St Louis a little bit and I think Nashville, because of the speed, is going to challenge us a little more than the others although running a new right front tire there may be a little bit better for us. We’re using a new iteration of the wider right front tire that we have used at a few other places. We will continue to make improvements on our oval performance a priority. We need to get the rear of our car to show some signs of grip so there is work to be done there for sure. It’s hard to make improvements with limited testing. Having said that, we just tested at Milwaukee for that doubleheader but that track is very, very different from Nashville. It really doesn’t relate much but we will continue to try things and see if we can head this thing down the right path. Obviously adding 75 laps makes the race a lot longer than last year. I don’t know if it will physically affect drivers much but the strategy will be completely up in the air. It will be an exciting one.”

LOUIS FOSTER AT NASHVILLE SUPERSPEEDWAY
Foster will make his second INDYCAR start here this weekend. Last year, he clinched the Rookie of the Year honors with a 20th place finish after starting 23rd. Foster won Rookie of the Year by a 213-211 margin. He competed in the INDY NXT race here in 2024 where he led all 65 laps from pole to win the event. His top oval start this year is 16th in Phoenix and his top oval finish this year is 20th at WWTR.
“We have obviously put a ton of effort into improving on the ovals and we’ve had some better performances but obviously we continue to try to improve and be faster.  Development of this car is tricky as its towards the end of its lifespan. This car has been around for a long time so it’s hard to make improvements but we’re working hard to do so. I think the most challenging part is probably navigating the bump at turn three. The series is decreasing the amount of aero we can run this year so the maximum rear wing angle is decreased from last year so there will be a bit of tire wear in play for the race for sure so that will be challenging, especially with the race being 75 laps longer, managing tire wear will be even more important.”

SCHUMACHER’S DEBUT IN NASHVILLE
The Nashville Superspeedway race will mark Schumacher’s fourth oval event in his rookie INDYCAR season and the first one he will not have tested at prior to race weekend. His overall INDYCAR top start and finishes have come at oval tracks, and he has acclimated well as the most novice of all drivers in the field in terms of oval experience. He is looking forward to getting on track to add to his experience.
“Overall, the oval performance has been improving. Personally, I’ve felt like I’ve been able to get the hang of it and find a good groove with the ovals. The team has been a huge impact on that and has prepared me well for these type of events.
“Nashville is the only oval that I will go to without testing. It’s one of the ovals that is pretty quick and there is a new front right tire for everybody so it will be interesting to see how that works out. I feel like I adapted to the ovals well. It’s been good to do these tests but also do the races. I feel like the one place I’ve learned the most from was the Indy 500, and I really, really enjoyed that. I feel like a lot of things that I’ve learned there, I can use and utilize at other ovals and even though they’re short ovals, they’re still by no means to be disregarded. But definitely after having raced in the Indy 500, I understand how difficult it is to race on the ovals and definitely appreciate a lot more the difficulty of Indy itself. But because it was so difficult, it made some of the other ovals a little bit easier for me to go there. I think that St. Louis, in terms of performance, was a bit unfortunate with the weather and the fact that we were starting (qualifying) first made things a bit difficult but nonetheless, hopefully for Nashville with the weather the way it is and with the timing of the qualifying, hopefully it will be similar to Phoenix, where the temperature might actually tend to rise throughout the afternoon, where when I started at the beginning of qualifying, I might actually have some cooler conditions. Now I’m better prepared than what happened at the start (of the season) in Phoenix.
“Goals for the upcoming races are still just the same — work at getting a clean weekend. I think that’s been the most important part of this year so far. It’s just been so difficult to have clean weekends. I feel like every time it was one thing or another thing and hopefully over the next couple of weekends can be stopped and have a consistency going. Hopefully with Todd being on the car now, that will be a positive for us and we can really work on getting the car dialed in to how I like it without having to switch it over again shortly before qualifying.
“The additional length will definitely have an impact on drivers. It’s a brutal race already. The short ovals are quite tough to say the least. Luckily, we have the availability to run a cool suit. With Nashville being pretty south, it will be warm. It’s one of those races where you want to be hydrated, stay as cool as you can. You want to kind of manage your weekend a little bit from the time that you arrive there. Luckily it is only a two-day event which makes things a bit easier to manage but nonetheless, it’s still a hectic Saturday with free practice one, qualifying and then free practice two. And then with the race being a super long one. I’m looking forward to it and all the races that are yet to come that I get to experience for the first time.”

POINT STANDINGS AFTER 11 OF 18 RACES
Heading into Round 12 at the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway, Rahal is ranked 13th overall with 218 points, only four points out of the top-10. Foster is 18th with 159 points and Schumacher is 25th with 108, 37 points out of 20th.

THIRD PLACE – FIRESTONE PIT STOP CHALLENGE
After the conclusion of the Mid-Ohio race, the No. 15 crew dropped from second to third in the Firestone Pit Stop Standings to Scott Dixon’s No. 9 Chip Ganassi Racing crew, 308, and Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 Team Penske crew, 307. They are only eight points from the lead with 296 points after 11 of 18 races.