NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Defending Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix winner Josef Newgarden leads a group of four previous Nashville NTT INDYCAR SERIES race winners looking to add their faces to the Borg-Warner Trophy at the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge on May 24.
Newgarden, a two-time Indy 500 winner, is joined in the field of 33 by a trio of winners from the streets of Nashville in Kyle Kirkwood, Scott Dixon and Marcus Ericsson. The only Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix winner not at IMS this month is Colton Herta.
Here’s a look at each recent Nashville winner’s season thus far, and each driver's prospects at Indianapolis.
Josef Newgarden – 2025 Winner
The Nashville native capped an otherwise disappointing 2025 campaign by taking the checkered flag at Nashville Superspeedway last fall for Team Penske. He’s a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and one of nine past winners in the field this year. Newgarden’s 2026 campaign has him fifth in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, thanks mostly to a victory at Phoenix in March.
This year, Newgarden was fast in the Sonsio Grand Prix to start the month of May, qualifying 10th before finishing fourth. A victory this Memorial Day weekend would make Newgarden the 11th driver to capture at least three Indianapolis 500 wins.
Kyle Kirkwood – 2023 Winner
Kyle Kirkwood won the 2023 edition of the race, the last held on the streets of Nashville, before the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix shifted to Nashville Superspeedway. It was the second-career win for the Andretti Global driver. He enters the Indy 500 second in the championship standings thanks primarily to a win at the inaugural Java House Grand Prix of Arlington in March.
He finished in the top five of each of the first five races this season before placing ninth in the Sonsio Grand Prix. Kirkwood’s best finish at the Indy 500 was seventh place in 2024.
Scott Dixon – 2022 Winner
The Chip Ganassi Racing legend captured his fourth Nashville victory on the downtown street circuit in 2022. He had previously won three-straight INDYCAR races on the oval at Nashville Superspeedway from 2006-08. The New Zealander won the Indy 500 in 2008 among his 59 NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories, the most of any active driver. Since his 2008 victory, Dixon has finished in the top-five on seven occasions, including a third-place finish in 2024.
Dixon currently stands sixth in the championship standings with a top finish of third in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. He’s coming off a sixth-place showing in the Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Marcus Ericsson – 2021 Winner
The 2022 Indy 500 winner won the first race on the streets of Nashville in 2021. It was his second victory of the year, following his win on the streets of Detroit. Ericsson captured the 2022 Indy 500 before he placed second to Newgarden one year later.
This year, Ericsson will look to reverse a trend of tough luck at IMS, having placed 33rd and 31st in the last two Indy 500s, while he’s coming off a 22nd-place finish in this year’s Sonsio Grand Prix.
He currently sits 12th in the championship standings with a top finish of fourth in the Java House Grand Prix of Arlington, where he started on the pole.
Indy 500 Watch Party
The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix has partnered with Beyond the Edge in East Nashville (112 S 11th St, Nashville, TN 37206) to host a watch party for the 110th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge live on FOX.
The party begins at 11:30 a.m. CT with drink specials, trivia and Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix ticket giveaways for race fans as they wait to see who captures “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
