IndyCar at Nashville: How to watch, start times, TV info and live streaming, schedule

By
Nate Ryan,

By
Nate Ryan

Published August 7, 2022 02:00 AM

IndyCar Nashville start times: A few new course wrinkles will await a new points leader as the NTT IndyCar Series arrives for the second annual Music City Grand Prix.

After a highly successful but caution-plagued inaugural event, IndyCar officials and race organizers have made some layout tweaks to avoid some of last year’s traffic jams and bottlenecks on the 11-turn, 2.1-mile street course.

The restart zone has been moved from the finish line in front of Nissan Stadium to the exit of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge heading into Turn 9, which is the best corner for passing on the circuit.

RACE DAY UPDATE: Start of race delayed by lightning

Turn 9 also has been narrowed by 25 feet for one of several new suites that have been added on a street circuit expected to draw more than 100,000 fans to downtown Nashville this weekend.

Marcus Ericsson went airborne on Lap 5 en route to winning in Nashville last year after pole-sitter Colton Herta got off sequence with the dominant car and crashed while in pursuit.

Ericsson could use another momentum boost with four races remaining in the 2022 season, having fallen nine points behind Will Power (whose third at the Indianpaolis Motor Speedway road course marked his fourth podium in five races).

Nashville native Josef Newgarden also is firmly in the title hunt entering his home track after rebounding for fifth at Indy from his stunning crash at Iowa Speedway (and subsequent hospitalization for a postrace fall).

Here are the details and IndyCar start times for the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tennessee (all times are ET):

INDYCAR NASHVILLE MUSIC CITY GRAND PRIX START TIMES

TV: Sunday, 3 p.m. ET on NBC and streaming on Peacock, the NBC Sports App and NBCSports.com. Leigh Diffey is the announcer with analysts Townsend Bell and James Hinchcliffe. Kevin Lee, Dillon Welch and Dave Burns are the pit reporters. Click here for the full NBC Sports schedule for IndyCar in 2022.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for both practices and qualifying. (Click here for information on how to sign up for Peacock.)

TV UPDATE: Because of a weather delay, the conclusion of the race after 6 p.m. ET will be shown on CNBC and Peacock.

COMMAND TO START ENGINES: 3:23 p.m. ET

GREEN FLAG: 3:30 p.m. ET

POSTRACE SHOW ON PEACOCK: After the race’s conclusion, an exclusive postrace show will air on Peacock with driver interviews, postrace analysis and the podium presentation. To watch the extended postrace show, click over to the special stream on Peacock after Sunday’s race ends.

Peacock also will be the streaming broadcast for practices and qualifying. The race also will be streamed on Peacock (in addition to the NBC Sports App/NBCSports.com streams and the NBC broadcast).

INDYCAR RADIO NETWORK: The Music City Grand Prix IndyCar and Indy Lights races and all practices and qualifying sessions will air live on network affiliates, SiriusXM 160, racecontrol.indycar.com and the IndyCar app.

PRACTICE: Friday, 4:15 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Saturday, 12:15 p.m. (Peacock Premium); Sunday, 10:15 a.m. (Peacock Premium)

PRACTICE RESULTS: Session Il Session II l Warmup l Combined

QUALIFYING: Saturday, 4:30 p.m. (Peacock Premium)

STARTING LINEUP: Where everyone will be starting Sunday at Nashville

RACE DISTANCE: The race is 80 laps (168 miles) on an 11-turn, 2.1-mile street course in Nashville.

TIRE ALLOTMENT: Six sets primary, four sets alternate, one additional set available for rookies to use in first practice. Teams must use one new set of primary and alternate tires in the race. Teams must use one new set of primary and alternate tires for at least two laps in the race.

NEW ALTERNATE TIRE: Firestone will introduce a new and eco-friendly natural rubber guayule race tire for the first time in a race. The compound will be used as the alternate race tire (formerly known as the “red” tire) this weekend.

PUSH TO PASS: 200 seconds of total time with a maximum time of 20 seconds per activation. The push-to-pass will be available at the finish line after the initial start or restarts (which will take place coming off the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge entering Turn 9). The feature increases the power of the engine by approximately 60 horsepower.

FORECAST: According to Wunderground.com, it’s expected to be 90 degrees with a 37% chance of rain at the green flag.

ENTRY LIST: Click here to view the 26 drivers racing Sunday at Nashville.

INDY LIGHTS RACE: Sunday, 1:10 p.m., 35 laps/73.5 miles/55 minutes (Peacock Premium)

INDY LIGHTS ENTRY LIST: Click here for the 12 drivers entered