Rain and lightning shut down the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix Sunday evening, leaving fans at Nashville Superspeedway with no revised green-flag time after a scheduled 5:30 p.m. ET start time was pushed back.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES race was already sitting in a holding pattern before a drop fell, due to the FIAF World Cup Final also airing on FOX. Then storms piled a second delay on top of the first.
IndyCar officials said at about 7:30 p.m. that “Running the race this evening is our prime goal.”
But the race did not run this evening. The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix was postponed until Monday, July 20, at 3 p.m. ET, 2 p.m. CT.
“Track drying has begun here in Nashville for the INDYCAR race. No estimated start time as of yet,” reported veteran racing journalist Bob Pockrass, at about 8:05 p.m. ET.
About 10 minutes earlier, Pockrass reported that though rain had mostly let up there was “also potential for more rain” at Nashville SuperSpeedway.
But at 8:15 p.m. the cars’ engines were “being warmed up,” reported Christopher DeHarde of Frontstretch.
Sunday’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls was never going to start on schedule. FOX held the green flag for the World Cup Final between Spain and Argentina, and that game went to extra time before Spain finally won, 1-0, on a late goal from substitute Ferran Torres.
Post-game ceremonies from MetLife Stadium ate up still more of the clock.
By the time IndyCar was cleared to take the green, the sky had other plans. Lightning moved into the area first, then rain arrived behind it. Track crews have been drying the surface at Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.333-mile concrete oval, since. IndyCar does not run rain tires on ovals, so any standing water on the racing surface means the cars stay parked.
Sunday’s race is Round 12 of an 18-race schedule, the first Nashville night race and a scheduling twist built specifically around the World Cup lead-in, which makes tonight’s back-to-back delays especially rough for series officials chasing crossover eyeballs from the soccer broadcast.
Kyle Kirkwood’s Pole Sits in Limbo
Kyle Kirkwood is the one driver with the most riding on an actual green flag. The Andretti Global driver ran down Josef Newgarden for pole Saturday with a two-lap qualifying average of 196.852 mph, his first pole of the season and second career pole at the track.
“Quite honestly, it’s the car that Andretti gives me here,” Kirkwood said, according to Motorsport.com’s qualifying recap Saturday. “We were quick in practice. We’ve been good here the past couple of years.”
Newgarden, the track’s defending winner, qualified second at 196.642 mph. Both drivers have now spent hours waiting on weather instead of racing for position, and every minute lost narrows the window for a green-flag start under the lights.
A Forecast That Saw This Coming
The rain wasn’t a surprise. The National Weather Service had rain chances climbing toward 69% by 5 p.m. Central, according to a Yahoo Sports advance forecast, with thunder possible through the afternoon and evening.
That forecast is exactly why race officials built in room to wait out the World Cup broadcast rather than fight it. A crowded slate of support events, including an INDY NXT by Firestone race, a deadmau5 concert and a FOX World Cup watch party, filled the afternoon while officials watched the radar.
Kirkwood arrives with more than a trophy on the line. He trails four-time series champion Alex Palou by roughly 55 points, and a strong run at Nashville would be his best chance yet to close that gap before the summer stretch.
None of that matters until the track dries out.
Nashville Superspeedway’s own fan guide notes tickets are typically honored for a rescheduled date if a race can’t be completed, though officials haven’t signaled that outcome tonight — only that drying procedures remain underway.
Whether that chance for Kirkwood comes tonight, or after a longer wait than anyone at the speedway expected, remains the only question left unanswered.
Why Is the IndyCar Music City Grand Prix Delayed Today? When Will it Start?