It’s the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix this weekend on the 2.1 mile temporary street course in Nashville, Tennessee, the latest round of the 2022 NTT IndyCar Series. Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 302nd consecutive start, the second-longest streak in INDYCAR SERIES history
With his next win, Dixon will break a tie with Mario Andretti and give him sole possession of second on the INDYCAR SERIES all-time victory list with 53 wins
The 80-lap race is timed to go at 2:30pm on Sunday local time, 7:30am Monday NZ time).
NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Power 431, Ericsson 422, Newgarden 399, Dixon 393, O’Ward 385, Palou 379, McLaughlin 350, Rossi 318, Rosenqvist 299, Herta 285, VeeKay 282, Rahal 274, Pagenaud 262, Grosjean 259, Lundgaard 248, Daly 236, Malukas 221, Castroneves 207, Sato 199, Ilott 166, Johnson 166, Harvey 158, DeFrancesco 151, Kirkwood 133, Kellett 103, Tony Kanaan 78, Santino Ferrucci 71, Ed Carpenter 67, Tatiana Calderon 58, JR Hildebrand 53, Juan Pablo Montoya 44, Simona De Silvestro 21, Marco Andretti 17, Sage Karam 14, Stefan Wilson 10.
Here are the Fast Facts heading to Nashville
Will Power leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship with four races to go for the second time in his INDYCAR SERIES career. Power also led the championship with four races to go in 2010 but did not win the title. Power has led the point standings after three of the 13 races this season.
With his next pole position, Will Power will tie Mario Andretti for the INDYCAR SERIES record for most career poles with 67 … With his next win, Power will tie Michael Andretti for fourth on the INDYCAR SERIES all-time victory list with 42.
Since 2008 when INDYCAR SERIES racing unified under the NTT INDYCAR SERIES banner, the eventual series champion has won the 14th race of the season four times. The most recent occurrence was 2021 when Alex Palou won at Portland. Other drivers to win the 14th race of their championship season were Ryan Hunter-Reay (2012), Dario Franchitti (2009 and 2010) and Scott Dixon (2008).
Key championship point statistic: Since 2008, the largest deficit overcome by the eventual champion was 59 points by Dario Franchitti in 2010, while Scott Dixon overcame Juan Pablo Montoya’s 54-point lead in 2015. The top six drivers in the 2022 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship standings are separated by 52 points.
Point differential: The nine points that separate Will Power and Marcus Ericsson is the third-closest point margin since 2008. Before this season, the average lead with four races to go since 2008 was 37.6 points.
There have been eight different winners in 13 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in the 2022 season. Scott McLaughlin (Streets of St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course), Josef Newgarden (Texas Motor Speedway, Streets of Long Beach, Road America, Iowa Speedway-1), Pato O’Ward (Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway-2), Colton Herta (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-1), Marcus Ericsson (Indianapolis 500), Will Power (Raceway at Belle Isle Park), Scott Dixon (Streets of Toronto) and Alexander Rossi (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course-2) have all won in 2022. The record for most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix will be 14th race of the 2022 season and the fifth and final temporary street circuit race of the 17-race NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. Team Penske has won three of the previous four events with Scott McLaughlin winning St. Petersburg on Feb. 27, Josef Newgarden winning at Long Beach April 10 and Will Power winning at the Raceway at Belle Isle Park on June 5. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon won at Toronto on July 17.
Firestone will use the racetrack as a proving ground to demonstrate the performance of a new sustainable natural rubber derived from guayule, a desert shrub grown in the American Southwest. Firestone Firehawk race tires made with guayule-derived natural rubber were introduced at the Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge in May and will make their competition debut as the alternate race tire at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix in Nashville. The guayule natural rubber is located within the Firestone Firehawk’s sidewall.
Bridgestone race tire engineers decided to use the guayule rubber in the entire sidewall because that area is made up of the most natural rubber. This allows Firestone to maintain the same quality and performance as the existing race tire. Bridgestone plans to incorporate guayule natural rubber into more of its race tires starting in 2023.
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