It's official: Music City Grand Prix moving to heart of downtown Nashville as 2024 IndyCar season finale
IndyCar and Big Machine Music City Grand Prix officials jointly announced Thursday the 2024 NTT IndyCar Series finale will move to Nashville for Sept. 13-15.
It means IndyCar's three-year contract with the Music City Grand Prix, which expires Sunday, will be extended at least through 2024. A new course was needed due to construction of the Titans new stadium.
Next year's course will be different from the previous three. It will be a 2.17-mile, seven-turn circuit that continues across the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge and for the first time go directly past the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The course will run through the city’s honky-tonk district, and the finish line will be in front of the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
It also was announced that the 2024 IndyCar victory lap celebration will take place Sept. 16 at the symphony center. The IndyCar series champion and other awards are presented annually at the event.
“The fact that IndyCar has chosen Nashville and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix as the crowning event is a testament to our fans, partners, stakeholders and truly the Nashville hospitality industry as a whole,” said Matt Crews, CEO of the Music City Grand Prix. “The ability to promote our city and state year-round and bring our race into the heart of Nashville is an absolute honor. The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix continues to grow to levels that I never dreamed could have been possible.”
This year's Music City Grand Prix is Sunday (11:30 a.m., NBC). In its inaugural year, a total of 130,000 fans attended the three-day festival, and 117,000 attended last year.
Gov. Bill Lee pointed out having 2023 Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden, a two-time IndyCar Series champ and Nashville resident, makes the city a good fit for the season finale.
“Tennessee is already leading the nation in automotive manufacturing, hospitality and entertainment, and this announcement takes it to the next level, as the focus will be on world-class racing in the Volunteer State for the entire 2024 IndyCar season,” Lee said in a statement. “As the home state of two-time series champion and current Indianapolis 500 champion, Josef Newgarden, it just makes sense that Tennessee would host one of the biggest races of the season.”
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It did not take long, Newgarden said, for Nashville to become a popular city among his fellow IndyCar drivers.
"As a driver, and to speak on everybody's behalf, we all love coming to Nashville and racing in this event," Newgarden said. "It is a big bucket list for anybody that is in motorsports. Nashville to me is the best of the best at music and entertainment and sports, and with IndyCar you have the best of the best with sports and entertainment in the motorsports realm."
The 2024 season finale is shifting from the WeatherTech Raceway in Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. That race will remain on the schedule, but details have not been announced.
"WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca remains a beloved, historic venue for our teams, drivers and fans in an important and scenic market,” said Mark Miles, president and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corp. "Next year’s race in Nashville will be an unbridled celebration of the most fierce and competitive motorsport on the planet, set against the backdrop of an innovative and breathtaking stage that includes one of the premier global entertainment districts in the world."
Miles said more details about the 2024 season finale in Nashville will come soon.
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Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on Twitter @MikeOrganWriter.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville gets IndyCar 2024 finale downtown at Music City Grand Prix
