# 2022 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix

The 2022 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix was the fourteenth round of the 2022 IndyCar season. The race was held on August 7, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee at the Nashville Street Circuit. The race consisted of 80 laps and was won by Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing.

## Entry list

| Key | Meaning |
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
| No. | Driver | Team | Engine |
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet |
| 5 | Patricio O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet |
| 06 | Hélio Castroneves | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda |
| 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet |
| 8 | Marcus Ericsson W | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Kyle Kirkwood R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet |
| 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 16 | Simona de Silvestro | Paretta Autosport | Chevrolet |
| 18 | David Malukas R | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports | Honda |
| 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet |
| 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet |
| 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport | Honda |
| 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda |
| 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti Autosport | Honda |
| 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco R | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda |
| 30 | Christian Lundgaard R | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 45 | Jack Harvey | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 51 | Takuma Sato | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda |
| 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda |
| 77 | Callum Ilott R | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet |
| Source: ||||

## Qualifying
### Qualifying classification

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Time | Time | Time | Time | Final grid |
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Round 1 | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Final grid |
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Group 1 | Group 2 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Final grid |
| 1 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:14.7742 | 01:14.6788 | 01:14.5555 | 1 |
| 2 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti Autosport | Honda | N/A | 01:15.1382 | 01:14.7679 | 01:14.6975 | 2 |
| 3 | 30 | Christian Lundgaard R | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:14.8331 | 01:14.8086 | 01:14.7149 | 3 |
| 4 | 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 01:15.9983 | N/A | 01:14.6437 | 01:14.9087 | 4 |
| 5 | 5 | Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:15.1494 | 01:14.9373 | 01:14.9261 | 5 |
| 6 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 01:16.7541 | N/A | 01:14.8284 | 01:15.1461 | 6 |
| 7 | 18 | David Malukas R | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports | Honda | 01:16.6882 | N/A | 01:14.9616 | N/A | 7 |
| 8 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:14.7460 | 01:14.9818 | N/A | 8 |
| 9 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:15.2383 | 01:15.3112 | N/A | 9 |
| 10 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 01:17.7101 | N/A | 01:15.3897 | N/A | 10 |
| 11 | 45 | Jack Harvey | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 01:16.6324 | N/A | 01:15.9758 | N/A | 11 |
| 12 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 01:17.7521 | N/A | 01:16.5600 | N/A | 12 |
| 13 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 01:19.4039 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 13 |
| 14 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:15.3179 | N/A | N/A | 14 |
| 15 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 01:21.1784 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 15 |
| 16 | 14 | Kyle Kirkwood R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:15.4382 | N/A | N/A | 16 |
| 17 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 01:21.4579 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 17 |
| 18 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson W | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:15.4501 | N/A | N/A | 18 |
| 19 | 77 | Callum Ilott R | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 01:57.6982 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 19 |
| 20 | 51 | Takuma Sato | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:15.5935 | N/A | N/A | 20 |
| 21 | 16 | Simona de Silvestro | Paretta Autosport | Chevrolet | No Time | N/A | N/A | N/A | 21 |
| 22 | 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | N/A | 01:16.3955 | N/A | N/A | 22 |
| 23 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | No Time | N/A | N/A | N/A | 23 |
| 24 | 06 | Hélio Castroneves | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:16.5898 | N/A | N/A | 26 |
| 25 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco R | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda | No Time | N/A | N/A | N/A | 24 |
| 26 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | N/A | 01:17.5888 | N/A | N/A | 25 |
| Source: ||||||||||

#### Notes

* Bold text indicates fastest time set in session.

## Race

The race was scheduled to start at 3:30 PM ET on August 7, 2022. However, lightning in the surrounding area caused a lightning hold to be initiated which delayed the start until 5:13 PM ET.
During the race, Marcus Ericsson was forced to give up three spots for getting out of formation and passing prior to the start of the race. On lap 3, Colton Herta bumped the wall while attempting to pass Dalton Kellett on the outside of turn 4. Herta was able to make it back to the pits where his car's nose was replaced. However the time this took put him a lap down. On lap 8, shortly after pitting, the rear wheels of Alexander Rossi's car locked going into turn 10. This stalled the engine and led to the first full course caution of the race. The track crew were able to re-fire Rossi's car, but he went a lap down while waiting to get restarted.
On lap 22, Helio Castroneves spun coming out of turn 3 but did not hit the wall. This brought out the second full course caution. Many teams opted to pit during this caution period. Álex Palou had pitted just prior to the caution period and therefore did not pit again. Pole sitter Scott McLaughlin had led the race to this point, but when he and many other drivers pitted, it gave the lead to Palou. On lap 26, shortly after the restart, there was a pileup as cars slowed heading through turns 6 and 7. This led to Graham Rahal hitting the back of Pato O'Ward who in turn tapped Will Power. The contact apparently broke O'Ward's gearbox and he was unable to continue. Rahal limped back to the pits, brushing the wall on his way. Further behind them, Callum Ilott stalled while Dalton Kellett and Simona De Silvestro received damage, ending their races. Scott Dixon was hit from behind but was able to continue.
After the restart, there were two separate incidents on lap 33. Alexander Rossi and Callum Ilott ended up in the turn 9 runoff area but were able to continue. Just beyond this in turn 10, Devlin DeFrancesco and Takuma Sato ended up in the wall, ending their race. These incidents brought out yet another full course caution, the forth of the race. On lap 52, Graham Rahal hit the wall in turn 4. Rinus VeeKay was unable to avoid Rahal and ran into the back of his car. Will Power and Jimmie Johnson—who were immediately behind—narrowly managed to miss the wreckage. VeeKay was able to limp back to the pits with front wing damage. Álex Palou had continued to lead the race until this point but pitted during the ensuing caution period. This gave the lead to Josef Newgarden on the restart. He was followed by Scott Dixon who had pitted twelve laps more recently than Newgarden.
On lap 64, Kyle Kirkwood attempted a late pass of David Malukas on the inside of turn 9. When Malukas turned into the corner, he sandwiched Kirkwood between himself and the inside wall. This resulted in both cars sliding into the outside wall, ending their races. During the caution, Newgarden pitted which gave the lead to Scott Dixon. The race resumed with 11 laps to go. Four laps later with just 7 laps to go, Jimmy Johnson spun toward the end of the straight heading toward turn 4 and hit the wall. This brought out the seventh full course caution. On the restart two laps later, Josef Newgarden attempted to pass several cars on the inside of turn 9 (the first corner after the restart line). He pushed Romain Grosjean into the outside wall, ending his race. IndyCar officials decided to red flag the race out of a desire to end the race under green. The race resumed with two laps to go with Scott Dixon still leading, a lead which he held on to until the end of the race. This win was Dixon's 53rd, placing him second in all time American open-wheeled race wins, winning more than any driver besides A.J. Foyt.

### Race classification

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Time/Retired | Pit Stops | Grid | Laps Led | Pts. |
| 1 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 80 | 02:06:24.2439 | 7 | 14 | 15 | 51 |
| 2 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 80 | +0.1067 | 3 | 1 | 22 | 42 |
| 3 | 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 80 | +0.6100 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 38 |
| 4 | 27 | Alexander Rossi | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 80 | +0.9412 | 5 | 17 | | 32 |
| 5 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Autosport with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 80 | +1.3942 | 4 | 23 | | 30 |
| 6 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 80 | +2.1828 | 4 | 6 | 12 | 29 |
| 7 | 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 80 | +2.8426 | 4 | 15 | | 26 |
| 8 | 30 | Christian Lundgaard R | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 80 | +3.2724 | 3 | 3 | | 24 |
| 9 | 60 | Simon Pagenaud | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 80 | +4.4000 | 3 | 13 | | 22 |
| 10 | 45 | Jack Harvey | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 80 | +5.1560 | 5 | 11 | | 20 |
| 11 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 80 | +6.7843 | 3 | 8 | | 19 |
| 12 | 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 79 | +1 Lap | 5 | 10 | | 18 |
| 13 | 06 | Hélio Castroneves | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 79 | +1 Lap | 9 | 26 | | 17 |
| 14 | 8 | Marcus Ericsson W | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 76 | Gearbox | 3 | 18 | | 16 |
| 15 | 77 | Callum Ilott R | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 76 | +4 Laps | 8 | 19 | | 15 |
| 16 | 28 | Romain Grosjean | Andretti Autosport | Honda | 75 | Contact | 2 | 2 | | 14 |
| 17 | 20 | Conor Daly | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 74 | +6 Laps | 4 | 22 | | 13 |
| 18 | 48 | Jimmie Johnson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 72 | Contact | 3 | 25 | | 12 |
| 19 | 14 | Kyle Kirkwood R | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 63 | Contact | 2 | 16 | | 11 |
| 20 | 18 | David Malukas R | Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Motorsports | Honda | 63 | Contact | 2 | 7 | | 10 |
| 21 | 51 | Takuma Sato | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | 32 | Contact | 1 | 20 | | 9 |
| 22 | 29 | Devlin DeFrancesco R | Andretti Steinbrenner Autosport | Honda | 32 | Contact | 2 | 24 | | 8 |
| 23 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 29 | Contact | 2 | 9 | | 7 |
| 24 | 5 | Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren SP | Chevrolet | 25 | Contact | 1 | 5 | | 6 |
| 25 | 4 | Dalton Kellett | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 25 | Contact | 1 | 12 | | 5 |
| 26 | 16 | Simona de Silvestro | Paretta Autosport | Chevrolet | 25 | Contact | 1 | 21 | | 5 |
| Fastest lap: Scott McLaughlin (Team Penske) – 01:15.7491 (lap 48) |||||||||||
| Source: |||||||||||

## Championship standings after the race

| | Pos. | Driver | Points |
| | 1 | Will Power | 450 |
| 2 | 2 | Scott Dixon | 444 |
| 1 | 3 | Marcus Ericsson | 438 |
| 1 | 4 | Josef Newgarden | 428 |
| 1 | 5 | Álex Palou | 417 |
| Source: ||||
| | Pos. | Manufacturer | Points |
| | 1 | Chevrolet | 1157 |
| | 2 | Honda | 1089 |
| Source: ||||
* Note: Only the top five positions are included.

## Footnotes

* ↑ Hélio Castroneves received a six-place grid penalty due to an unapproved engine change.