The podium winners: Marcus Ericsson, Scott Dixon and James Hinchcliffe
Nashville: Honda’s Marcus Ericsson turned a spectacular start-line crash into an incredible victory on the streets of Nashville, Tennessee, as Honda NTT IndyCar Series drivers and teams dominated the inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.
In the first of many incidents in the 80-lap contest, Ericsson hit the back of Sebastien Bourdais’ A.J. Foyt Racing IndyCar, with Ericsson’s Chip Ganassi Racing machine rising high in the air after making wheel-to-wheel contact with Bourdais. Ericsson was assessed a stop-and-go penalty for avoidable contact, but came back to hold off a previously-dominant Colton Herta and score his second career IndyCar victory.
Honda drivers and teams swept the top seven finishing positions today, with every Honda team featuring at least one driver in the top 10. Behind Ericsson, team-mate and defending series champion Scott Dixon moved to second in the drivers’ championship standings with a second- place finish. Andretti Autosport teammates James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third and fourth, respectively; and Graham Rahal rounded out the top five for Honda.
In addition to Hinchcliffe, Ed Jones also had his best finish of 2021 in sixth for Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan. Championship leader Alex Palou ran seventh in a third Chip Ganassi Honda; while Helio Castroneves, in his first IndyCar race since winning the Indianapolis 500, finished ninth for Meyer Shank Racing.
Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Honda Race (Top 5)
1: Marcus Ericsson (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
2: Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)
3: James Hinchcliffe (Andretti Autosport Honda)
4: Ryan Hunter-Reay (Andretti Autosport Honda)
5: Graham Rahal (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda)
NTT IndyCar Series Manufacturers’ Championship
(After 11 of 16 rounds)
Honda - 959 points, Chevrolet - 838
NTT IndyCar Series Drivers’ Championship (After 11 rounds)
1. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda - 410 points [2 race wins]
2. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing Honda - 368 [1 win]
3. Pato O’Ward, Arrow McLaren SP - 362 [2 wins]
