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Marcus Ericsson used the slowed car in front of him as a launch pad and soared – with a hanging wing – Sébastien Bourdais’ Chevrolet. “I thought my race was over there,” Ericsson said.
The trail included a section of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge.
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Not in this wreck party. Call the latest IndyCar race winner Marcus Air-icsson.
Ericsson blocked the landing on his first racing flight and dodged further disasters on the perilous city streets of Nashville on Sunday to win the inaugural Music City Grand Prix.
“I’m just trying to figure out how I ended up winning the race after flying and seeing the sky,” he said.
Ericsson saved fuel and survived tough races from Colton Herta and Scott Dixon and won his second race of the season. He moved up to fifth in the IndyCar points race with five races remaining – 79 points behind leader Alex Palou.
Ericsson doesn’t have a deal with Chip Ganassi Racing for 2022 and said “I hope Chip is watching today.”
“My biggest wish is to continue here in Car 8,” Ericsson said.
He spun the highlight of the IndyCar long before the checkered flag when he jumped in the back of Bourdais’ Chevrolet and knocked the Frenchman out of the race. Ericsson’s airborne Honda needed a new front wing just five laps into the race and said he believed the car was going to break in half.
The 30-year-old Swede won as night fell in Nashville with Dixon, the six-time IndyCar champion, completing a late race.
Ericsson took a break when Herta rams his car into the tire barriers with five laps to go, ending his dominant weekend for Andretti Autosport. Herta dominated the first two practice sessions, won pole and her team were in “a league of ours”. He was winning over Ericsson and had overtaking potential on the horizon when he crashed his car. Herta buried her head in her hands in stunned disbelief.
“We had the car all weekend to win,” Herta said. “I just threw it away.”
Dixon finished second to give Chip Ganassi Racing a brace. James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal round out the top five.
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The Grand Prix was the first new street race added to the program in 10 years and enough fans to fill the crowded stands at Nissan Stadium, party near the live music stages and the 10-row deep lined fences with cameras raised to take a photo of the fastest newcomers in town.
“If there’s enough alcohol there, it’ll be a good show no matter what,” Dixon said.
The best seat in the house could have come without one, when fans stood high in the stadium lobby for a bird’s-eye view of one of the track’s 11 bends.
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The 2.17 mile course meandered through the stadium parking lot and on a 3,500-foot straight line that spanned the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge and suspended 80 feet over the Cumberland River.
“The track going downtown was so cool to run,” Ericsson said.
Better safe than sorry, the dive crews and boats were ready for emergencies.
The chaos was contained in the asphalt streets.
The Penske team riders interrupted the race a few laps later from Ericsson when Will Power dove inside Simon Pagenaud and pushed his teammate into the wall. This led to a huge pile-up of 10 races and the red flag was raised for about 20 minutes.
There were nine warnings and two red flags in the race.
“There was no flow in the race. It was like we had six races,” Dixon said.
CLASSIFICATION BY POINTS
Palou holds a 42 point lead over Dixon.
JIMMIE DAY
Jimmie Johnson continues to run into bumps on the road – or in his case, on a bridge – during his IndyCar rookie season. Johnson destroyed his car in the morning practice session for his second wreck of the weekend and was forced to use a spare car. He used a rescue car shared by his teammate Palou. He was recovered from the Penske crash and was disqualified when the No.48 crew worked on their Honda – Johnson even helped carry spare parts – under the red flag. Johnson was 26th.
“I’m having a blast, I’m learning a ton and every week I’m getting better and better,” Johnson said.
EXPANSION ARROW
McLaren Racing will purchase a majority stake in the Arrow McLaren SP racing team by the end of 2021 and plan to add a third car to its IndyCar lineup.
The squad will field cars this season for Pato O’Ward, who finished second in the points standings ahead of Sunday’s Music City Grand Prix, and Felix Rosenqvist. Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, said on Sunday he would like to add another full-time car in 2023 – maybe next season “if we can find the right combination”.
“We have the resources, so the economy is not a problem, but we want to drive three cars that win races and compete for the championship,” he said.
NEXT
IndyCar returns to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday and hits the road course.
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