Penske’s Josef Newgarden wins wild 2025 IndyCar…

In the finale of a 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season defined by the things that went wrong, everything finally went right for Josef Newgarden at Nashville Superspeedway. “I’m just glad we got one without anything going wrong,” he said afterward.

Newgarden snuck past Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin after he got into the wall with 21 laps remaining and survived the final run with champion Alex Palou in his mirror to claim the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix. It was the two-time IndyCar champion’s first and only win of 2025, giving him 11-straight seasons with at least one IndyCar win.

“I’m happy to celebrate this team,” Newgarden said. “They deserve it. … They’ve done a great job.”

“Tough year” he later added. “Tough, tough year. But good to get a win here at the end.”

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing (Photo by: Penske Entertainment)

Palou followed Newgarden in second, coming .5021s shy of an eighth victory to close out a dominant 2025 campaign. The pair shared celebration after the race, with Newgarden climbing out of his machine and running into the crowd while Palou completed donuts in the infield grass.

McLaughlin got the best of a tense last-lap battle with Kyffin Simpson to claim the final podium spot. Simpson notched his best oval finish in fourth, with Conor Daly rising from 24th to secure fifth. Kyle Kirkwood, Felix Rosenqvist, Santino Ferrucci, Callum Ilott and Alexander Rossi completed the top 10.
Newgarden’s route to victory came at the expense of many other potential contenders.

Early frontrunner David Malukas saw his run undone from second when he got the worst of contact with the lap-down Louis Foster on lap 83. Vice-champion Pato O'Ward had the strongest car of the day, leading 116 laps from pole with little challenge outside of an early battle with Palou. But the Mexican star suffered a tire failure on lap 127 and slammed into the turn 2 wall, ending his day.

In what might be his final start for Team Penske, Will Power took the lead over from O’Ward only to suffer a disastrous pit sequence where he stalled and fell a lap down under the ensuing yellow. Power took the checkered flag in 21st, two laps down.

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske (Photo by: Penske Entertainment)

That confusing sequence briefly gave the lead to Rossi, but he was on an alternative strategy with older tires. Newgarden led those that had stopped, overtook Rossi and surged into the lead on lap 147.

He briefly fell to third on the final green-flag pit sequence, sliding long in the box and getting overtaken by McLaughlin and an undercutting Palou. But Newgarden followed McLaughlin past Palou shortly into the run and then took over the top spot when McLaughlin slid up into the outside wall.

Patricio O'ward, Arrow McLaren (Photo by: Penske Entertainment)

It was an unconventional path to victory lane, but one the No. 2 team was happy to follow at the end of the group’s most trying season to date.

Sunday’s race wraps up the 17-race IndyCar season. With the 2026 schedule unannounced to this point, the tour’s next race is uncertain. The traditional opener, St. Petersburg, has the earliest confirmed race date on March 1, 2026.

Photos from Nashville - Race

1 - 2
Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	Mph	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	J. Newgarden Team Penske	2	225	1:54'50.6727		156.342	4	51
2	A. Palou Chip Ganassi Racing	10	225	+0.5021 1:54'51.1748	0.5021	156.330	4	41
3	S. McLaughlin Team Penske	3	225	+0.7303 1:54'51.4030	0.2282	156.325	4	36
4	K. Simpson Chip Ganassi Racing	8	225	+0.9753 1:54'51.6480	0.2450	156.320	4	32
5	C. Daly Juncos Hollinger Racing	76	225	+2.2464 1:54'52.9191	1.2711	156.291	4	31
6	K. Kirkwood Andretti Global	27	225	+2.7078 1:54'53.3805	0.4614	156.280	4	28
7	F. Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing	60	225	+3.3243 1:54'53.9970	0.6165	156.266	4	26
8	S. Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises	14	225	+4.0825 1:54'54.7552	0.7582	156.249	4	24
9	C. Ilott Prema Racing	90	225	+5.4629 1:54'56.1356	1.3804	156.218	5	22
10	A. Rossi Ed Carpenter Racing	20	225	+7.2134 1:54'57.8861	1.7505	156.178	5	21
11	C. Herta Andretti Global	26	225	+7.8341 1:54'58.5068	0.6207	156.164	5	20
12	S. Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing	9	225	+8.4655 1:54'59.1382	0.6314	156.150	5	19
13	R. van Kalmthout Dale Coyne Racing	18	225	+8.9756 1:54'59.6483	0.5101	156.138	5	18
14	R. Shwartzman Prema Racing	83	224	+1 Lap 1:54'57.3910	1 Lap	155.495	4	16
15	M. Ericsson Andretti Global	28	224	+1 Lap 1:55'00.0004	2.6094	155.437	4	15
16	R. Robb Sting Juncos Hollinger Racing	77	224	+1 Lap 1:55'00.3255	0.3251	155.429	4	14
17	N. Siegel Arrow McLaren	6	224	+1 Lap 1:55'00.9229	0.5974	155.416	5	13
18	D. DeFrancesco Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	30	224	+1 Lap 1:55'01.2523	0.3294	155.408	5	12
19	M. Armstrong Meyer Shank Racing	66	224	+1 Lap 1:55'16.3704	15.1181	155.069	5	12
20	L. Foster Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	45	223	+2 Laps 1:55'14.0061	1 Lap	154.429	4	10
21	W. Power Team Penske	12	222	+3 Laps 1:55'02.8309	1 Lap	153.986	5	10
22	G. Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing	15	220	+5 Laps 1:55'07.3476	2 Laps	152.498	5	8
23	J. Abel Dale Coyne Racing	51	215	+10 Laps 1:52'40.2624	5 Laps	152.275	5	7
24	P. O'Ward Arrow McLaren	5	126	+99 Laps 1:04'01.8950	89 Laps	157.029	2	10	Accident
25	C. Lundgaard Arrow McLaren	7	123	+102 Laps 1:31'17.4740	3 Laps	107.517	2	5	Mechanical
26	D. Malukas A.J. Foyt Enterprises	4	82	+143 Laps 37'46.7321	41 Laps	173.208	1	6	Accident
27	C. Rasmussen Ed Carpenter Racing	21	0	+225 Laps 1.8378	82 Laps	0.000		5	Accident
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