Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The final INDYCAR race of the season goes green Sunday afternoon.
The championship has been decided. But there is still a trophy at the finish line and plenty of questions remain about just how different the INDYCAR grid will look when the season opens next year at St. Petersburg.
Indy 500 champion Alex Palou also wrapped up the season championship two weeks ago at Portland.
For the second consecutive year, the finale will run at Nashville Superspeedway, a 1.33-mile concrete oval about 40 minutes southeast of Nashville. It comes on air on FOX on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET and the green flag for the 225-lap race is at 2:45 p.m. ET.
Here’s what you should know about this race.
Palou The Champion
Alex Palou clinched his third championship a year ago at Nashville. He didn’t wait as long this year to do it, as he clinched it two races ago at Portland.
With the championship locked up, it was easy for him to deal with a little bit of outside noise. And by outside noise, we mean rumors that there was interest from Red Bull to put him in a Formula 1 car.
The rumor has been denied by Palou, Ganassi and Red Bull brass. And Palou seemed to take it in stride. After all, who wouldn’t want to be considered for an F1 car?
Is a move to F1 in Palou’s future?
“It’s not a bad [news] rumor ,” Palou said. “As long as it’s not bad, it’s a good thing. I’m used to it being the bad way, so it’s OK to have an OK rumor.”
Palou reiterated that he is no longer seeking a ride in F1 as he was a few years ago.
“I’m not looking for it, but at the same time, you never know what opportunities can come in the future,” Palou said. “I’m not looking for it. I’m not asking for it. … You never say no to something you haven’t heard.”
Herta Defending Winner
Colton Herta won the race last year at Nashville.
“It’s a tough track,” Herta said. “You have a place like Nashville where the hard part about it is concrete, so it’s a little bit of a different feel when you’re driving.
“It’s kind of like you are on top of the track a little bit, the car kind of four-wheel slides a little bit more than if it was asphalt.”
Will Colton Herta win at Nashville again in 2025?
Herta has also been in the rumor mill. Could he possibly move to Formula 2 in preparation for a move to Formula 1?
“There’s no deal to do that,” Andretti team owner Dan Towriss said Tuesday. “But you never know what’s in the future.”
The Tires
Pato O’Ward finished second at Nashville last year and felt he didn’t have the correct tires on at the end. For context, teams have both primary and soft tire sets for the race. They must use at least one set of primaries and at least two sets of soft tires during the event.
The idea is to increase passing with the softer tires faster but only for a short period of time before they wear out and are slower than the primaries. There were also similar changes to Iowa to the aerodynamic package to create a little more drag in the car.
“Last year, I think the key factor [with tires] was probably where the caution fell, and that decided what tire you had started on, whether it was good or bad,” said veteran driver Scott Dixon. “So I think people will be looking into that quite a bit.
“You may see more of a uniformed approach from every team.”
Dixon Not Retiring
The six-time champion Scott Dixon has already started talking about what to improve on for next season. The 45-year-old driver, who has 23 years of INDYCAR experience, said he has had no change in plans.
He plans on racing in 2026.
“I’m good for a few more years,” Dixon said.
Scott Dixon plans to keep driving.
But other changes?
The big silly-season question is whether Will Power will return to Team Penske next year. It wouldn’t be much of a surprise if his future at Penske is revealed Sunday after the race or Monday.
If he leaves, David Malukas would be the expected replacement. And Power would need to find a ride.
Another driver who could be up in the air is Robert Shwartzman, who said he is under contract with Prema for next year. As far as the series, he said that’s up to team management to decide his future.
Rookie Of The Year
Shwartzman is eight points behind Louis Foster in the battle for the award for the top rookie.
For Foster, being the top rookie would be an accomplishment.
“You get more money. It’s a good title,” Foster said. “You only get to win a rookie deal once. … You only get one shot at it. It’s super important for me and also the team to try and wrap that up. It’s good momentum going into next year.”
Will Robert Shwartzman pass Louis Foster and win Rookie of the Year?
For Shwartzman, it would be an accomplishment. But few would argue that his Indianapolis 500 pole is his biggest feat in 2025.
“Rookie of the Year — it’s a good thing. It’s a nice bonus, but the Indy 500 is the biggest race in the world and that’s the biggest qualifying,” Shwartzman said. “There is nowhere such a big qualifying, even in Formula 1. … It was a history-making moment.”
And the Schedule?
Teams are awaiting the 2026 INDYCAR schedule. Will Phoenix be part of a NASCAR-INDYCAR weekend in March? Will the Mexico race happen?
The latter question is obviously big for Mexican native O’Ward.
“I’m not going to say I’m fully confident, because in the last three weeks, I’ve heard yes, no, yes, no, no, no, no, yes, yes, no. So honestly, until I see it signed, confirmed that it’s done, I will believe it,” O’Ward said.
“If that is the case, I think it’s going to be phenomenal to go back there. I think it’s going to be the best event apart from the Indy 500.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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