JULY 22, 2026

(Photo of Alex Palou by Joe Skibinski for Penske Entertainment)

One day after his native Spain won the FIFA World Cup, Alex Palou’s path to another championship cup – the Astor Challenge Cup – became considerably shorter after his victory Monday in the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls at Nashville Superspeedway. Reigning and four-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Palou took an 83-point lead – a gap of well more than a race’s worth of points – over David Malukas in the series standings with his fifth victory of the season and 24th career victory in this race that was delayed a day by rain. There are just six races remaining this season as Palou attempts to earn a record-tying fourth consecutive Astor Challenge Cup as season champion and fifth overall title. “That’s a pretty cool weekend for Spain,” Palou said. “It’s impressive what they did yesterday in the World Cup, and I’m happy to top it off today on Monday. My first-ever win on Monday – I’ve never raced on a Monday. So, pretty cool.” Palou, who started fourth, led the last 95 laps of the 225-lap race to beat the No. 2 Team Penske Astemo Chevrolet of reigning Nashville winner and recent series oval master Josef Newgarden by .8731 of a second. Malukas drove from 25th on the starting grid to finish third in the No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to INDYCAR Media)

(Photo of Josef Newgarden by James Black for Penske Entertainment)

Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Team Penske Astemo Chevrolet) finished second to Alex Palou by .8731 of a second.

(Photo of David Malukas by Joe Skibinski for Penske Entertainment)

David Malukas drove from 25th on the starting grid to finish third in the No. 12 Team Penske Verizon Chevrolet.

(Formula1.com)

Kimi Antonelli (No. 12 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team) won a closely contested Belgian Grand Prix, narrowly beating Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc (No. 16 Scuderia Ferrari) as Max Verstappen (No. 3 Oracle Red Bull Racing) settled for his third podium of the season in P3. The Italian resisted the pressure of a Safety Car restart as well as a late challenge from Leclerc after retaking the lead to take the checkered flag by 1.9s, securing his sixth race win of the 2026 season and first since the Monaco Grand Prix. Leclerc missed out on claiming consecutive victories but confidently held onto second place ahead of Verstappen, who crossed the line ahead of the second Ferrari of Hamilton (No. 44 Scuderia Ferrari) who had to serve a five-second time penalty for the collision with George Russell (No. 63 Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team) and was investigated after the race for an unsafe release. Watch the Race Highlights here. (Thank you to Formula1.com)

Editor's Note: This is our dearly departed billboard, which we had at Road America for several years. Peter gifted the phrase "America's National Park of Speed" to the track, which now uses it proudly in all of its communications. -WG

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG