A Chaotic Weekend in Nashville - IndyCar 2026 Round 12 Recap

A lot happened this weekend. There were several incidents across the practice sessions, rain delaying the race to Monday, and an adjustment in the race distance due to heat. With everything finally settled, let's take a look at what we can take away from this extended race weekend.

Palou's Return to the Podium

It's been three races since Alex Palou stood on the podium. At Nashville, he took the top step for his second career oval win. It's the same script we've seen countless times over the years. Palou gets a decent start for good track position, catches a lucky yellow or two to improve on it, and holds off his rivals in the closing laps for the win. Palou's championship lead has been shrinking over the past few weeks, so a win from him and a lackluster result for Kyle Kirkwood give him some much-needed breathing room.

A Solid Showing for Penske

If not for Alex Palou, it would have been a 1-2-3 finish for Team Penske. Most impressive was David Malukas. He suffered a massive crash in practice on Saturday, his knee hitting the steering wheel hard enough to knock it completely off its mount. He was eventually cleared to race, but the team couldn't get the backup car completed in time for qualifying. Some clever strategy brought him from dead last to the lead, and even after catching the wrong side of a couple of yellows, he still brought home a 3rd-place finish.

Josef Newgarden qualified 2nd and finished there, despite multiple slow pit stops from his team. It's fortunate that Newgarden is an oval specialist, but Penske has noticed that their advantage of strong pit stops seems to be going away as the rest of the field seems to be catching up to them this year. I wonder if this is a sign that Penske's pit stop dominance isn't as dominant as it used to be.

Rough Weekend for the Rookies

Caio Collet went out very early in the race. According to him, he was dealing with an ill-handling race car and tried to fix it with the in-car tools rather than take it easy and wait for pit stops. The fact that he recognized his error gives me hope, but it's still a bit of a setback for a driver hoping to find a promotion.

Caio Collet - Eliminated

Collet has clearly been the strongest rookie of the season, but he's also his own biggest enemy. Not all of his poor results are his fault, but the DNFs at Indy and Nashville speak for themselves. Hopefully he can learn from them, because the potential is there. He's just missing the experience.

Dennis Hauger was simply not very fast all day. From a 22nd-place qualifying position, he went a lap down early and ultimately DNFed for a 21st-place finish. It's a continuation of a very rough stretch for the Rookie of the Year leader.

Dennis Hauger - Eliminated

What the hell happened to Hauger? He was so impressive at the start of the season, and now he's only hanging on to the rookie points lead by sheer dumb luck. It's not even an issue of DNFs; he's just slow most weekends, even the ones where his teammate is quick. I know he's a rookie, but I was really expecting more after the showing at St. Pete.

Mick Schumacher, of all people, was the best of the rookies, finally bringing in his first top-10 of the season, finishing 8th. There aren't any qualifiers to that finish. He ran in and around the top 10 all afternoon and was on the same pit strategy as everyone else. This was a solid result purely on speed and merit.

Mick Schumacher - Eliminated

A top 10 isn't enough to save Schumacher from elimination. I wasn't expecting him to set the world on fire. I wasn't even really expecting him to be in contention for a win, but this? The racing IQ just isn't at the level of what I would expect from a former F1 driver. RLL is a dysfunctional organization, sure, but that car is capable of podium finishes. His Graham Rahal has confirmed that. What an utter disappointment of a driver.

A Decent Day for VeeKay

A 12th-place finish might not sound like much, but for a backmarker team like JHR, it's definitely not nothing. It continues VeeKay's form of taking underwhelming equipment and dragging it to strong results. It's a contract year for him, and I'm hoping he can find an upgrade from his current ride, although there aren't many seats available that fit that description.

Sting Ray Robb - Eliminated

The fact that Sting Ray hasn't been dead last for the entire season is just a testament to the incompetence of MicK Schumacher, not any sign of improvement from Sting Ray. He is the quintessential pay driver: utterly devoid of talent and completely forgettable until the leaders come by to put him another lap down. Money makes the world go 'round, but this guy is still just a complete waste of a seat.

Poor Showing From ECR

Short oval specialist Christian Rasmussen hit the wall hard enough to break a toe link, and while they were able to get the car repaired, he was only able to improve to 22nd by the end of the race. It's the Rasmussen experience: he goes all out, and sometimes he crosses the line.

Christian Rasmussen - Eliminated

This is what Rasmussen's big contract extension got him: eliminated from championship contention with a third of the season left to go. He's always been a one-trick pony, and it's shown this season. What on earth was ECR thinking?

Alexander Rossi had a bizarre DNF. He braked suddenly on the racing line, leaving Scott Dixon no room to do anything but plow into the back of him. Rossi claimed he was trying to get to pit road and put the blame on Dixon. I couldn't see anyone who bought that excuse. Rossi was past the commitment line by the time he braked and was a lane and a half off the bottom. He was never going to make it. What a moron.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

There are rumors that RLL is thinking about transitioning to a two-car team. Like I said earlier, RLL is pretty dysfunctional as a squad, and reducing the scope of the team might help push things in the right direction.

The first question is who could buy their charter. Dreyer & Reinbold Racing has been mentioned, but they're also allegedly in talks with Juncos Hollinger Racing, with Brad Hollinger looking to oust Ricardo Juncos. If that deal doesn't work, the RLL charter could help DRR return to full-time IndyCar racing.

The second question is what happens to Mick Schumacher. Graham Rahal and Louis Foster are signed through at least 2027, but Schumacher believes that his job is secure for next season, whether that's at RLL or somewhere else. That question still hinges on the sale of the charter, so there isn't much point in considering it until a deal is closer to completion.

Dale Coyne Racing

There can only be one at DCR. One of their cars is used to fund the other, and neither of their drivers has funding for 2027. Hauger is the young, exciting option, but Romain Grosjean is a known quantity, even if he's had a lackluster season overall. The question remains: which one stays?

Romain Grosjean - Eliminated

It hasn't been the fairy-tale return to DCR that Grosjean hoped it would be. He's had strong qualifying performances, but he still finds himself fighting for the bottom spot in the Leader's Circle.

Championship Standings

A strong day for Alex Palou and a poor day for Kyle Kirkwood have mixed up the championship battle. David Malukas retakes second in the standings, but has an 83-point gap to overcome. Kirkwood drops to 3rd, 87 points back. Christian Lundgaard had a rough day as well, but retains 4th, 104 points behind, while teammate Pato O'Ward is 121 back in 5th. Josef Newgarden, Felix Rosenqvist, and Scott McLaughlin hold serve for 6th, 7th, and 8th, respectively. Marcus Ericsson improves to 9th, while Rinus VeeKay rounds out the top 10.

Drivers are being eliminated at the bottom of the standings, but the Leader's Circle payout is still wide open. Sting Ray Robb has retaken sole possession of last place, with Schumacher and Collet rounding out the bottom 3. Christian Rasmussen has dropped onto the cutoff bubble, 14 points up. Romain Grosjean has improved to 18 points above the bubble, and Dennis Hauger is 20 points to the good.

Dennis Hauger retains the Rookie of the Year points lead. Caio Collet's DNF drops him to 20 points back, while Mick Schumacher closes in, 25 points out. With two ovals left on the schedule, if he can recreate the finish he got at Nashville, we might have a legitimate points battle among these three.

19 drivers remain mathematically in contention, although most of them will need a lot of help to have any chance. At this point, the top 3 are the only ones with a legitimate shot, and even then this is Palou's championship to lose again. We've seen weakness from Palou, but a win like this could be another shift in momentum, this time in his favor.

6 races remain. Sit back, pull those belts tight, and remember the golden rule: Don't get eliminated.