Winners and Losers of the IndyCar Nashville season finale

With the title race wrapped up and even second in the bag, there was little to race for but pride Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway. But that didn’t stop the NTT IndyCar Series field from putting together another hectic, unpredictable oval race to cap off the 2025 season.

There were a few key prizes up for grabs – namely third in points and the Rookie of the Year award. But for most in the field, Nashville was all about bringing home one final result to build on for 2026.

Some were more effective at that than others, leaving a group heading into the offseason happy while a few key drivers were left pondering a season finale that went awry.

Here are the winners and losers from the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix.

Winner: Josef Newgarden finally catches a break (or three)

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

Did he have the best car in Nashville? Probably not. Did it take a slew of others to get him to victory lane? Absolutely. Does he care? After the year he’s had, I doubt it.

Newgarden and the No. 2 team endured a miserable 2025 season, with shakeups at Team Penske, multiple potential victories that slipped away and a general lack of reasons for joy. But the group ended 2025 on a high note in the Tennessean’s home state.

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

It took some good fortune to make it happen. The early frontrunners crashed out and his Team Penske teammates had a nightmare on pit road (Will Power) and scrubbed the wall (Scott McLaughlin) while running ahead of him.

But Newgarden extended his streak of consecutive winning seasons to 11 years and finally looked like the Newgarden of old, celebrating with his home state fans in the stands afterward. A bright moment to escape from a dark year.

Loser: Arrow McLaren’s weekend comes undone

Patricio O’ward, Arrow McLaren

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

After qualifying first and third, Sunday looked optimistic for Arrow McLaren’s star drivers. Sure, Nolan Siegel had crashed in final practice – he’s done a lot of crashing on ovals this year – but Pato O’Ward was ready to dominate from pole and Christian Lundgaard was positioned to challenge Scott Dixon for third in the series standings.

Christian Lundgaard, Arrow McLaren

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

That is, until they both found themselves out of the race just past the halfway mark. Lundgaard pulled off-track with an undiagnosed electrical issue just before the race hit 100 laps remaining. Three laps later, a dominant O’Ward suffered a tire failure and pounded the outside wall.

Patricio O’ward, Arrow McLaren, Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images

In the span of a couple minutes, Arrow McLaren saw the finale of a solid season take a miserable swing. Siegel survived to the end, but could manage only 17th. O’Ward and Lundgaard ended up 24th and 25th, with Lundgaard’s setback dropping him to fifth in the standings. A bummer all around.

Winner: A solid final 2025 race for Alex Palou

Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

By his own standards, Sunday was a letdown for Alex Palou. The Spaniard faded back over the race’s middle stages and needed some fortune and a solid late undercut to rise into contention.

But Palou made the most of his challenging afternoon in Tennessee to notch another second-place finish, giving the four-time champion a dozen top-two results and 13 podiums in 17 races this year.

Alex Palou celebrating in the infield after the race in Nashville, Chip Ganassi Racing

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

Palou had nothing of importance to race for on Sunday. He’d locked up the championship two races early in Portland and was no longer in the running to tie IndyCar’s single-season win record.

But the 28-year-old and his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing team put together another solid race to end a memorable 2025 campaign on a high note. Sometimes you just have to appreciate greatness.

Loser: Sketchy move dooms David Malukas

David Malukas, A. J. Foyt Enterprises

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images

Looking to make one final strong impression for Team Penske ahead of rumors of a rise into Will Power’s No. 12 Chevrolet, David Malukas qualified second and sat in the same spot early through the second stint of Sunday’s race.

That’s when things quickly fell apart. Malukas was trying to lap Louis Foster on the outside lane when the rookie swiped up at him going into turn 1. The pair then collided, sending Malukas slamming into the turn 1 wall.

The moment served as the main takeaway from a disappointing race for the pair. Malukas’ crash kept him from rising into a top-10 points finish. Foster was issued a drive-through penalty for blocking. Thankfully for him, a bigger mistake elsewhere kept the moment from causing a big impact to his season…

Loser: Robert Shwartzman throws away top rookie honors

Robert Shwartzman, Prema Racing

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

With Foster trapped two laps down in the closing stages, Prema Racing’s star rookie was in contention for a top-10 and poised to snatch Rookie of the Year honors away from the Briton in the season finale.

But just when Shwartzman had his fingertips on the prize, the Indianapolis 500 polesitter made a critical mistake. Shwartzman was caught throwing a block in the final run to the checkered and issued a penalty just minutes before the checkered flag, handing the rookie prize back to Foster in the closing moments of the season.

Shwartzman ended up being classified 14th and coming up one spot behind Foster in points. Foster ended the year 23rd, with Shwartzman following in 24th.

Winner: Conor Daly does it again

Conor Daly, Juncos Hollinger Racing

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

When IndyCar is racing on a short oval, you know Daly could be in the mix. Despite a disappointing 24th-place qualifying effort, the Hoosier made his way to the front in Nashville with a host of flashy moves.

In his usual daredevil style, Daly surged past multiple competitors on various restarts over the course of the afternoon. He didn’t quite have the pace to challenge the leaders in the closing stages, but the Juncos Hollinger Racing start made the most of an eventful day to salvage a fifth-place finish and end the year with momentum.

It was Daly’s best finish of the year and the No. 76 team’s fourth top-10, with the quartet all coming on ovals.

Loser: Christian Rasmussen goes from windshield to bug

Few things can humble you as quickly as motorsports. Seven days prior to the season finale, Christian Rasmussen was the hero of the IndyCar paddock, having marched his way to the front late for a memorable maiden victory in Milwaukee.

One week later, he was out of the season finale just seconds after the green flag.

“Just seemed like I lost the rear end,” Rasmussen said. “Not quite sure why. I guess it was just very low grip.”

Winner: One lucky couple takes the next step

If you wanted to propose to the love of your life, where would you take them?

For one couple of IndyCar fans, the answer was Nashville Superspeedway. Early in Saturday’s qualifying session, FOX Sports’ Georgia Henneberry kicked off a standard pit lane interview with Conor Daly by sharing some surprising news: a pair of fans had just been engaged in front of his car.

“Love to see some love celebrated here at the Nashville Superspeedway,” Daly said.

Loser: Dave Portnoy struggles with speed

Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy is a figure that mixes opinion in the sporting world, so his arrival in the IndyCar paddock was always going to be memorable and potentially controversial.

But it didn’t have to be this laughable. As it turns out, a few laps near pace in an IndyCar proved much worse than rolling into Ohio State as a diehard Michigan fan for the 48-year-old. Buckeye fans probably enjoyed watching this one.

Winner: FOX Sports makes it through year one

One down, many to go.

There were rough patches and learning moments along the way, but FOX Sports made it through its first season as IndyCar’s exclusive television provider. Occasional technical difficulties – losing service at the Thermal Club, for example – popped up, but the IndyCar on FOX team largely survived the 2025 campaign without any major controversies or serious setbacks.

With an added stake in Penske Entertainment, partnerships to build on and a lengthy offseason to brainstorm, this partnership has potential to keep growing and come out firing in year two It’s time to get to work.

Loser: Will Power goes out with a whimper

Will Power, Team Penske

Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Lumen via Getty Images

If this is the final Team Penske start for Will Power, it will have been a bittersweet one. Power had inherited the lead after O’Ward’s crash, but the Aussie saw his day undone moments later when trouble on pit road trapped him a lap down.

Power ultimately took the checkered flag 21st, the black sheep in an otherwise strong finale for Penske with his teammates both on the podium. The 44-year-old is still Penske’s winningest driver and ends the year as its top points finisher in ninth. But if this is really it, the two-time champ didn’t get the send-off he deserved.