IndyCar drivers Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon eye chance to cross over to NASCAR

Reigning two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden on Sunday will realize his childhood dream of racing at Nashville Superspeedway in the Big Machine Music City IndyCar Grand Prix, and another item on his bucket list could also come true at the track in Lebanon someday.

Newgarden, a Hendersonville native who now lives in Nashville, grew up watching IndyCar races at the 1.33-mile D-shaped oval. The track shut down in 2011 and reopened in 2021 as host to the Ally 400 NASCAR Cup race.

That's where Newgarden's other dream gets involved. He has long wanted to compete in a NASCAR race. And he is still holding out hope, whether it happens at Nashville Superspeedway or some other track.

That hope was renewed in May, when he witnessed firsthand 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson make the jump. Larson pulled a double on the same day — the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He finished 18th at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, then flew to Charlotte, but was unable to turn a lap there after the race was called because of rain. Larson announced on Tuesday he will run both races again on May 25, 2025.

After spending time with Larson at the Indianapolis 500, Newgarden said it made him want to make the crossover to NASCAR more than ever. And he would like to see other drivers do the same.

"When you watch Kyle come over, everybody's excited about it," he said. "We (IndyCar) would want more of it. And I've got to imagine on the NASCAR side, they invite it, too, because it just brings interest and positivity to both sides of the sport. And it lifts motorsports as a whole."

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Newgarden tinkered with crossing over in 2022 when he ran a stock car race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in the Camping World Superstars of Racing Experience, a series sponsored by four-time NASCAR Cup champion Tony Stewart.

After that race, Newgarden said the SRX series was a blend of racing tipped more to stock car. He won the first heat of the 75-lap race, got banged into several times and fell to the back of the pack in the second heat, then battled back for a seventh-place finish.

Veteran NASCAR driver Bobby Labonte won the race. IndyCar driver Marco Andretti finished second and former NASCAR driver Matt Kenseth was third. IndyCar drivers Paul Tracy and Helio Castroneves were fourth and fifth, respectively.

Larson told Newgarden that he had always wanted to compete in the Indy 500, even before his NASCAR career began.

"That's the race Kyle's dreamed of running his whole life," Newgarden said. "A lot of people didn't know that. They would've assumed it was something different. For him to get that opportunity, you could tell that was his dream to be there. He was just taking it all in. It's a very special event. There's nothing like it on race day in motorsports and I think he saw that, too, and really understood the magnitude of it and that's why he's coming back."

For the first time ever, NASCAR will host a race in Mexico in summer 2025 in Mexico City, and IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward, who was born in Monterrey, Mexico, has said he wants to compete in it. The problem for O'Ward is there is an IndyCar race that same weekend (June 15) at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway, Illinois.

Newgarden said he has spoken to O'Ward about competing in the NASCAR Cup race and that O'Ward told him he will do so in 2026 if the schedule allows.

One of IndyCar's veterans, Scott Dixon, 44, who won the last three IndyCar races at Nashville Superspeedway (2006-08) and the 2022 Music City Grand Prix in downtown, said he has considered crossing over to NASCAR but has never been able to make it work. He has been in discussions recently with some NASCAR Cup teams about making the jump.

"I've talked about doing one-off Cup races here and there but it's not super easy," Dixon said. "You never say never. It's something I've kind of started talking about again a little bit more with teams over there (NASCAR) for the future of doing some one-offs."

Dixon said he is looking forward to this weekend and seeing how longtime driver Juan Pablo Montoya, 48, does when he competes in a NASCAR Cup race for 23XI Racing at Watkins Glen International Speedway. Montoya has won two Indianapolis 500s, two NASCAR Cup Series races and seven Formula One grand prix.

"It's going to be fun to see how Montoya gets on," Dixon said. "Obviously, he hasn't been there for a while. Doing what Larson's doing is very difficult on many different levels. Not just the driving part but, obviously the mileage and the length of the day to strategically have your partners that want to do it. Manufacturers, that crossover can be tough. If you're with a Honda team, then trying to do it with a Chevy team, it's almost impossible these days."

Reach Mike Organ at 615-259-8021 or on X @MikeOrganWriter.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: IndyCar Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon like idea of crossover to NASCAR