Firestone Details INDYCAR and INDY NXT Nashville Finale Tire Strategy
The 2025 season will wrap up for both the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and INDY NXT by Firestone this weekend at the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, held on Nashville Superspeedway’s 1.33-mile concrete oval in Lebanon, Tennessee.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES
Firestone is bringing nearly 1,500 tires to support practice, qualifying, and Sunday’s 225-lap, 299.25-mile race.
Each team will receive:
- 6 sets of primary (black sidewall) tires, plus one additional set for highline practice only
- 4 sets of alternate (red sidewall) tires
Teams may use their allocation freely in practice and qualifying. For the race, each entry must run at least one set of primary tires and two sets of alternate tires for a minimum of two laps each, or face a one-lap penalty. This will be the second year that alternate tires are available on an oval at Nashville. The option was first introduced in 2023 at World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis.
According to Cara Krstolic, Firestone’s Director of Race Tire Engineering and Production, the primary and alternate compounds are unchanged from last year, aside from a minor construction adjustment on the right front tire to manage load. The alternate tire is still expected to wear more quickly than the primary, which will influence pit stop strategies and create differences in grip levels throughout the race. The extra highline practice set will feature different specifications than those used in competition.
INDY NXT by Firestone
For the INDY NXT race, Firestone is supplying nearly 300 tires to cover practice, qualifying, and the 65-lap (86.45 miles or 55-minute) finale on Sunday.
Each entry will receive three sets of primary tires.
Krstolic noted that the INDY NXT tires are the same as those used this season on short ovals and in last year’s Nashville event. The right-side tires feature the same tread compound as other ovals, but with a small construction change to handle the thermal demands of the high-speed track.
This article was co-written using AI and was then heavily edited and optimized by our editorial team.
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