IndyCar adding Barcelona, dropping Nashville; D.C. reportedly out, too

Five-time series champion Alex Palou will get a hometown race next year when IndyCar stages an event at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain. It will mark IndyCar's first foray outside of North America since a 2013 race in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A North American-based open-wheel racing series last competed in Europe in 2007, when Champ Car put on an event in Assen, Netherlands. In other changes to the IndyCar schedule for next year, an event will no longer be held in Nashville, and Motorsports.com reported that the Washington, D.C., race also will not return. Palou captured his fourth straight IndyCar title this year, adding to his first championship in 2021. He is from Sant Antoni de Vilamajor, Spain, around an hour away from Barcelona. Palou has 25 victories in 116 career IndyCar races. Salvador Illa, the president of the autonomous Spanish region of Catalonia, confirmed that he will attend a Friday event launching the local IndyCar race. Among the others expected to attend, according to Illa's office, is Mark Miles, the president and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corp., which owns the IndyCar Series. Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya's 2.9-mile road track has hosted an annual Formula One race since 1991. Nashville was the site of an IndyCar event on city streets each year from 2021-23, then at Nashville Superspeedway from 2024-26. Scott Borchetta, chairman and CEO of Borchetta Bourbon, the title sponsor of the Nashville race, wrote in a statement on Thursday that he hopes the city can revive the event in the future. 'SMI and Nashville Superspeedway have been great partners in hosting the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix for the last three years,' Borchetta wrote. 'But the original vision for the grand prix still stands -- to become 'The Monaco of the South.' If we don't put our complete focus and investment into returning downtown, it won't happen. IndyCar and FOX love Nashville, and there is a great desire to return to its downtown streets.' The D.C. event, the Freedom 250 Grand Prix, was created this year to coincide with celebrations for the United States' 250th anniversary. The race was held on a 1.7-mile street circuit around the National Mall. --Field Level Media