Jason Rittenberry, CVE

Executive Vice President & General Manager at Moo TV | Chief Operating Officer at Music City Grand Prix | Managing Partner at MSG Strategy

IndyCar and the Music City Grand Prix announced a deal to form a new privately funded downtown Nashville street race that will begin in August ’21. This will be the first event added to the series’ calendar under Roger Penske’s stewardship. The race will be part of a three-day festival that will take place Aug. 6-8 next year on a 2.17-mile, 11-turn temporary track where cars are expected to hit up to 200 miles per hour. The circuit will include a portion across both sides of the Korean Veterans Memorial Bridge — making it one of the only races in the world where part of the circuit is over a body of water. Financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed, but it is for three years with a two-year option. Annual sanction fees paid to IndyCar for a street race typically cost the promoter low seven figures. In total, startup costs for a privately funded street race like this should run around $10M. The MCGP will be owned and operated by a newly formed group named 615GP LLC, which includes local business people such as Phillips Infrastructure Holdings Chair Teddy Phillips, Clayton Homes President & CEO Kevin Clayton, incoming NASCAR team Owner Justin Marks and Big Machine Label Group President & CEO and longtime motorsports backer Scott Borchetta, among others. THE DAILY first reported in June that the MCGP had been revived and was working on a deal for ’21.