The NTT IndyCar Series will feature a record nine races on the NBC broadcast network in 2021.
The 17-race season includes one additional race on NBC, with the Grand Prix of Long Beach returning to network television for the first time since 2007. The other eight races will air on cable network NBCSN.
“The IndyCar and NBC Sports partnership continues to be mutually beneficial, growing in viewership and providing adrenaline-packed entertainment to a national sports audience,” said NBC Sports vice president of programming Michael Perman. “We’re looking forward to providing increased exposure to the series in 2021.”
The 2021 schedule also features the inaugural Music City Grand Prix in Nashville, Tennessee, on Sunday, August 8.
“We couldn’t be more excited about the opportunity to race on the streets of Nashville, which we think will be a blockbuster event in its first year,” said Mark Miles, the president and CEO of IndyCar owners Penske Entertainment. “It’ll help raise the bar – not just for great racing – but for a great festival around IndyCar.”
No longer on the schedule are races at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, as well as Iowa Speedway and Richmond Raceway.
Elsewhere, Texas Motor Speedway will host as doubleheader on May 1-2; as will Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with the return of the IndyCar-Nascar doubleheader on August 14-15.
“The changes in Texas are important and exciting,” Miles added. “To have not just one oval race, but two, before racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May is strategically very important to the growth of the event, as well.”
The 2021 season will kick off with the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Florida on Sunday, March 7.