Ericsson goes airborne early, takes 2nd victory of season
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Marcus Ericsson used the slowed car in front of him as a launching ramp and shot up and over — with a dangling wing
— Sebastien Bourdais’ Chevrolet.
“I thought my race was over there,” Ericsson said.
Not in this wreckfest. Call the latest IndyCar race winner Marcus Air-icsson.
Ericsson stuck the landing on his early race flight and avoided further disaster on the perilous city streets of Nashville on Sunday to win the inaugural Music City Grand Prix.
“I’m just trying to figure out how I ended up winning the race after flying and seeing the sky,” he said.
Ericsson conserved fuel and survived hard-charging runs from Colton Herta and Scott Dixon and won his second race of the season. He moved to fifth in the IndyCar points race with five races left — 79 points back of leader Alex Palou.
Ericsson doesn’t have a deal with Chip Ganassi Racing for 2022 and said “I hope Chip was watching today.”
“My biggest wish is continue here in the 8 car,” Ericsson said.
He made the IndyCar highlight reel long before the checkered flag when he jumped the backside of Bourdais’ Chevy and knocked the Frenchman out of the race. Ericsson’s airborne Honda needed a new front wing only five laps into the race and said he thought the car was going to snap in half.
The Swede, 30, won as darkness fell in Nashville with Dixon, the six-time IndyCar champion, making a late run.
Ericsson caught a break when Herta clobbered his car into the tire barriers with five laps left, ending his dominant weekend for Andretti Autosport. Herta topped the first two practice sessions, won the pole and his team was in “a league of our own.” He was gaining on Ericsson and had a potential go-ahead pass on the horizon when he crushed his car. Herta buried his head in his hands in stunned disbelief.
“We had the car all weekend to win,” Herta said. “I just threw it away.”
Dixon was second to give Chip Ganassi Racing a 1-2 finish. James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Graham Rahal rounded out the top five.
The Grand Prix was the first new street course race added to the schedule in 10 years and enough fans to fill Nissan Stadium packed grandstands, partied near live music stages, and lined fences 10 rows deep with cameras raised to snap a picture of the fastest newcomers in town.
“If there’s enough alcohol out there, it’s going to be a good show no matter what,” Dixon said.