Note: With eight of 17 races completed in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, the Writers’ Roundtable will answer five questions about the 2023 season between June 22-27.

Today’s question: What is your most anticipated race remaining on the 2023 schedule?

Curt Cavin: This is difficult, but I’ll highlight the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway on July 21-23. The doubleheader will feature some of the best racing the NTT INDYCAR SERIES has to offer, with the field usually chasing Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, who is one mechanical failure at this track from having swept the five oval races over the past calendar year. But off the track is special, too, with four marquee musical acts part of the Saturday-Sunday program. It’s Carrie Underwood and Kenny Chesney on Saturday followed by the Zac Brown Band and Ed Sheeran on Sunday. That’s a loaded lineup by any measure.

Joey Barnes: I look at this question with the emphasis on what race might be the most critical in terms of the championship picture, and for that reason I have to think the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Aug. 4-6. Since the NTT INDYCAR SERIES first arrived in 2021 to race on the Streets of Nashville, it has been full of chaos with 17 cautions accounting for 69 of a combined 160 laps. In each of those two races, a Chip Ganassi Racing driver has found Victory Lane. In 2021, it was Marcus Ericsson, who overcame an early-race crash that attempted to send him to the Grand Ole Opry before climbing back through the field and pouncing when Colton Herta made a late-race mistake and pounded the wall while leading. Last year, it was Scott Dixon fending off Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin in a thriller coming to the finish line. Dixon, fifth this season in the overall standings, has an average finish of 1.5 at the Tennessee street circuit, and his teammate and championship leader Alex Palou has finishes of seventh (2021) and third (2022) there. Considering that race falls directly after Iowa’s doubleheader, where many expect Newgarden, who is third in the championship standings, to be in prime position to make a heavy points haul toward the title and assuming that happens, claiming a strong points day in Nashville could prove crucial for Palou, who dominated the most recent street race in Detroit. Additionally, if Palou or other title contenders get sucked into the craziness of the Music City, there could be an interesting twist in the last four races that follow.

Paul Kelly: With Alex Palou leading the championship by 74 points, I’m looking forward to an event where chaos could jumble the standings a bit. The three remaining oval events fulfill that requirement, but I’m having a hard time separating the Hy-Vee INDYCAR Race Weekend doubleheader on July 22-23 at Iowa Speedway and the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Aug. 27 at World Wide Technology Raceway. Plus, Josef Newgarden is the prohibitive favorite to win all three remaining oval races, given his record at both tracks and his oval domination since last season, with wins in five of the last seven circle-track races. So, like Joey Barnes above, I look to Nashville and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on Aug. 6. This race has been wild and unpredictable in its first two editions, as Joey described above. Plus, it’s Race 13 of 17 this season, which would give a driver trying to topple Palou more time to catch him in the points with a good finish on the circuit that includes two trips across the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge each lap. Sure, Newgarden is a very safe bet to win at WWTR, but it’s Race 15 of 17, and that may be too late to matter too much in the championship race if Palou continues winning and producing top-10 finishes with such metronomic consistency. Nashville could be the flashpoint that brings the race for the Astor Challenge Cup from simmer to full boil. Let’s hope so. While Palou’s dominance has been remarkable, the title race has come down to the last event every year since 2006. I want that streak to continue for an 18th consecutive season.