[1] It was the eleventh round of the 2021 IndyCar Series and the ninth edition of the Music City Grand Prix (following changes made in 2024), the first on the street circuit.

Chip Ganassi Racing's Álex Palou retained his lead in the driver's standings following his third-result at Mid-Ohio, over Pato O'Ward of Arrow McLaren SP and teammate Scott Dixon in second and third respectively.

[1] The session was interrupted 22 minutes in by an accident involving Pato O'Ward, who clipped the wall in Turn 3 and crashed into the barrier on the opposite side.

Another incident involving Conor Daly occurred towards the end of the session, as his car slid into the tire barrier after exiting the bridge section.

Colton Herta topped the first ever practice session held at the Streets of Nashville with a time of 01:16.5875, besting Scott Dixon and rookie Romain Grosjean in second and third.

[1] With six minutes remaining in the session, Alexander Rossi made contact with the concrete wall in Turn 10, dislodging his front wing and sending it under his car, causing suspension damage.

During the final seconds of the Fast 12, Josef Newgarden crashed into the wall in Turn 11, causing major damage to the right side of his car.

Colton Herta qualified first and took the first ever pole position of the Music City Grand Prix, with a time of 01:13.6835 and a gap of nearly six-tenths over Scott Dixon, who went second fastest.

Championship leader Álex Palou finished third fastest, but would start the race ninth, as a result of a grid penalty given after an unapproved engine change.

The first lap went underway with a rolling start on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge and saw no incidents occur, with polesitter Colton Herta leading the race.

Ericsson was forced to restart from the back of the grid due to emergency service in a closed pit, and also received a stop-and-go penalty for the incident with Bourdais.

Shortly after the race was green flagged again on lap 20, another caution was brought on, as drivers attempted to overtake in the narrow section leading up to Turn 11.

Takuma Sato was unable to avoid VeeKay and Pagenaud and was forced to stop behind both drivers, also making contact with the rears of both cars.

Behind Sato was Jimmie Johnson, facing the wrong direction after being spun by Cody Ware, who lost his front wing in the process and also came to a halt.

This culminated in a bottleneck in Turn 11, forcing James Hinchcliffe, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Josef Newgarden, Conor Daly, and Hélio Castroneves to a halt.

Herta, who was just over a second behind race leader Ericsson at the time, crashed heavily into the barriers in Turn 9 on lap 75, after his tires locked up during corner entry.