Dale Coyne Racing announced Ault Blockchain as a major primary partner beginning with this weekend’s Borchetta Bourbon Big Machine Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot.

The partnership, revealed Friday morning at an event in downtown Nashville, extends through the 2026 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season. Ault Blockchain will serve as the primary sponsor for both the No. 18 and No. 51 Honda-powered entries fielded by Coyne.

“I’m happy to announce this partnership with Todd,” Dale Coyne said of Todd Ault, whose askROI company has sponsored Rinus VeeKay’s No. 18 car this season. “This season has been really good for us. I think we can keep the momentum going into 2026, and I hope today is the start of that.”

Said Ault: “I love working with Dale. I love racing, especially INDYCAR. It was a no-brainer to come back for a long-term commitment with the team. This team has a lot of grit, which I truly admire.”

While no drivers were announced, Coyne expressed interest in retaining VeeKay and said he will talk with Jacob Abel after the season. His plan is to have both the team’s 2026 drivers named by Halloween.

“We’d love to keep Rinus (VeeKay),” Coyne said. “We’ll see what happens in the next week or so.”

VeeKay enters Sunday’s 225-lap race (2 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network) 13th in the championship standings. The Dutch driver competed with Ed Carpenter Racing from 2020 through 2024, and he earned his lone INDYCAR SERIES victory at the 2021 Sonsio Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. In 80 starts for the team, he amassed four podium finishes, nine top-fives and 26 top-10s.

In 16 starts with Dale Coyne Racing this season, VeeKay has made a notable impact by finishing second at the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy and matching the number of top-five finishes (two) that DCR had accumulated across its previous 36 races with 12 different drivers.

“This season with Dale and Todd has been amazing,” VeeKay said. “They gave me a chance at a time when I felt I had no other options, and I’m happy that the bet has paid off for everyone. As for my 2026 plans, I don’t have anything official to announce yet, but I hope to have them sorted out sooner rather than later.”

Coyne Makes Bold Proclamation From Partnership

The best Dale Coyne Racing results in 2024 came from Jack Harvey at Barber Motorsports Park and Toby Sowery at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with each earning a 13th-place finish.

VeeKay’s addition has injected much-needed energy into the team, even as rookie teammate Abel has faced a steep learning curve. Abel, driving the No. 51 Abel Construction Honda, was the only driver who failed to qualify for the 109th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

The No. 51 entry has finished 26th in entrant points for the past two seasons and clinched 27th this year. However, the No. 18 entry, which finished 27th a year ago, has made a dramatic leap to 13th in 2025, tying Marcus Armstrong (No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian Honda) for the biggest improvement in entrant standings, each gaining 14 spots.

The No. 66 entry was 20th last year and sixth entering Nashville.

The top 22 teams in entrant points qualify for the INDYCAR SERIES Leaders Circle program, which awards significant financial enhancements.

“Next year we’ll have both cars in the Leaders Circle,” Coyne said. “I can guarantee you that.”

Alex Palou

Palou F1 Rumors Refuted

A media report this week lined Alex Palou (photo, above) to Red Bull Racing in Formula One as a potential teammate to Max Verstappen, but the rumor was quickly shut down by all involved.

“Nothing to it,” Red Bull Racing advisory Helmut Marko said in Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung. “That’s not true.”

Palou’s boss, Chip Ganassi, also refuted the report.

“I read that myself,” Ganassi said. “There was nobody quoted in there. I talked to Palou. Palou said he's never talked to anybody, doesn't know anything about it. I talked to his management. They know nothing about it. I know nothing about it.”

Ganassi added there’s “no other expectation” than for Palou to return to the No. 10 Honda in 2026.

Palou clinched the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship, his fourth in six full-time seasons, including three consecutively. He earned all four titles with Chip Ganassi Racing and has scored 19 wins and 12 poles in 83 starts driving for the team.

“It’s always good to be talked about, especially when I’ve already got everything wrapped up,” Palou said. “I think maybe it would have been a little bit different if it would have been during the championship fight to be answering questions about a rumor and not about the championship.

“I’m not actively looking for any opportunities. I’m really happy where I am. I know the opportunity that I have here and also everybody at CGR, we showed the last three years what we’re capable of doing.

“I’m not looking for it. I’m not asking for it.”

O’Ward Locked Into Second-Place, Going For Victory

Pato O’Ward secured second place in the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship following his fifth-place finish in last Sunday’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250. While he trails champion Palou by 165 points, O’Ward holds a commanding 72-point lead over third-place Scott Dixon -- with only 54 points available in this weekend’s season finale.

This marks a career-best final standing for O’Ward, who finished third in 2021, fourth in both 2020 and 2023 and fifth in 2024.

“We’ve clinched second in the championship, but there’s still plenty to play for in Nashville,” O’Ward said. “We were very close to the win last year, and getting to that top step would be the perfect way to end the season. Credit to the No. 5 crew and the entire team for a job well done all season long. We want to finish the year the right way and carry momentum into the offseason.”

“It’s quite fulfilling to be the best of the rest this year.”

O’Ward qualified seventh and climbed to second behind Colton Herta in last year’s race at Nashville Superspeedway. He, Palou and rookie Christian Rasmussen are the only drivers to have finished in the top 10 in all five oval races this season. O’Ward’s oval results include finishes of third, second, first, fifth and fifth, respectively.

Kyle Kirkwood

Andretti Global Looks To Build on Strong Nashville Form

For the first time since 2008, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES returned to Nashville Superspeedway last season, and it proved to be a strong weekend for Andretti Global.

Herta claimed his first career oval victory, while teammate Kyle Kirkwood (photo, above) started from pole and led a race-high 67 of 206 laps before finishing fourth.

“We have similar confidence,” Kirkwood said. “We’re excited for this one. This is our best oval.”

Kirkwood isn’t exactly sure why the 1.33-mile concrete oval suits the team so well.

“That’s a great question,” he said. “If I knew, we could apply it to some other ovals. It’s concrete and kind of a superspeedway-style oval that just suits us for whatever reason.”

Kirkwood earned his first career oval win earlier this season at World Wide Technology Raceway.

FOX Sports Ratings Surge Ahead of Finale

Last Sunday’s Snap-on Milwaukee Mile 250 drew 779,000 viewers, up 6-percent from 735,000 in 2024 and the best Milwaukee Mile TV number since 2012.

The race, won by Christian Rasmussen, peaked at 854,000 viewers.

FOX Sports reports five consecutive races surpassing 700,000 viewers and overall ratings up 28 percent year-over-year with an average of 1.376 million through 16 races – compared to 1.073 million across NBC, USA, CNBC and Peacock last season.

Saturday Schedule

The series gets on track Saturday. The first practice is at 10:30 a.m. ET followed by qualifying for the NTT P1 Award at 2 p.m. and the final practice at 5:30 p.m.

All these sessions will air live on FS2, FOX One, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network except for the first practice, which airs on FS1.

Presented by Tennessee Sounds Perfect