Plans for an IndyCar race in Nashville had been proposed at least three times before the Music City Grand Prix was announced. Earlier attempts in 2010 and 2015 were led by former Pocono Raceway president Joseph Mattioli III but failed to materialise. The current event was championed by founder Matt Crews, who assembled an ownership group that included Scott Borchetta, Justin Timberlake, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Justin Marks, Stanton Barrett, and Gil West. The IndyCar Series officially announced the race on September 16, 2020, citing Nashville's successful hosting of the 2019 NFL Draft as a proof of concept for large-scale urban events. The event was privately funded with a three-year contract.
Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden, a Nashville-area native, called the race "the number-one destination outside of the Indy 500." IndyCar CEO Mark Miles drew comparisons to Monaco, saying Nashville would join it "at the absolute top tier of street racing in motorsport across the globe." It became the first new IndyCar street circuit since the Grand Prix of Houston in 2013.
The circuit measured 2.170 miles (3.492 km) and ran adjacent to Nissan Stadium. Track designer Tony Cotman deliberately avoided Nashville's major thoroughfares to minimise disruption to tourism. The road surface varied in width from 37 feet (11 m) at its narrowest to 80 feet (24 m) at its widest. Top speeds were expected to approach 200 mph (320 km/h) on the bridge straight.
Like Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the Nashville Street Circuit used different locations for the race start (between turns 3 and 4) and the finish line. Turns 1, 2, and 7 were identified by Cotman as the primary overtaking zones. Drivers and commentators, including former Formula 1 drivers Romain Grosjean and Marcus Ericsson, compared the circuit to the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan, citing the long straights and a tight, technical downtown section that mirrored Baku's castle sector.
Middle Tennessee State University's School of Concrete and Construction Management supplied specialised concrete mixes for the circuit's barriers and pit lane.
The first Music City Grand Prix was held on August 8, 2021. Marcus Ericsson won despite an early incident in which his car became airborne after riding over the car of Sebastian Bourdais. Polesitter Colton Herta led the majority of laps but crashed while attempting to reclaim the lead. Scott Dixon and James Hinchcliffe completed the podium. The race was heavily disrupted, with nine caution periods accounting for 33 of the 80 laps run under yellow and two full stoppages.
Scott McLaughlin qualified on pole but lost the lead during a prolonged caution period around lap 54. Scott Dixon cycled to the front by virtue of pitting first under caution and held on despite floor damage that cost him significant downforce. McLaughlin made a late charge but settled for second. Alex Palou finished third. The race again produced eight caution periods.
McLaughlin took pole for a second consecutive year. After a brief early caution, the race ran largely green — a sharp contrast to its predecessors. McLaughlin lost the lead to Kyle Kirkwood in the second round of green-flag stops. A late red flag triggered a shootout between Kirkwood, McLaughlin, Palou, and Newgarden. Kirkwood took the win, McLaughlin again finished second, and Palou rounded out the podium.
In August 2023, IndyCar announced that the Music City Grand Prix would serve as the season finale from 2024 onwards. A revised layout was designed that would have taken the circuit through Broadway in downtown Nashville while retaining the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge segment. The new course would have reduced the turn count from 11 to 7. However, construction of a new Nissan Stadium conflicted with the event's footprint, and IndyCar management relocated the season finale to Nashville Superspeedway instead.
The Nashville Street Circuit demonstrated that a temporary circuit crossing a major river bridge was logistically viable for top-level single-seater racing. Its three editions produced competitive, if incident-heavy, racing, and the venue attracted significant mainstream attention by combining the city's entertainment brand with motorsport. The bridge configuration remained one of the most visually distinctive elements of any circuit on the modern IndyCar calendar during its operational years.