Middle Tennessee State University and the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix , entering the fourth year of a partnership centered on the Indy Car racing spectacular, announced Wednesday, Aug. 28, a special combo offer that would allow fans to purchase tickets to the Blue Raider Football contest against Western Kentucky on Saturday, Sept. 14, and the Prix race on Sunday, Sept. 15, at Nashville Superspeedway.

The $65 package includes a sideline reserved ticket at Floyd Stadium for the Conference USA football rivalry on Sept. 14 (plus a hot dog and a soft drink), then one lower grandstand seat for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, the NTT Indy Car season finale, set for Sept. 15 at the Nashville Superspeedway on the border of Rutherford and Wilson counties in Lebanon. Go to www.mtsu.edu/prix for the ticket deal.

On Sept. 14, MTSU and WKU renew the “100 Miles of Hate,” the nickname given to the rivalry between the two schools that dates back to 1914. The game at Floyd Stadium will be the second home contest for new Blue Raider Head Coach Derek Mason.

Three and a half hours before the 6 p.m. kickoff, HunterGirl, who as Hunter Wolkonowski graduated in 2020 from MTSU with a degree in music business, will perform at MTSU’s Party in the Grove, the pregame campus tailgate in the university’s Walnut Grove in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She was the popular runner-up of Season 20 of American Idol in 2022, where she was championed by show judge Luke Bryan, who said she was his “favorite female Country voice.” Now signed with 19 Recordings/BBR Music Group/BMG Nashville, she toured with Bryan over the summer. She was named an honorary professor of recording industry at MTSU in 2022.

This year’s edition of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway is set to start at 2 p.m. on Sept. 15. The season finale will be broadcast on NBC and Peacock, determining the 2024 NTT INDCYAR SERIES champion. Located at 4847-F McCrary Road in Lebanon, Nashville Superspeedway is known for its high-intensity, wheel-to-wheel action. By hosting the season finale, it will be the first oval in a decade to decide an NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship

MTSU and the Prix have partnered since the race began in 2021. The Prix relied upon the expertise of MTSU’s School of Concrete and Construction Management to form the concrete barriers used when the race was held in downtown Nashville. Starting in 2022 and continuing this year, the Prix has asked the MTSU Charlie and Hazel Daniels Veterans and Military Family Center to help the event honor veterans and active-duty troops.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Keith Huber, MTSU’s senior adviser for veterans and leadership initiatives, will be on stage at Freedom Friday, the Prix’s kickoff street party on Lower Broadway in Nashville, on Friday, Sept. 13, for this year’s Prix salute to the military. MTSU Army ROTC Color Guard will present the nation’s colors at Freedom Friday and at the Nashville Superspeedway.

— Andrew Oppmann (Andrew.Oppmann@mtsu.edu)