The third annual Big Machine Music City Grand Prix took place in Nashville on Sunday, with Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Autosport successfully holding off Scott McLaughlin, the polesitter, to claim victory.
Here's a rundown of the IndyCar race results from Nashville:
1. Kyle Kirkwood, Andretti Autosport
2. Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske, trailing by 0.7633 seconds
3. Alex Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing, 1.7221 seconds behind
4. Josef Newgarden, Team Penske, 3.1416 seconds behind
5. Scott Dixon, Chip Ganassi Racing, 4.1655 seconds behind
6. Roman Grosjean, Andretti Autosport, 5.9518 seconds behind
7. Marcus Ericsson, Chip Ganassi Racing, 6.4148 seconds behind
8. Patricio O'Ward, Arrow McLaren, 6.6966 seconds behind
9. Christian Lundgaard, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 8.0168 seconds behind
10. Will Power, Team Penske, 9.0456 seconds behind
11. Helio Castroneves, Meyer Shank Racing, 9.8718 seconds behind
12. Callum Ilott, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 10.6859 seconds behind
13. Marcus Armstrong, Chip Ganassi Racing, 11.4056 seconds behind
14. Rinus Van Kalmthout, Ed Carpenter Racing, 11.8172 seconds behind
15. Graham Rahal, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 14.2271 seconds behind
16. Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ed Carpenter Racing, 14.6874 seconds behind
17. Ray Robb, Dale Coyne Racing, 15.1158 seconds behind
18. Santino Ferrucci, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, 16.5253 seconds behind
19. Alexander Rossi, Arrow McLaren, 2 laps behind
20. Agustin Canapino, Juncos Hollinger Racing, 3 laps behind
21. Colon Herta, Andretti Autosport, 4 laps behind
22. Felix Rosenqvist, Arrow McLaren, 7 laps behind
23. Benjamin Pedersen, 7 laps behind
24. Jack Harvey, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, 9 laps behind
25. Linus Lundqvist, Meyer Shank Racing, 11 laps behind
26. Devin DeFrancesco, Andretti Autosport, 15 laps behind
27. David Malukas, Dale Coyne Racing, 69 laps behind
During the race, Kyle Kirkwood led the final 27 laps to secure his victory, marking his second career win in the NTT IndyCar Series. Kirkwood, driving for Andretti Autosport, was the standout driver, leading for a significant portion of the race. He clinched the win with a margin of 0.7633 seconds over Scott McLaughlin, who had led 25 laps.
Alex Palou finished in the third position, strengthening his championship lead by 84 points over Josef Newgarden, who claimed fourth place in his hometown race. The defending race champion, Scott Dixon, concluded the event in fifth place.
The race statistics included an average speed of 85.396 mph, a total race time of 1 hour, 58 minutes, and 2.3028 seconds, and four caution periods for a total of eight laps. There were nine lead changes involving six drivers. Noteworthy among the lap leaders were McLaughlin, Grosjean, Ericsson, Palou, Kirkwood, and Power.
During qualifying, McLaughlin set the pace with a best lap time of 1m14.6099s, securing pole position. He outpaced competitors Pato O’Ward and Colton Herta.
Qualifying faced a delay of over three and a half hours due to track conditions following heavy rain that caused standing water. This delay led to qualifying taking place in dry and sunny weather conditions instead.
In the Fast Six qualifying round, Pato O’Ward initially led with a time of 1m15.3506s. However, Alex Palou, choosing new primary tires, moved ahead with a time of 1m15.2462s. Colton Herta then improved to 1m15.2416s, but McLaughlin secured pole position with a quick lap of 1m14.6099s in the final moments. O’Ward and Herta followed McLaughlin on the starting grid.
In the Top 12 qualifying round, O’Ward posted the quickest time of 1m14.5944s, leading Herta, Palou, McLaughlin, Grosjean, and Malukas. Notably, Scott Dixon had a crash in the closing stages of this round, leading to him starting 12th.
In Group 1 of the group stage qualifying, McLaughlin secured the top spot with a time of 1m15.1629s, while Group 2 was led by Herta with a time of 1m15.0030s. Several drivers, including notable names, did not progress to the next round due to tight competition and track incidents.
Overall, the third annual Music City Grand Prix provided intense competition, dynamic qualifying sessions, and significant achievements for drivers and teams across the board.
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