Kyle Kirkwood has secured the pole position for the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway, standing out in an intense qualifying session.
The Florida driver, currently second in the championship, was the antepenultimate to qualify, marking an impressive average of two laps at 196.852 mph with his Honda number 27 from Andretti Global. This is his first pole of the season and the second on the Nashville circuit.
“Honestly, the credit goes to the car that Andretti provides me here,” declared a satisfied Kirkwood. “We’ve been fast in practice and have had good performance in recent years. I’ve just followed what everyone else does: keep the foot down and hope the car goes fast. They’ve built excellent cars for me.”
Josef Newgarden, the reigning race champion, closed qualifying in second position with an average of two laps at 196.642 mph.
In a concerning note, David Malukas was unable to qualify after an accident during initial practice that forced him to be transported to a nearby hospital. His team is working on a backup car. His situation for the rest of the weekend is uncertain.
The qualifying acts
Christian Rasmussen of ECR was the first to mark standout times, with an average of 195.585 mph, followed by Nolan Siegel of Arrow McLaren and Caio Collet, debuting for AJ Foyt Racing.
Santino Ferrucci, the ninth driver to go out, secured second position with a time of 195.332 mph.
After the first nine laps, Rasmussen led with Ferrucci, Siegel, Collet, Mick Schumacher, and Louis Foster trailing behind him.
Alexander Rossi was the tenth to go out, and with his Chevrolet from ECR, he set a time of 195.664 mph, displacing Rasmussen from provisional pole.
Graham Rahal had an unfortunate day, as he was unable to complete qualifying due to multiple technical issues with his Honda, and was forced to retire.
Marcus Armstrong, after Rahal’s setbacks, achieved a notable time of 195.578 mph, placing third. Rinus VeeKay finished fourth and Marcus Ericsson fifth.
Scott Dixon, a six-time IndyCar Series champion, was next to go out and reclaimed provisional lead with a time of 195.802 mph.
Scott McLaughlin, Dixon’s teammate, bettered his mark with an average of 196.087 mph.
Once again, Newgarden achieved a great time that keeps him in the hunt for victory. Pato O’Ward finished tenth with a time of 195.154 mph, while Christian Lundgaard ended in a tough sixteenth position.
Kirkwood reaffirmed his lessons from practice, outperforming Newgarden in the final qualifying. The fourth champion in contention, Alex Palou, finished fourth with a time of 196.050 mph.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
