Photo by Kyle McInnes

Kyle Kirkwood won his first Indycar oval pole this afternoon, and he will lead the field to the green flag tomorrow for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. Meanwhile, points leader Alex Palou could only manage a 15th place run. His grid penalty means he will start 24th tomorrow.

“I’m stoked right now,” Kirkwood said. “It’s huge for our season to end off with a pole. I was a little upset we didn’t get a win or a pole (this season), and this is our final chance to do it, and we got it done.”

The milestone for Kirkwood created an ironic milestone for Will Power. The career leader in poles with 72 ends 2024 without winning a pole for the season, the first time in his his career since 2008 that nhe has not been on point for a race. Power will start fourth tomorrow. To win the title, he has to win the race, lead the most laps, and hope Palou cannot advance too far forward. Palou needs to finish ninth or better to win his second straight title.

Romain Grosjean was the only drib=ver to qualify on the primary tire. He qualified 16th.

Nolan Siegel received a nine spot grid penalty for an engine change after his practice crash. He did not attampt a qualifying run and will start last.

Attendance was above expectations today, and the rain held off until just a few minutes ago. Indy NXT Qualifying is on hold for rain at the moment.

Indycar has a scheduled practice session beginning at 4:15 pm Central. My guess is that IndyNXT qualifying will be cancelled and IndyCar will have the practice session at some point.

Results

Note: This is not the official starting lineup.