While Pato O’Ward turned the fastest time in practice1 for the Music City Grand Prix, Kyle Kirkwood led the bulk of the session. O’Ward’s lap 0f 202.357 mph nipped Kirkwood in the final five minutes by 0.0447 seconds.

O’Ward ran the entire session on the hard compound tires, but he plans to qualify on the soft tires.

“That feels good,” O’Ward said. “I’m happy to go with that into qualifying. We didn’t get a run in on the softs, which we’ll be qualifying on, but I think it’s just extra grip, or that’s what it seems like. I think we’re in good shape.”

O’Ward’s teammate Christian Lundgaard was third, Kirkwood’s teammate Colton Heta finished the session in fourth. Nolan Siegel in seventh put all three McLarens in the top 10.

Practice stopped for two cautions, one for Conor Daly, and one for Alex Palou. Neither car sustained any serious damage.

Eighteen cars topped 200 mph, with Marcus Ericsson’s 200.316 the slowest of the 18.

Next up for the IndyCar series is qualifying at 1 pm Central time. High line practice groups start at 3:30 pm Central, and a full practice begins at 4:30 pm Central. All three sessions are on FS2.

Results

I will be back after qualifying and then will have a wrap up after the final practice this evening.