Race Day One Last Time

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Today’s schedule in Central time:

1 p.m. FOX on air and Driver Intros
1:27 p.m. Invocation
1:28 p.m. Anthem
1:29 p.m. Flyover
1:33 p.m. D rivers to Cars
1:40 p.m. Command
1:45 p.m. Green Flag

Good morning on a cool and cloudy race morning from Nashville Superspeedway. There was not much traffic coming in to the track this morning, and I fear attendance will not be great today.

What firsts are in store for today? Can Pato O’Ward win a race starting on pole? Will David Malukas get his first IndyCar win?

From last night:

Nashville Official Starting Lineup and Tire Choices

There could also be some lasts. Is today Colton Herta’s last IndyCar ride for awhile? Rumors seem to be gaining strength that he will drive in F2 next year to gain his superlicense points to drive for Cadillac F1 in 2027.

Is this Will Power’s last ride in a Team Penske car? I think the odds ar good that it will be, no matter how Malukas does today.

With Dale Coyne having a new source of funding, might Jacob Abel be out of the number 51? Abel brings money, and some team will welcome him, but it sounds as if Coyne is looking to shore up his driver lineup.

I think today’s winner comes from the first five starters. A 1-2 McLaren finish is possible. How far will Christian Rasmussen advance from 25th? Throw in a hungry for win drivers Josef Newgarden and Scott Mclaughlin, starting sixth and seventh respectively, and tody could be a great race.

I will be back after the race with a quick review and post more thoughts tomorrow morning. Enjoy the race.

Final Practice

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Scott Dixon led the final warmup for tomorrow’s Music City Grand Prix. Practice ended about three minutes early when Will Power wiggled and slightly brushed the wall. power was able to bring the car back to pit road.

Callum Ilott had wall contact and a spin, and Nolan Siegel also made wall contact.

Pole sitter Pato O’Ward was 10th and David Malukas finished the session in fourth.

The top five:

Dixon

Newgarden

Armstrong

Malukas

Kirkwood

Sundays schedule:Times are Central

Indy NXT:

10:16 a.m. Grid Cars
10:21 a.m. Drivers to Cars
10:30 a.m. FS1 on air
10:31 a.m. Command
10:35 a.m. Green Flag

IndyCar:


1 p.m. FOX on air and Driver Intros
1:27 p.m. Invocation
1:28 p.m. Anthem
1:29 p.m. Flyover
1:33 p.m. Drivers to Cars
1:40 p.m. Command
1:45 p.m. Green Flag

O’Ward Wants Win from Pole

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Pato O’Ward has won poles. O’Ward has won races. He has never won a race where he started on the pole. He wants to win the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix tomorrow. Badly.

“I’m determined to make it happen tomorrow,” he declared.

O’Ward took his first oval pole today with a blistering first lap of 202.932 mph, and he averaged 202.621 mph for the two laps.

For the second week in a row, David Malukas qualified on the provisional pole and had to wait to see if any of the last 10 drivers to make their runs could top his 201.922 mph average.

Last week, Alex Palou, the last driver out, beat Malukas for the pole. This week O’Ward by just under seven tenths of a mile per hour.

A somewhat subdued Malukas said, “We’re gonna get there.”

Series champion Alex Palou will start fourh tomorrow.

Nolan Siegel posted the fast speed in the first group of qualifiers, then Josef Newgarden went to the top spot six drivers later. His time there lasted just five more runs until Malukas bumped him down. Malukas survived eight attempts until O’Ward’s scorching laps.

Notes and Quick Thoughts

All three Mclaren cars qualified in the top 10. Christian Lundgaard starts third, and Nolan Siegel rolls off seventh tomorrow.

Andretti Global dominated qualifying and the race last year with Kyle Kirkwood on the pole and Colton Herta winning the race, but they didn’t have the pace today. Kirkwood qualified 13th and Herta15th.

Christian Rasmussen qualified 16th, but will start 25th after serving an engine change penalty. It will be fun watching him come up through the field.

I can’t imagine the frustration David Malukas is going through to come so close to his first career pole and lose it at the last minute. He doesn’t have another chance for six months at St. Pete.

Silly season rumors continue to swirl. Herta going to F2 seems to be gaining momentum. He told FOX sports that he didn’t know if he will be in the number 26 next year.

I still think IndyCar needs to revamp oval qualifying and have the order based on practice speeds instead of point standings. I don’t think it would have changed much today as O’Ward would have been the last driver on track, and Malukas would have gone sixth from last. Still, with the points leader somewhere mid-session, there could be more drama.

Cars are back on track at 3:30 Central for high line groups, followed by a full practice at 4:30 Central. Both sessions are on FS2.

Practice 1 Complete; McLaren, Andretti Lead Close Results

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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.

Welcome to Nashville

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Good morning from Nashville Superspeedway. There was quite a line to get into the track as I arrived about 25 minutes ago. If this is an indication of what attendance will be like, it is going to be a very good weekend, fan wise.

Like last year, the track and facility look great.

Today’s schedule, in Central time:

Indy NXT is on track now.

Christian Rasmussen and Callum Ilott have just been issued nine place grid penalties for engine changes.

The big news yesterday was Dale Coyne has partnered with Todd Ault, adn the Coyne cars in 2026 will both carry the liveries of Ault’s block chain companies. Rinus VeeKay will have the livery on the 18 this weekend.

Ault had an association with ECR the last couple of years, but ECr partnered with Ted Gelov. It is nice to see Dale Coyne get more financial backing. Coyne hopes to have his driver lineup set by October, ad he hopes to retain Rinus VeeKay. I honestly don’t see anywhere else for Rinus to be next year.

DC Race?

IndyCar is exploring the possibly of a street race in Washington, DC in 2026 as a tie in with the nation’s 250 birthday. With an already scrambled calendar shaping up, I don’t know where it would fit in. At any rate, don’t expect a full 2026 schedule anytime soon.

This race would be the third new race on next year’s schedule with the Texas event and likely Mexico City.. Three new races seems like quite a lot for a series to take on.

I will be back after morning practice.

Nashville Preview

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The championship was decided long ago, and as we hit the finish line on another all too short and early season, the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix still has some things to settle. I think the off track news may overshadow the on track happenings the next three days.

Th last race of the year always has a strange feel to it. The race winner, if the driver is not the series champion, gets very little notice. This year may be different since Alex Palou wrapped up the title three weeks ago and took a bit of the glory away from Will Power’s first win of the year.

Nashville has a tough act to follow after the great show at Milwaukee, but I think we will see another good race.

There is some intrigue surrounding the event and the results. Is Sunday Power’s last race for Penske? Does David Malukas move to the number 12 car in 2026? Will we get confirmation of the Mexico City race? Will there be any surprise announcements? I think there might be.

Rookie of the Year

Louis Foster leads Robert Shwartzman by eight points. All Foster has to do is finish ahead of Shwartzman to win the title. I believe Foster would win on a tiebreaker.

In Milwaukee last Sunday, Foster finished 17th and Shwartzman 17th.

Third Place

Scott Dixon holds a seven point advantage over Christian Lundgaard, and Kyle Kirkwood is 28 points behind Dixon. Kirkwood has faded the second half of the season and will likely keep fifth place.

Lundgaard gained six points on Dixon last week. If Lundgaard were to end up third, Arrow McLaren drivers would be second and third in the standings. Pato O’Ward clinched second place at Milwaukee.

Tenth Place

Scott McLaughlin leads David Malukas by eight points for the final spot in the top 10. A bad pit stop Sunday probably cost Malukas the 10th spot, but he can regain it this weekend.

Tires again may tell the story of the race, as teams are required to use two sets of alternate tires. Sticker alternates are not required. A late caution could result in another wild finish.

This week I think we will not see a first time winner, but Alexander Rossi will end the year for ECR with the team’s second straight win.

I will be heading to Nashville early tomorrow morning. I will post something in the afternoon, as I believe there will be some news by then.