INDIANAPOLIS (Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025) – INDYCAR has announced a nine-position starting grid penalty for the for the entry of No. 6 Arrow McLaren for an unscheduled engine change beyond the entry’s season allotment. The entries were in violation of: Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out. According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot Sunday, Aug. 31 at Nashville Superspeedway.
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?
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 