Michael Levitt/Lumen
Kirkwood marches to Nashville pole as Palou ends up mired deep
The grid is set for the NTT IndyCar Series’ season finale and Kyle Kirkwood is on pole for the 206-lap Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. The driver of the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda (201.520mph) will have Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden sitting alongside him on the front row in the No. 2 Chevy (201.352mph).
It’s the American’s second career IndyCar pole; his first at Long Beach in 2023 was followed by the Floridian’s first victory.
“To actually get a pole on an oval is big for me and my confidence,” Kirkwood told RACER. “Good start to this weekend, and I think my racing on ovals has been a lot better. I've been finding myself up front quite a bit, but I'm still not fully there, still not doing things that some of the veteran guys are doing. So I'm still figuring that out.”
Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist was a strong third in the No. 60 Honda (200.676mph) and he’s got Penske’s Will Power, a distant second in the championship, in fourth with the No. 12 Chevy (200.628mph). AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci was fifth with the No. 14 Chevy (200.497mph), and MSR’s David Malukas completed the top six in the No. 66 Honda (200.479mph).
“It wasn’t the smoothest run,” Rosenqvist said. “But fun laps and a fun track.”
The biggest news in qualifying, other than Arrow McLaren being forced to skip the session with Nolan Siegel as crash repairs were ongoing, was the plight of championship leader Alex Palou who put in a fast 201mph lap on the first of his two tours but fell off badly on the second and ended with an average that left him 15th in the No. 10 Honda (199.532mph).
With a pre-race engine change triggering a nine-spot unapproved engine penalty, the championship leader will start buried deep in the 27-car field once all of the grid penalties are applied.
UP NEXT: Final Practice, 6 p.m. ET (weather permitting as rain is forecast)
Marshall Pruett
The 2026 season marks Marshall Pruett's 40th year working in the sport. In his role today for RACER, Pruett covers open-wheel and sports car racing as a writer, reporter, photographer, and filmmaker. In his previous career, he served as a mechanic, engineer, and team manager in a variety of series, including IndyCar, IMSA, and World Challenge.
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