Nashville race rescheduled to Monday due to rain and lightning
The Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls at Nashville Superspeedway has been postponed to Monday at 3 p.m. ET. Heavy rain and lightning swept through Middle Tennessee on Sunday evening, interrupting track drying efforts that had been underway following earlier storms. The 300-lap race will be broadcast live on FOX, FOX One, and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.
Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global is set to lead the 25-car field from the pole position in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda.
Qualifying Results and Conditions
Kirkwood secured the NTT P1 Award during qualifying on Saturday, marking his first pole of the season and fourth of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career. He achieved a two-lap average speed of 196.852 mph in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda. This performance followed Kirkwood’s strong showing in practice earlier on Saturday at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
Kirkwood’s qualifying run was the second-to-last in the order, where he achieved an opening lap of 197.382 mph, the only lap in the session to exceed 197 mph. This allowed him to claim the pole from Josef Newgarden, who had a two-lap average of 196.642 mph in the No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet.
Newgarden, an oval racer, has won 13 of the last 30 circle-track events, including this race in the previous year. He was still recovering from a foot injury sustained in a crash at the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. Despite this, Newgarden expressed confidence in his team and car, noting, “We have a great car here. We started earlier this morning really well. The team did everything they could today, and we have a good viewpoint for tomorrow now.”
Team Penske drivers secured two of the top three starting positions. Scott McLaughlin qualified third with a speed of 196.087 mph in the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske Chevrolet. He will be joined on the second row by reigning and four-time series champion Alex Palou, who qualified fourth at 196.050 mph in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
Six-time series champion Scott Dixon also performed well for Chip Ganassi Racing, qualifying fifth at 195.802 mph in the No. 9 PNC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Alexander Rossi, the 2016 Indianapolis 500 winner, completed Row 3, qualifying at 195.664 mph in the No. 20 ECR Java House Chevrolet.
Qualifying conditions were challenging, with an air temperature of 94 degrees and track temperatures reaching 130 degrees. All drivers had to contend with these stifling conditions.
Malukas’s Participation
David Malukas, who has accumulated more oval points than any other driver this season, did not attempt to qualify in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet after a significant crash during practice on Saturday morning. Malukas required assistance from the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team to exit his car and was transported to a local hospital for further testing. He was later cleared to participate in the final practice on Saturday evening and the 300-lap race.
The race was originally scheduled to begin at approximately 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, contingent on the conclusion of the FIFA World Cup Final.
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Source: indycar.com
