IndyCar Showdown: Kirkwood and Palou in Nashville Drama

IndyCar Nashville Qualifying Highlights

Kyle Kirkwood scorched the field in IndyCar Series qualifying, achieving pole for the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway. The 25-year-old Florida native delivered two composed laps in the No. 27 Andretti Global Honda, averaging 201.520 mph at the 1.33-mile oval. This remarkable feat allowed him to outpace Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden by a narrow 0.0395s. It marks the second pole of Kirkwood's career, and his first on an oval.

“It’s huge for our season,” Kirkwood stated. “I was a little upset that we hadn’t got a pole yet this season. This was our final chance, and we got it done. Super happy. The No. 27 AutoNation Honda is absolutely on rails; Honda gave us great power.”

Qualifying Results

• Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist qualified third.
• Will Power of Team Penske began his final championship push by qualifying fourth.
• Santino Ferrucci rounded out the top five.
• David Malukas qualified sixth in his last race with Meyer Shank Racing.

Trouble for Championship Leader

Alex Palou faced challenges in his qualifying run. As the last driver on track, he struggled with pace in his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, achieving a speed of 199.532 mph, placing him 15th. However, with a nine-place grid penalty for an engine change before the weekend, he will start from 24th in Sunday’s 206-lap race.

“It wasn’t ideal,” Palou said. “I was a little more comfortable this morning in practice. So, don’t really know what happened to the No. 10 car.”