Nashville Saturday Qualifying Wrap-Up
The grid is set for Sunday’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, and it didn’t exactly follow the chalk of the points standings. Points leader Alex Palou is not starting on the pole. He will start fourth. While that doesn’t sound like much of an upset, it pretty well describes the starting field. The strength is mostly up front, but there were some surprises.
The biggest surprise was that qualifying started ten minutes earlier than advertised. That was done in order to fit into the one-hour window on Big FOX. Unfortunately, the first four qualifiers were not shown on television. Just as we were about to head out to the intense heat on pit lane, we heard a car on track. Not many people seemed to get the memo. Most of our contemporaries on pit lane were as baffled as we were that things had already started.
Aside from that, the biggest surprise was the rumors surrounding the No.12 car of Team Penske. David Malukas has not been cleared to drive, but he has not been ruled out either. Before qualifying, we learned that Conor Daly had been tabbed to qualify the car, just in case Malukas was unavailable. Then we learned that the backup car would not be ready for qualifying. As far as the grid goes, the car will start twenty-fourth, one place ahead of Graham Rahal; who could not get off of pit lane for his qualifying run and had to be pushed away.
Chriastian Lundgaard had an excellent opportunity to silence his soon-to-be former team, who claimed he was underperforming on ovals. That opportunity was squandered as he qualified only nineteenth. Ouch!
The front-row is the same as it was in 2024 – Kyle Kirkwood on pole and Josef Newgarden on the outside of Row One. Scott McLaughlin and Alex Palou make up Row Two, while Scott Dixon and Alexander Rossi round out the third row. Christian Rasmussen, Marcus Armstrong, Rinus VeeKay and Marcus Ericsson completed the Top-Ten.
Santino Ferrucci will start eleventh, giving him the opportunity for a thrilling start. Pato O’Ward had a disappointing run that pit him twelfth on the grid – the highest of the three Arrow McLaren drivers.
The main topic of conversation among the drivers in the post-race press conference was the heat. It was only 92° but the steamy humidity was exhausting for those of us who were just standing in pit lane. I cannot imagine what it would be like wearing a Nomex firesuit baking in a non-ventilated cockpit. A tip of the hat to Susan, who braved the heat in pursuit of photos. Fellow IndyCar bluffer Patti Nolen (IKissedTheBricks) sent me a screenshot of when she spotted Susan on the telecast, sporting her photo vest during qualifying.
Speaking of the heat, we are probably going to stay for part of the Final Practice, but join some friends for dinner. It’s hot and we’re tired. Many of our colleagues have already left.
Join us here tomorrow as we will be arriving early. Parking was limited at 8:30 this morning. I can only imagine what it will be like on Race Day. We will have time to kill once we get here, with the race not starting until around 4:30 local time. But who’s complaining? We will be at a race track all day close to home. Once again, I will close with photos that Susan took during qualifying (in the heat). Please come back tomorrow.
George Phillips
July 18, 2026 at 10:31 pm
When the FOX pit reporters signed their contracts, did they know they would have to be wearing black while working in the pits?