It’s time to set the grid for the final round of the season. Who will come out on top in Nashville? How will championship contenders Alex Palou,, Will Power and Scott McLaughlin line up?
Following his earlier FP1 crash Nolan Siegel, who has been cleared to race, will not take part in the session, as McLaren is still working on fixing his car.
Jack Harvey was the first driver out on track for his two laps qualifying attempt, setting an average speed of 195.507mph making for a very solid run. He was followed by his Dale Coyne Racing teammate Katherine Legge, who suffered from lockup and only reached the 193.081mphs.
First rookie of the session is Kyffin Simpson for Ganassi, who slots in provisional P1 with a 197.318mph, a time still way off the best lap recorded in practice by teammate Alex Palou which neared the 200mphs.
Rasmussen up next for Ed Carpenter Racing almost reached that benchmark with a 199.1, but his rear tyre caught fire while back at the pits. Robb’s attempt was halted after a very strong 200.306 first lap as his AJ Foyt car lost power on the second run.
Fittipaldi then slots in P2 behind the reigning IndyNXT champion, with Daly and Malukas the first to record an average speed of 200mphs and cycling at the lead. Rahal on the other hand suffered from severe tyre degradation, settling for provisional P6.
Daly’s JHR teammate Grosjean was just shy of averaging the 200mphs as he slightly ran on the grass. Rookie of the year Lundqvist sets a 200.173mph, which has him slid in between the duo,whereas teammate Armstrong, following a very disrupted FP1 was still able to put in a positive performance for provisional P4 right behind him.
The best performances so far have surprisingly come from racing on the higher line, a move which will definitely call for some last minutes strategy updates.
Off his best seasonal finish of P7 in Milwaukee, Veekay becomes the best placed ECR driver with a 199.713mph. Ericsson confirms his struggles in his first year as an Andretti driver, scoring only a provisional P8 far off the pace showed earlier by his teammates.
Rosenqvist reaches his Meyers Shank teammate Malukas on top with an impressive 200.67mph, while Lundgaard was significantly slower than his teammates, only managing a 195. 4mph for his worst ever qualifying in his final race with Rahal Letterman Laningan. AJ Foyt’s Ferrucci gets P2 by only 0.018mphs over his future teammate Malukas.
Newgarden’s average of 201.35mph puts him right on top, while Rossi came incredibly close to the walls but was able to not make contact with it. The Penske driver’s P1 effort is surprisingly bested by Kyle Kirkwood, who averaged 201.520mph.
Nashville has definitely not been nice to McLaren as their best placed driver O’Ward only achieved a 200.2 good enough for provisional P8. Dixon was disappointed as well, with an average best speed of 199.63mph slower than his practice best effort.
Herta’s first lap was very strong, but had to correct a mistake on his second, slotting in P9 as the last driver with a 200mphs average. McLaughlin’s speed seems to not be on par with his teammate Newgarden’s, as he averages 200.230mphs for provisional P8. Power’s run as well wasn’t as impressive as the Nashville native’s, with a 200.6mph for P6, confirming Kirkwood’s pole as Palou will have to sit a 9 places grid penalty for taking up a new engine.
The Spaniard won’t take the point awarded to the fastest driver on track today, as he averages only 199.5 for P15, tarting a good 20 places behind title rival Will Power.
