NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin scored his first pole of the NTT IndyCar Series season as he drove his No. 3 Chevrolet to the top of the timesheets during Saturday’s qualifying session for Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.
McLaughlin’s fast time was 1:14.6099 around the 11-turn, 2.1-mile temporary street course.
That was faster than Pato O’Ward’s No. 5 Chevrolet at 1:14.9395. McLaughlin also claimed his fourth career NTT P1 Award.
“We did a big lap in Q1 that set everything up,” McLaughlin said. “She’s a ripper. I did it twice in that session and I’m really proud of it. Who knows at this place. It’s a scary yellow that can happen out of the blue, but we start at the No. 1 spot and that is the important thing. To put it on pole two years in a row is unreal.”
Colton Herta of Andretti Autosport was third at 1:15.2416 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda followed by points leader Alex Palou’s 1:15.2462 in the No. 10 American Legion Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Palou has an 80-point lead over Josef Newgarden in the battle of the NTT IndyCar Series championship.
David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing was fifth at 1:15.870 in the No. 18 Honda with Andretti Autosport driver Romain Grosjean rounding out the Fast Six at 1:15.9921 in the No. 28 DHL Honda.
Herta decided to use a strategy of making just one run in the final six-minute session. McLaughlin had the early fast lap at 1:16.0493 before Grosjean took over No. 1 at 1:15.9921 and then, O’Ward at 1:15.3506. The fastest lap rotated over the final two minutes with McLaughlin taking over the top spot when time ran out.
Click here for the full qualifying results.
Due to lengthy rain and standing water on the race course, qualifying was rescheduled to 6:15 p.m. (ET) on Saturday.
Because of various other issues following the Trans-Am TA2 race, the session did not begin until 6:24 p.m. (ET).
The rain and persistent mist stopped, replaced by bright sunshine along with much hotter and more humid conditions. The ambient temperature when qualifications began was 88 degrees, but it felt much warmer because of the high humidity.
In the first group of Segment One, the cars hit a race course that was relatively green because of the rain.
Benjamin Pedersen spun out on course to bring out the Red Flag with 8:55 left in the group. After a brief stoppage, the cars returned to the course and the speeds increased. Rookie driver Augustin Canapino was in the top six with three minutes left, but was nailed with a pit road speed violation by IndyCar Race Control.
Rookie driver Linus Lundqvist made it into the top six with 11 seconds to go. Last year’s Indy NXT champion was driving the No. 60 SiriusXM/AutoNation Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in place of the injured Simon Pagenaud.
McLaughlin was the fastest at 1:15.1629 in the No. 3 Chevrolet followed by Scott Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank Honda at 1:15.7094, Malukas in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda at 1:15.7943, Alexander Rossi in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Honda at 1:15.8303, Newgarden at 1:15.9347 and Lundqvist at 1:16.0892.
Drivers that did not advance included Christian Lundgaard, Graham Rahal, Helio Castroneves, Rinus VeeKay, Santino Ferrucci, Canapino and Pedersen.
“We made some changes overnight that we wanted to verify in practice morning, but we didn’t get to because it was wet and that was very frustrating,” Lundgaard said. “In my opinion, that’s the reason we’re not through. Quite honestly, that sucks. We had a car that could have been in the top three, but this one change made it real tough today.”
The second group hit the track after a short break and Palou took the early lead with a lap at 1:15.6071 with seven minutes remaining.
Team Penske’s Will Power spun off course, but the course remained green. Jack Harvey’s Honda brought out a local yellow and he was penalized his fastest lap and not allowed to advance into the next round.
Grosjean took over the top spot at 1:15.3454 before Palou regained the No. 1 position at 1:15.0849. At the checkered flag, it was Nashville resident Colton Herta that took over the top spot at 1:15.0030.
Andretti Autosport teammate Kyle Kirkwood was second at 1:15.0561 followed by Palou at 1:15.0849, O’Ward at 1:15.1251, Grosjean at 1:15.1570 and Power at 1:15.4599. Missing out was Felix Rosenqvist at 1:15.4638, Marcus Armstrong, Callum Ilott, Marcus Ericsson, Harvey, Sting Ray Robb, Devlin DeFrancesco and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
“I thought it was pretty good compared to practice and was very happy with it, but four-thousandths off, that’s a bummer,” Rosenqvist said. “I was pretty happy with it, but just not enough. You have to risk it all when you go out there.”
The 12 drivers in the round of 12 took the track to begin the second segment.
Early in the session, the speeds continued to increase as part of the course was in the shade with a rotation list of drivers taking over the fastest speed.
With 52 seconds left, O’Ward was the fastest at 1:14.5944 to move Palou off the No. 1 position, before Herta took over the second position. Defending Nashville winner Dixon hit the Turn 11 wall with just 18 seconds left to bring out the Red Flag, ending his chance at advancing. He will start 12th in Sunday’s race.
“The grip level felt high, and I felt bad doing what I did to the crew there,” Dixon said. “The front turned a lot better than I thought it would and I clipped the wall. Hopefully, I’ll stay out of the mess, but the last two champions of this race have been in the mess.”
Race Control gave the remaining 11 cars one flying lap at Dixon’s No. 9 PNC Bank Honda was removed from the course.
O’Ward stayed in pit lane because his speed was safe for the Fast Six. Palou also stayed parked in pit lane.
After the one-lap dash was completed, the six drivers that advanced into the Fast Six were, in order, O’Ward at 1:14.5944, Herta at 1:14.7128, Palou at 1:14.7218, McLaughlin at 1:14.7484, Grosjean at 1:14.7695 and Malukas at 1:15.90519.
Missing out were Power at 1:15.1384, Kirkwood, Newgarden, Rossi, Lundqvist and Dixon.
“I made a mistake in Turn 9, locked the front and went up toward the wall,” Power said. “Damn. I shouldn’t have done that. You have to get it on that first lap when the tires are good. That is your only chance. We were there. Made a little mistake. Can’t do that.”
That set up the Fast Six.
“It’s Nashville,” Newgarden said. “You never know what is going to happen.”