Kyle Kirkwood scorched the sphere in IndyCar Sequence qualifying to take pole for the season finale at Nashville Superspeedway.
The 25-year-old Florida native delivered two composed laps within the No. 27 Andretti International Honda with a mean of 201.520mph on the 1.33-mile oval, which was sufficient to knock off Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden by 0.0395s. The pole was the second of Kirkwood’s profession, and first on an oval.
“It’s big for our season,” mentioned Kirkwood. “I used to be a bit upset that we hadn’t acquired a pole but this season. This was our last probability and we acquired it finished. Tremendous completely satisfied. The No. 27 AutoNation Honda is completely on rails; Honda gave us nice energy.”
Meyer Shank Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist managed to qualify third. Group Penske’s Will Power made a constructive begin to his last-gasp championship push by slotting fourth, simply 0.2112s off pole.
The No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Santino Ferrucci ended up fifth, with David Malukas sixth in his last race with Meyer Shank Racing, shifting to AJ Foyt Racing in 2025 alongside Ferrucci.
Bother for the championship chief
Championship chief Alex Palou was the final driver to exit on observe, with the qualifying order being set in reverse of general factors. Throughout his run, there was a noticeable battle for tempo in his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, operating at 199.532 mph to fit fifteenth. Nevertheless, with a nine-place grid penalty for an engine change coming into the weekend, his hopes of hoisting the Astor Cup Trophy will begin from twenty fourth for Sunday’s 206-lap contest.
“It wasn’t supreme,” Palou mentioned. “I used to be a bit extra comfy this morning in apply. So, don’t actually know occurred to the No. 10 automobile. We simply should examine and see that, however first lap wasn’t too unhealthy. However the second lap was actually, actually unhealthy. So yeah, not what we wished or what we’d like however we have to transfer from there tomorrow.”
There was additionally a detailed second for Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi, who was left saving his No. 7 Chevrolet after going over the identical bump in Flip 3 that took out teammate Nolan Siegel in opening apply. Rossi was twentieth by the tip of his laps, however like Siegel, will fall down beginning positions because of a nine-spot grid penalty for an engine change.
“I don’t know why that’s occurred to 2 of our vehicles,” Rossi mentioned, who’s operating his last race with Arrow McLaren. “… a little bit of a thriller.”
Siegel didn’t run in qualifying and isn’t anticipated to run in last apply because of repairs from his crash at the beginning of the day.
The one different driver left to endure a nine-spot grid penalty is Group Penske’s Scott McLaughlin, who certified ninth.
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