NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The third annual Music City Grand Prix ended with the second career victory for Kyle Kirkwood in the NTT IndyCar Series.
Kirkwood started eighth and held off pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin by 0.7633 seconds.
Other notable developments:
—Alex Palou finished third, increasing his championship lead to 84 points over two-time series champion and reigning Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden (fourth), who finished a career-best fourth in his hometown race.
—The race again featured a red flag, but it was relatively clean compared to the first two races in Nashville with only three yellow flags for incidents.
—One of the yellows was for Linus Lundqvist, who turned the fastest lap in his IndyCar debut before smacking the Turn 9 wall on Lap 69 of 80.
Follow along below for updates from during and after the race.
Here’s what drivers were saying about the third annual Music City Grand Prix, which was won by Kyle Kirkwood.
Kirkwood:
Scott McLaughlin:
Alex Palou:
Josef Newgarden:
Scott Dixon:
Andretti Autosport’s second victory this season is also the second of Kyle Kirkwood’s IndyCar career.
Click here for where everyone finished in the third annual Music City Grand Prix.
Click here for the drivers who led during the 80-lap race on the streets of Nashville.
It’s another sublime street course drive for Kyle Kirkwood, who earned the second street course victory of his IndyCar career.
The Andretti Autosport driver finished 0.7633 seconds ahead of pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin, who finished second after starting first for the second consecutive year in Nashville.
Championship leader Alex Palou took third to extend his points lead over Josef Newgarden, who finished fourth. Scott Dixon was fifth.
It’s the second career IndyCar victory for Kirkwood, whose breakthrough came in April from the pole position on the streets of Long Beach, California.
"Winner winner, Nashville hot chicken dinner!"
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 6, 2023
Kyle Kirkwood gets his 2nd win of the year. 🏁 pic.twitter.com/AIXgqG5Xtu
After a 12-minute stoppage for a red flag, cars are rolling again in Nashville.
The restart should come with four laps remaining, and Kyle Kirkwood leading the 21 cars still running to the green flag.
The restart zone has changed for the 2023 race. Cars can accelerate into Turn 10 coming to the green.
Because of track blockages, IndyCar changed the restart location after using Turn 11 in 2021 and Turn 9 last year.
The Music City Grand Prix maintained its streak of at least one annual red flag, setting up a final shootout.
A three-car pileup started when Felix Rosenqvist hit the Turn 9 tire barrier on a Lap 75 restart. Benjamin Pedersen and Agustin Canapino piled into Rosenqvist’s No. 6 Dallara-Chevrolet, necessitating a lengthy cleanup.
Rather than allow the race to end under yellow, IndyCar threw the red flag with five laps remaining to ensure at least one more restart.
Kyle Kirkwood leads, followed by Scott McLaughlin, Alex Palou, Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon.
The IndyCar street race in Nashville has included at least one red flag in each edition since its 2021 debut, though this year’s race hasn’t quite lived up to its “Crashville” nickname.
Yet.
A fantastic IndyCar debut for Linus Lundqvist has ended in the Turn 11 wall.
Lundqivst, who was making his first start in the No. 60 Dallara-Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in place of Simon Pagenaud, got off line and smacked the barrier while on track for a top 15 finish.
After qualifying 11th, Lundqvist had been impressive, turning the fastest lap of the race on Lap 57.
It’s a big break for championship leader Alex Palou, who now might be able to save enough fuel without having to pit and lose valuable points and positions to Josef Newgarden.
The calmest edition of the Music City Grand Prix is 10 laps from completion with Kyle Kirkwood in control.
There’s only been one caution for an incident on the streets of Nashville, which had featured nine yellow flags in its first two IndyCar races.
But there could be trouble ahead for points leader Alex Palou, who trails by 19 seconds in third but apparently will need another pit stop for fuel.
Palou is 80 points ahead of Josef Newgarden, who is running fourth and in a position to take a major chunk out of the championship lead.
Kyle Kirkwood has built a decent lead on Scott McLaughlin, who is trying to avoid finishing second after starting first for the second consecutive year in Nashville.
The gap is nearly 2.5 seconds, so McLaughlin will need to make some hay in the final 20 laps. But if the Team Penske driver closes the gap to make it interesting, there’ll be an interesting subplot.
At Iowa Speedway two weeks ago, race winner Josef Newgarden and teammate McLaughlin both complained about unnamed drivers who caused problems in traffic while running a lap down.
Kirkwood said a day later that he believed he was the target of their barbs — and was unapologetic about keeping the Team Penske drivers at bay.
After a swift stop, Kyle Kirkwood seems to be in the catbird seat for another street course victory.
Kyle Kirkwood pitted from the lead on Lap 52 and rejoined the track ahead of pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin and points leader Alex Palou, who had combined to lead 37 of the first 52 laps.
Kirkwood cycled back to the front under green on Lap 54 ahead of McLaughlin, Palou, Josef Newgarden and Scott Dixon.
Andretti Autosport’s only victory this season was in the Acura Long Beach Grand Prix — the first win of Kirkwood’s IndyCar career.
Scott McLaughlin and Romain Grosjean are waging a spirited battle that evokes memories of the season opener.
In the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, McLaughlin and pole-sitter Grosjean wrecked while racing for a position that likely would have been for the victory. McLaughlin took the blame for the crash.
Today at Nashville, it’s pole-sitter McLaughlin who is putting the heat on Grosjean. But the racing was clean this time, and McLaughlin patiently snatched away second place after stalking Grosjean for several laps.
Meanwhile up front, Alex Palou has pitted from the lead, handing first to Kyle Kirkwood.
At the midpoint of the 80-lap Music City Grand Prix, Alex Palou leads by a second on Kyle Kirkwood.
Romain Grosjean is third, followed by Scott McLaughlin, Linus Lundqvist, Jack Harvey, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon, Marcus Ericsson and Rinus VeeKay.
In his IndyCar debut, Lundqvist is turning in a phenomenal drive, but the 2022 Indy Lights/NXT champion also is driving a No. 60 Dallara-Honda that seems to have lost the scoop that helps keep cool air flowing into the cockpit.
So what already is the most important race of the Swede’s life also could be the toughest.
INCOMING! 😳 👀
— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) August 6, 2023
📺: NBC & @peacock pic.twitter.com/oobFOxStCo
Nashville could be the latest chapter in Alex Palou’s charmed 2023 season.
While the Chip Ganassi Racing star has turned in some sublime drives, he also has benefited from some good luck and smart team strategy, which seems the case today.
By being the first driver to pit under yellow on Lap 14, the points leader has cycled into the lead ahead of Kyle Kirkwood, Romain Grosjean, Linus Lundqvist and pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin.
Palou lost two spots on the opening lap. But just as in Toronto (where he finished second with a front wing that was hanging on by the adhesion of decals on the final lap), it seems as if virtually every break eventually goes the 2021 champion’s way this season.
It’s early, but has Marcus Ercisson’s No. 8 team on track to becoming the first repeat Nashville winner by playing the strategy correctly?
Ericsson stopped on Lap 6, and he now has inherited the lead after the 10 drivers who didn’t stop during the Lap 13 yellow peeled off for the pits.
On Lap 30, Ericsson leads Alexander Rossi, Helio Castroneves and points leader Alex Palou, the first driver to make a stop under the caution. Pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin is in seventh after pitting under green on Lap 25.
Ericsson won the inaugural Music City Grand Prix in 2021 despite a similarly early pit stop that was necessitated after his car went airborne in a Lap 5 collision.
As his lead began to shrink, Scott McLaughlin gave up first for a pit stop.
Though he wasn’t fading as badly as fellow front row starter Pato O’Ward, the handling on McLaughlin’s No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet clearly had gone away.
Romain Grosjean inherited the lead on McLaughlin’s pit stop with Andretti Autosport teammate Kyle Kirkwood in second.
Will Power, Rinus VeeKay and hometown favorite Josef Newgarden round out the top five. None has pitted yet.
The front row of the Music City Grand Prix is facing divergent fortunes.
While pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin had led all 25 laps and built a comfortable 3-second lead over Romain Grosjean. Pato O’Ward is fading after qualfiying second.
After giving up several spots, the Arrow McLaren driver pitted on Lap 24 and now has dropped to 23rd.
Pole-sitter Scott McLaughlin has led all 17 laps after an interesting tactical call.
McLaughlin and nine other drivers elected to stay on track when the pits opened on Lap 14 for the first time. Among the top 10 contenders electing to pit were points leader Alex Palou, who restarted 22nd, and Linus Lundqvist, who restarted 23rd.
The top 10 through 15 laps: McLaughlin, Pato O’Ward, Colton Herta, Romain Grosjean, Kyle Kirkwood, Will Power, Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon and Marcus Armstrong.
I’m pretty surprised we didn’t see more takers on that yellow. The tires go off pretty aggressively here. Everyone either handed the race over to @AlexPalou or they are so confident in how many yellows there will be. That’s what makes racing fun and interesting! 😁 #INDYCAR
— Conor Daly (@ConorDaly22) August 6, 2023
A promising weekend is over for David Malukas.
After starting sixth, the No. 18 Dallara-Honda driver is out of his car after pulling off in the Turn 9 runoff area with heavy rear-end damage.
The rear wing of Malukas’ car appears to have collapsed because of a mechanical/structural problem, not wall contact.
Malukas later told NBC Sports’ Kevin Lee that his team still is looking into what happened. “I don’t know if it was the rear wing that failed or something internally that caused a lot of heat,” Malukas said. “Because we didn’t just lose the rear wing going into Turn 9. I lost the gearbox and couldn’t shift or do anything. I came in, and there was a massive fire.
“It’s unfortunate. I think we had a good strategy and had some pace but nothing we could do there.”
Having already announced he will leave Dale Coyne Racing after 2023, Malukas is one of many drivers who is awaiting clarity on his IndyCar future.
Colton Herta and David Malukas muscled past points leader Alex Palou on the opening lap, but there were no major incidents in the first 10 laps.
That’s a first for the Music City Grand Prix. The caution flag waved on Lap 2 in 2021 and Lap 8 in ’22.
Though the yellow flew on Lap 1 this year, it was only because IndyCar waved off the start but still counted the lap before throwing the green on Lap 2.
There still have been early problems for some drivers. Graham Rahal made a pit stop on Lap 4 because of his right front tire kept locking up.
Rinus VeeKay, Marcus Ericsson, Santino Ferrucci, Helio Castroneves, Callum Ilott and Ryan Hunter-Reay also made stops in the first seven laps.
Even if they pitted because of ill-handling cars, getting off-sequence from the early leader has been a winning strategy in the first two races at Nashville.
As expected, Nashville already is delivering on its reputation for unpredictability.
Will Power’s No. 12 Dallara-Chevrolet left the starting grid late after the defending series champion briefly lost his earbuds. After a frantic scramble, they were delivered in time for Power to rejoin the field before the green.
Power also got an extra lap to regain his composure when IndyCar then waved off the initial start.
—As usual, the focus is on the stars of the IndyCar Series entering the third annual Music City Grand Prix.
Namely, where will many of them be driving next season?
The landing spot of points leader Alex Palou apparently will determine the future of Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Marcus Ericsson and several other seats for the 2024 season.
—Palou enters Nashville with an 80-point lead with five races remaining in the season. It’s a comfortable margin for the 2021 series champion, but Josef Newgarden whittled it down significantly by sweeping Iowa Speedway two weeks ago.
—Managing the inevitable chaos will be a major factor today. Having a fast car is no guarantee of a strong finish, as previous pole-sitters Colton Herta and Scott McLaughlin learned the hard way.
