Kyle Kirkwood takes pole position for Honda, Andretti Global at Nashville - Speedway Digest

Kyle Kirkwood scored his second-career NTT INDYCAR SERIES pole position in his #27 Andretti Global Honda to close out the 2024 season at Nashville Superspeedway.

Kirkwood is the reigning winner at Nashville, winning last year on the downtown street circuit to take his second INDYCAR series win. It is his second career INDYCAR pole, following his pole run and victory at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in 2023, and his first on an oval.

The Meyer Shank Racing pair continued their strong form into the season finale, with Felix Rosenqvist qualifying third and teammate David Malukas slotting in sixth.

Championship leader Alex Palou will have a long climb to the front of the field, starting 24^th for tomorrow’s race. Palou posted the 15^th fastest qualifying speed, but will take a nine-position grid spot penalty for an engine change prior to the start of the race weekend. Going into tomorrow’s final race, Palou holds a 33-point advantage over rival Will Power.

Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Honda Qualifying Results

1^st Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Global Honda
3^rd Felix Rosenqvist Meyer Shank Racing Honda
6^th David Malukas Meyer Shank Racing Honda
10^th Linus Lundqvist-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
11^th Colton Herta Andretti Global Honda
13^th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
14^th Marcus Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
15^th Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
18^th Marcus Ericsson Andretti Global Honda
19^th Pietro Fittipaldi Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
21^st Kyffin Simpson-R Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
22^nd Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
23^rd Jack Harvey Dale Coyne Racing Honda
24^th Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
25^th Katherine Legge Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda

R – Rookie

Quotes

Kyle Kirkwood (#27 Andretti Global Honda) pole qualifier, second career IndyCar pole, first oval track pole:“It’s huge for our season. I was a little upset that we hadn’t gotten a pole yet this season. This was our final chance and we got it done. Super happy. The #27 AutoNation Honda was absolutely on rails today. The Honda engine gave us great power, and we were good from the start. We were fast in practice. We rolled out of the trailer extremely well and made some minor changes for qualifying, and was super happy with the car’s performance.’

Felix Rosenqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda) qualified 3^rd:“That was a pretty good run. I think we could’ve done a better one if we’d had a bit more practice running. Track conditions were a bit of a moving target, so we came into qualifying pretty much blind, making a last-minute trim as well. I did kinda run out of gear a little bit, so I wish we’d had a taller gear, but that was a pretty good lap. It was fun.”

Alex Palou (#10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) championship points leader, qualified 15^th, will start 24^th due to an engine change penalty: “The first lap wasn’t too bad, but then the second lap was really, really bad. So not what we wanted or needed. It’s not making it any easier for sure, but tomorrow it will be time to see what we can do.”

Fast Facts

The 2024 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix marks the return of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES to the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway, after three years racing on a downtown temporary street circuit. It also will the championship-determining finale to the 17-race 2024 INDYCAR SERIES season.

Going into tomorrow’s 2024 championship finale, defending series champion Alex Palou holds a 33-point lead [525-492] over rival Will Power. Palou can clinch his second consecutive title – and third in the last four years – with a ninth-place or better result on Sunday.

This weekend’s season-finale at Nashville will be the sixth oval track event in the Hybrid era of NTT INDYCAR SERIES. The system also has been employed this year at Iowa Speedway, World Wide Technology Raceway, the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio, the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto, Portland and Milwaukee.

Where to Watch

Television coverage of Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix starts at 3 p.m. ET on NBC. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage for both races also will be available on the INDYCAR Radio Network, and SiriusXM INDYCAR Nation (Channel 218).

Honda Racing PR