Kirkwood proves he is not a ‘one-trick pony’ after Nashville pole

LEBANON, Tenn. — Kyle Kirkwood took his fourth career NTT IndyCar Series pole at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway for Sunday evening’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls.

The Andretti Global driver proved that he not only excels on street courses but can also dominate on ovals. This pole position marked Kirkwood’s second oval pole, with his last coming at Nashville back in 2024. 

The 27-year-old was two-tenths of a second faster than the hometown favorite, Josef Newgarden. During the post-race press conference, the Florida native shared that he was happy with his recent performance in Music City, proving that he is not a one-trick pony. 

“Yeah, it was really good, Kirkwood said. “Quick in practice. Quick again in qualifying there. Happy that our pace has stayed true over the past three years that we’ve run around this place. I got more poles here now than anywhere else. A rare thing for me to say. People tend to think I’m a street-course driver, so…”

“Yeah, but no, happy with our performance. Car has been very fast every year we’ve shown up here. Hopefully continues tomorrow.”

Before qualifying

David Malukas and the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet car did not participate in qualifying after a massive crash in Practice 1. The Team Penske driver walked away from the incident and was sent to a local hospital for further evaluation. 

Malukas was cleared to race after qualifying wrapped up and finished Practice 2 at the top of the leaderboard. 

Qualifying underway in Nashville

Qualifying started on FOX after four drivers had already set their fastest average two-lap speeds. Caio Collet topped the charts with a two-lap average speed of 194.827 mph. The Brazilian rookie was followed by Mick Schumacher, Sting Ray Robb and Romain Grosjean. 

Christian Rasmussen started his run after an average warm-up speed of 194.513 mph. The Ed Carpenter driver landed in the 195 mph range for both of his laps, topping the charts with a two-lap average speed of 195.585 mph.  

Nolan Siegel headed out to qualify as he set a first-lap average of 195.123 mph. The Arrow McLaren driver finished his qualifying run with a second-lap average of 194.771 mph. Thus, sliding into second place with a two-lap average speed of 194.947 mph.

Dennis Hauger was the last rookie to qualify after setting an average warm-up speed of 191.009 mph. The Norwegian driver’s first-lap speed was 192.453 mph, the slowest lap thus far. Then, the Dale Coyne Racing driver finished last with a two-lap average speed of 192.222 mph. 

Louis Foster started his qualifying run with an average warm-up speed of 191.392 mph. The Englishman’s average first-lap speed was 194.486 mph. The No. 45 Honda driver landed in fifth place with a two-lap average speed of 194.080 mph.

Santino Ferrucci headed to the track with an average warm-up lap speed of 194.735 mph. The AJ Foyt Racing driver set his average first-lap speed in the 195s. Ferrucci trended close to Rasmussen but slotted under the No. 21 Chevrolet driver in second with a two-lap average speed of 195.332 mph.

Rossi tops the charts

Alexander Rossi started his run with an average warm-up speed of 192.091 mph. Rossi finished his first lap with an average speed of 196.152 mph. Later, the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing driver trended ahead of his teammate and took over Christian Rasmussen’s top spot with a two-lap average speed of 195.664 mph. 

Kyffin Simpson headed out with an average warm-up speed of 192.259 mph. The No. 8 Chip Ganassi Racing driver finished his first lap in the 194s, then finished his run in seventh place with an overall average speed of 194.355 mph. 

Will Power started his run with a fast average warm-up speed of 194.443 mph. The Andretti Global driver’s first-lap average speed was 195.042 mph. Then, the Australian finished his run in fifth place with a two-lap average speed of 194.829 mph. 

Rahal misses out after stalling out

Graham Rahal had issues with his No. 15 Honda after stalling twice on pit road. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver was not able to head out to the track for his qualifying run within his allotted time. 

Marcus Armstrong headed out to qualify, setting a fast warm-up time of 194.333 mph. The Meyer Shank Racing driver put his best foot forward with an average first-lap speed of 195.790 mph. However, the 25-year-old trailed Alexander Rossi by a car length. The New Zealander finished third fastest with a two-lap average speed of 195.578 mph. 

Rinus VeeKay started his qualifying run with an average warm-up speed of 193.235 mph. The Dutchman landed in the 195s after his first lap, then slid into fourth place with a two-lap average speed of 195.434 mph.

Marcus Ericsson headed out in his No. 28 Honda with an average warm-up speed of 194.089 mph. The Andretti Global driver finished his first lap with an average speed of 195.445 mph. Then, he finished his run in fifth place with a two-lap overall average speed of 195.389 mph. 

Dixon on top

Scott Dixon headed out trending near Alexander Rossi’s top run. The Chip Ganassi Racing driver finished his first lap with an average speed of 195.956 mph. Then, the New Zealander overtook Rossi’s fastest average speed by two-tenths with a two-lap average speed of 195.802 mph

Scott McLaughlin started his run with a great first-lap average of 196.190 mph. The Team Penske driver took over Scott Dixon’s fastest speed with an average two-lap speed of 196.087 mph, the first driver to reach the 196 mph range.

2026 Indianapolis 500 champion Felix Rosenqvist headed out with an average warm-up speed of 191.189 mph. The Meyer Shank Racing driver finished his first lap with an average speed of 194.830 mph. Rosenvist ultimately finished his run in 13th with a two-lap average speed of 194.808 mph. 

Hometown hero topped the charts

Nashville native Josef Newgarden started his qualifying run with a fast warm-up average speed of 193.402 mph. The American driver set the fastest single-lap average speed thus far, 196.970 mph. Then, Newgarden overtook his teammate Scott McLaughlin for the top spot with a two-lap average speed of 196.642 mph. 

Mid-Ohio winner, Pato O’Ward, headed out with an average warm-up speed of 191.920 mph. The Mexican driver ended his first lap with an average speed of 195.788 mph. 

O’Ward was trailing Newgarden and finished his qualifying run in 10th place with a two-lap average speed of 195.154 mph. 

Christian Lundgaard started his run with an average warm-up speed of 194.253 mph, faster than Arrow McLaren teammate O’Ward. However, the Danish driver clocked in slower than both of his teammates with an average first-lap speed of 194.213 mph. The 24-year-old ended his qualifying run in 17th place with a two-lap average speed of 194.086 mph. 

Kirkwood takes provisional pole

Kyle Kirkwood was the second-to-last driver to set his spot for Sunday’s race. The Andretti Global driver started his run with a rapid average warm-up speed of 195.968 mph. 

Kirkwood trended ahead of Josef Newgarden, finishing his first lap with an average speed of 197.382 mph. The 27-year-old took provisional pole by two tenths, finishing with a two-lap average speed of 196.852 mph.

Four-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou started his qualifying run, hoping to add another pole to his resume. The Spanish driver put his best foot forward with an average warm-up speed of 195.487 mph. 

Then, the Chip Ganassi Racing driver trailed Kirkwood by a car length as he set his first-lap average speed of 196.067 mph. Palou finished his qualifying run in fourth place with a two-lap average overall speed of 196.050 mph. 

Kirkwood will lead the 25-car grid to green for the 2026 Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by OnlyBulls at the Nashville Superspeedway. Coverage starts after the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final between Argentina and Spain at 5:30 p.m ET on FOX.