Kyle Kirkwood earns the pole position for the IndyCar Series race at Nashville Superspeedway. Defending race champ Josef Newgarden is also on the front row for the 300-lap race on the 1.33-mile tri-oval. Newgarden is seeking his third short-oval victory in 2026.
Scott McLaughlin qualifies 3rd and Alex Palou, who owns a healthy championship points lead with seven races remaining, qualifies 4th.
David Malukas, already facing a 9-position penalty for an unapproved engine change, crashes in Saturday morning practice, prompting a trip to a local hospital for a look at his right knee. His availability Sunday is uncertain.
Christian Lundgaard also faces a 9-place grid penalty for making an unapproved engine change. Graham Rahal‘s car has a fuel pressure issue and he doesn’t record a speed.
Who won pole position for the IndyCar race at Nashville? IndyCar starting grid for Music City Grand Prix
(2-lap qualifying on 1.33-mile tri-oval; *-facing a 9-position penalty for unapproved engine change)
- Row 1
- 1, Kyle Kirkwood, 196.852 mph
- 2, Josef Newgarden, 196.642
- Row 2
- 3, Scott McLaughlin, 196.087
- 4, Alex Palou, 196.050
- Row 3
- 5, Scott Dixon, 195.802
- 6, Alexander Rossi, 195.664
- Row 4
- 7, Christian Rasmussen, 195.585
- 8, Marcus Armstrong, 195.578
- Row 5
- 9, Rinus VeeKay, 195.434
- 10, Marcus Ericsson, 195.389
- Row 6
- 11, Santino Ferrucci, 195.322
- 12, Pato O’Ward, 195.154
- Row 7
- 13, Nolan Siegel, 194.947
- 14, Will Power, 194.829
- Row 8
- 15, Caio Collet, 194.827
- 16, Mick Schumacher, 194.815
- Row 9
- 17, Felix Rosenqvist, 194.808
- 18, Christian Lundgaard*, 194.086
- Row 10
- 19, Kyffin Simpson, 194.355
- 20, Louis Foster, 194.080
- Row 11
- 21, Sting Ray Robb, 193.396
- 22, Romain Grosjean, 192.585
- Row 12
- 23, Dennis Hauger, 192.222
- 24, Graham Rahal, no speed
- Row 13
- 25, David Malukas*, no speed
When does the IndyCar Series race at Nashville? IndyCar Series schedule for Music City Grand Prix
(All times ET; all IndyCar sessions are on IndyCar Live, IndyCar Radio and Sirius XM Channel 218)
Sunday, July 19
- 1 p.m.: Indy NXT race, FS1
- 5:35 p.m.: IndyCar race, Fox (green flag at 4:40 p.m.)
Watch auto racing with a Fubo trial
Where to watch the IndyCar race at Nashville? How to watch the Music City Grand Prix?
TV: Coverage begins at 5:35 p.m. ET, Sunday, July 19, 2026, on Fox. Green flag is scheduled for 5:40 p.m. Will Buxton is the play-by-play voice, with analysts James Hinchcliffe and Townsend Bell. Georgia Henneberry, Kevin Lee and Jack Harvey are the pit reporters.
Predictions for the Music City Grand Prix IndyCar race at Nashville Superspeedway from IndyStar’s Zion Brown
- Who is best equipped to prevent yet another Josef Newgarden short oval victory?
- Will Alex Palou’s championship lead remain over 50 points?
How much are Music City Grand Prix tickets? How much are tickets for the IndyCar race at Nashville Superspeedway?
Who won the IndyCar race at Nashville in 2025? Who won the Music City Grand Prix last year?
Josef Newgarden fended off Alex Palou and Scott McLaughlin to earn the victory at his home track.
Who is leading IndyCar? 2026 IndyCar points, standings, results
Alex Palou has won four races, Josef Newgarden and Christian Lundgaard two each, and Kyle Kirkwood, Felix Rosenqvist and Pato O’Ward one each. (Points are for full-season entrants)
- Alex Palou, 404 points
- Kyle Kirkwood, 348
- Christian Lundgaard, 339
- David Malukas, 338
- Pato O’Ward, 310
- Josef Newgarden, 270
- Felix Rosenqvist, 265
- Scott McLaughlin, 262
- Scott Dixon, 224
- Marcus Ericsson, 222
- Rinus VeeKay, 219
- Marcus Armstrong, 219
- Graham Rahal, 218
- Will Power, 209
- Kyffin Simpson, 194
- Alexander Rossi, 190
- Santino Ferrucci, 179
- Louis Foster, 159
- Dennis Hauger, 148
- Nolan Siegel, 145
- Christian Rasmussen, 143
- Romain Grosjean, 139
- Caio Collet, 132
- Sting Ray Robb, 108
- Mick Schumacher, 108
How can I stream the IndyCar race at Nashville? How to stream the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix?
How can I listen to IndyCar race at Nashville?
IndyCar Nation is on SiriusXM Channel 218, IndyCar Live and the IndyCar Radio Network (check affiliates for each race). Mark Jaynes is the anchor, with driver analyst Davey Hamilton.
Will it rain during the IndyCar race at Nashville? Weather Nashville, Tennessee, forecast for IndyCar race
- Sunday: Humid, some sun with a greater chance of storms, with highs in the low 90s.
IndyCar schedule 2026
(*-street course; ^-road course; #-oval; all races on Fox, SiriusXM Channel 218; times are start of TV coverage, ET)
- March 1: St. Petersburg, Fla. * (Winner: Alex Palou)
- Saturday, March 7: Phoenix # (Winner: Josef Newgarden)
- Sunday, March 15: Arlington, Texas * (Winner: Kyle Kirkwood)
- Sunday, March 29: Birmingham, Alabama ^ (Winner: Alex Palou)
- Sunday, April 19: Long Beach, California * (Winner: Alex Palou)
- Saturday, May 9: Indianapolis road course ^ (Winner: Christian Lundgaard)
- Sunday, May 24: Indianapolis 500 # (Winner: Felix Rosenqvist)
- Sunday, May 31: Detroit * (Winner: Alex Palou)
- Sunday, June 7: Madison, Illinois # (Winner: Josef Newgarden)
- Sunday, June 21: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin ^ (Winner: Christian Lundgaard)
- Sunday, July 5: Lexington, Ohio ^ (Winner: Pato O’Ward)
- Sunday, July 19: Lebanon, Tennessee #, 5:30 p.m.
- Sunday, Aug. 9: Portland ^, 4 p.m.
- Sunday, Aug. 16: Markham, Ontario *, noon
- Sunday, Aug. 23: Washington, D.C. *, TBD
- Saturday, Aug. 29: Milwaukee #, 2:30 p.m.
- Sunday, Aug. 30: Milwaukee #, 1 p.m.
- Sunday, Sept. 6: Monterey, California ^, 2:30 p.m.
IndyCar Series teams, drivers in 2026
(with team, car number and driver)
- A.J. Foyt Racing: 4, Caio Collet; 14, Santino Ferrucci
- Andretti Global: 26, Will Power; 27, Kyle Kirkwood; 28, Marcus Ericsson
- Arrow McLaren: 5, Pato O’Ward; 6, Nolan Siegel; 7, Christian Lundgaard
- Chip Ganassi Racing: 8, Kyffin Simpson; 9, Scott Dixon; 10, Alex Palou
- Dale Coyne Racing: 18, Romain Grosjean; 19, Dennis Hauger
- Ed Carpenter Racing: 20, Alexander Rossi; 21, Christian Rasmussen
- Juncos Hollinger: 76, Rinus VeeKay; 77, Sting Ray Robb
- Meyer Shank Racing: 60, Felix Rosenqvist; 66, Marcus Armstrong
- Rahal Letterman Lanigan: 15, Graham Rahal; 45, Louis Foster; 47, Mick Schumacher; reserve driver, Toby Sowery
- Team Penske: 2, Josef Newgarden; 3, Scott McLaughlin; 12, David Malukas
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar starting grid at Nashville: Pole position, qualifying results, start time
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