Kyle Kirkwood Storms to Victory in Nashville

Kyle Kirkwood loves street racing. (Photo: Eric Parks | The Podium Finish)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Andretti Autosport’s Kyle Kirkwood stormed to victory in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville, after holding off Scott McLaughlin and Alex Palou despite a late-race restart to win for the second time in his NTT IndyCar Series career.

The first two wins of Kirkwood’s career have both come on street circuits this year, with the maiden checkered flag arriving in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in April and now another one in Nashville.

On a warm day in the Music City, the No. 27 AutoNation Honda led 34 laps and executed strategy to perfection to stay ahead of the field.

“I’ve got to give up to the 27 crew, AutoNation, Andretti, Honda,” Kirkwood said. “They played everything in my favor, to be honest. They gave me all the tools I needed.

“They cycled me to the front on strategy, and we just made really smart decisions and hit all of our marks. Just a solid day.”

For McLaughlin, his day in Nashville was very similar to last year’s race. He won the pole and earned a runner-up finish in 2022, which is exactly what happened this year.

Last time, he lost to Scott Dixon and found himself coming up short again a year later.

“I really tried my best but just couldn’t get there,” McLaughlin. “On days like today, I probably should have worn the cool suit, but I ate too many pies so it’s a bit heavy for me.

“The DEX Imaging Chevy was great, and I’m very proud of everyone. There’s another top three, another very good points day. We were really hoping to get the win.”

After taking the final spot on the podium, Palou extended his championship lead to 84 points over Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, with four races to go.

.@AlexPalou stays hot. 🔥

A 3rd-place finish extends his lead in the championship standings. #INDYCAR // @MusicCityGP pic.twitter.com/k2vKYPIjKY

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 6, 2023

On a restart with six laps remaining, the expected “Music City Mayhem” arrived as Arrow McLaren’s Felix Rosenqvist missed Turn 11 and found the tire barriers instead. Agustin Canapino and Benjamin Pedersen were also involved. Race control decided to red flag the race, in order to clean up the track and repair the barriers to set up for a late-race shootout on the streets of Nashville.

With 10 laps to go, the No. 60 AutoNation/SiriusXM of Linus Lundqvist saw his INDYCAR debut come to an abrupt end when the 2022 INDY NXT champion crashed into the Turn 11 wall. Filling in for Simon Pagenaud at Meyer Shank Racing, Lundqvist made it to the Fast 12 in qualifying and started 11th on the grid.

Throughout the race, Lundqvist caught the attention of many with such an impressive drive, mixing it up with plenty of seasoned veterans. Overall, while the 25th-place result isn’t the ending he was looking for, a strong debut weekend in the NTT IndyCar Series may earn him more opportunities in the future.

In a separate incident unrelated to Lundqvist’s crash, Jack Harvey’s No. 30 Kustom Entertainment Honda broke his front wing after hitting the wall.

The first full-course caution arrived on Lap 13 for an odd-looking incident when the rear wing of David Malukas failed as the No. 18 HMD Trucking Honda came to a stop at the exit of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge. This ended the day early for the Dale Coyne Racing with HMD driver, who qualified inside the top five and seemed poised for a good run in the Music City.

“It’s really unfortunate what happened today,” Malukas said. “We had our best street course qualifying of the season, making it into the Firestone Fast Six yesterday for the first time this season. So, we knew we had a good car and we were really hopeful to turn that into a good result today.

“Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be for us. I feel bad for the entire Dale Coyne Racing with HMD team because the guys work so hard and we were all looking forward to having a strong race and good result.”

The NTT IndyCar Series returns to action next weekend for a special doubleheader at the IMS Road Course with the NASCAR Cup Series. Coverage of the Gallagher Grand Prix begins on Saturday, Aug. 12 at 2 p.m. ET on USA Network.

Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Race Results