INDYCAR points leader Alex Palou advanced to the Firestone Fast 6 and secured a P4 starting position in today’s qualifying session on the streets of Nashville.

Palou matched a personal best qualifying result on the Nashville street circuit, as he started last year’s race in the same starting position before scoring a podium finish. He will look to earn valuable points in the No. 10 American Legion Honda in Sunday’s race and build on his 80-point championship lead.

Defending Music City GP winner Scott Dixon will pilot the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda from a P12 starting position. Dixon advanced to the round of 12, but unfortunately made contact with the turn 11 wall on his final lap of the session. 

Marcus Armstrong and Marcus Ericsson qualified for the street race in P16 and P20. Armstrong will look to continue his street course success, while Ericsson will seek a second Music City GP victory after claiming the inaugural race win in 2021.

INDYCAR’s Practice 2 was delayed due to heavy rain that affected track conditions. The team then took part in an abbreviated 30-minute session on the 11-turn, 2.1-mile street circuit. Qualifying was pushed back and ultimately replaced the final practice session as the rain persisted through the afternoon.Up Next: NBC will open their broadcast for the 80-lap Music City Grand Prix at 12:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 6. The green flag is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET, as Chip Ganassi Racing will look to go three-for-three in Nashville.

Alex Palou
No. 10 American Legion Honda
“Honestly, we had a good car and a fast car. Happy to be out there and fighting for pole. Made a small mistake on my second lap, but pretty happy with P4. It is going to be an entertaining day tomorrow for sure. We don’t really know what the long run looks like here since we haven’t had the opportunity with the weather. We’ve been good all year and we just need to work a little bit more tonight and get ready for tomorrow.”

Scott Dixon
No. 9 PNC Bank Honda
“I feel bad for obviously the crew there. Clipping the inside wall there and it just kind of put a strain into the outside. I feel bad for the other drivers too that were on the lap. But, it is what it is. It’s a tough circuit and the front just turned a lot better than I thought it was going to and unfortunately clipped that outside wall. We’ll just try to stay out of the mess tomorrow, but I think the past two champions here have been involved in a lot of mess.”

Marcus Armstrong
No. 11 Ridgeline Lubricants Honda
“Not a very good session, honestly. We had all the pace in the world to be up there with Alex. Unfortunately, I didn’t get my lap in when the tires were good. I just overreacted to a slow out lap from everyone else and it was my mistake. Gutted, to be honest.”

Marcus Ericsson
No. 8 Huski Ice Spritz Honda
“It’s been a tough weekend for us. We were hoping for a dry practice this morning so we could figure things out. We went into qualifying feeling pretty fine, but we were just so far behind everyone else.”