NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For most of Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, it was a fascinating, straight-up race featuring various strategies.
And then calamity arrived at the end.
It was a clean race the final 10 laps when two crashes brought out a yellow flag, and the second crash brought out the red flag to stop the race with five laps to go.
In the end, it was Andretti Autosport driver Kyle Kirkwood that scored his second career NTT IndyCar Series victory as he defeated pole winner Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske.
Kirkwood started eighth and led the most laps in the race with 34. McLaughlin started on the pole and led 25 laps.
Alex Palou entered the race with an 80-point lead over Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden, but he was on a different pit strategy. Late in the race, he was running third – just one position ahead of Newgarden.
He got a big break when rookie driver Linus Lundqvist, who was making his NTT IndyCar Series debut in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda filling in for the injured Simon Pagenaud, crashed in turn 11 with nine laps left for a full-course caution.
That was a huge break for Palou, who was stretching his fuel.
He was implored by Chip Ganassi Racing Team Manager and race strategist Barry Wanser to “save, save, save” his fuel.
The green flag waved on lap 74 with six laps to go and Kirkwood got a great start. But a three-car crash involving Benjamin Pedersen, Augustin Canapino, Felix Rosenqvist and Ryan Hunter-Reay at the back of the field brought out another yellow flag.
After a brief stoppage, the red flag was rescinded, the engines refired and the cars returned to the course, strewn with lots of rubber pellets known as “marbles” from tire wear.
The green flag waved and with three laps to go and Newgarden briefly touched Palou’s Honda in front of him.
Kirkwood left the field in his wake on the slippery track as Palou’s car began to fishtail. Newgarden, with fuel to burn, tried to close in on Palou.
Kirkwood was in control of the victory as the focus shifted to the battle between Palou and Newgarden.
Kirkwood’s No. 27 AutoNation Honda defeated McLaughlin’s No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet by 0.7633 seconds. Palou, the championship leader, was third and Newgarden’s Chevrolet fourth so the Chip Ganassi Racing driver gained four points on Newgarden to increase his lead to 84 points with four laps remaining.
What Else Went Down
The start of the race was waved off by IndyCar and one lap later, the green flag waved on lap two and pole winner McLaughlin got a clean start.
On lap seven, Palou passed David Malukas for fourth place on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge.
Meantime, up front, McLaughlin opened a 1.9695-second lead over O’Ward as the two Chevy drivers led the field.
Further back in the field, Christian Lundgaard passed Newgarden for ninth place after 10 laps.
Alexander Rossi pitted on Lap 10 to switch tires, swapping for the alternates for the primary tires. Lundgaard also pitted for tires saying the alternate green tires were “awful.”
It was 12 laps before the first yellow flag waved when Malukas stop in turn nine with rear wing damage. It appeared to be a structural failure as the wing bracket collapsed.
When the pits opened on lap 14, Palou and Linus Lundqvist pitted for primary Firestone Black tires. Race-leader McLaughlin, however, chose not to pit while in the lead.
The green flag flew one lap later with McLaughlin continuing to lead the field. As the field cross the bridge, it was three-wide racing involving Palou.
Some of the top runners in the race had yet to pit, with two completely divergent strategies coming into play.
Further back in the field, Colton Herta’s car became a ping-pong ball as he kept getting bounced into the field by other cars, forcing him to pit on lap 18.
That dropped him back to 25th in the 27-car field.
After 20 laps, O’Ward began to struggle with the tires on his No. 5 Chevrolet as he dropped through the field and was forced to pit.
O’Ward finally pitted on lap 24 and returned in 23rd position.
McLaughlin pitted as the leader on lap 25, removing the Guayule “green” tires and putting on the black primaries. He returned to the race in 19th place.
It was actually the Team Penske strategy to stretch it that point so that McLaughlin no longer had to worry about fuel strategy.
McLaughlin’s top put Grosjean in the lead ahead of Andretti Autosport teammate Kirkwood.
Team Penske’s Will Power, who forgot his mandatory head sock and that left him in pit lane as the field rolled off at the start, pitted on lap 28.
On lap 29, Kirkwood, Newgarden and Dixon all pitted as the top three cars at that point in the race. That put Ericsson in the lead.
Ericsson pitted on lap 34, putting championship leader Palou into the lead ahead of Kirkwood.
At the halfway point of the race, Palou was the leader ahead of Kirkwood, Grosjean, McLaughlin, Linus Lundqvist and Jack Harvey.
Palou pitted on lap 45 and that put Kirkwood in the lead. Meantime, McLaughlin was driving through the field and pass Grosjean for second place on lap 49 as his tires began to fade. The racing was wild further back.
Kirkwood pitted as the race leader on lap 50 and that returned Team Penske’s McLaughlin to the lead.
McLaughlin pitted for what was expected to be the final time on lap 53. He left pit lane behind Kirkwood and just in front of Palo, who were at full speed, setting up the battle for the finish.
Meantime, rookie driver Linus Lundqvist was having a stellar IndyCar debut for Meyer Shank Racing in the No. 60 SiriusXM/AutoNation Honda as he was in seventh place before pitting on lap 54.
With 20 laps to go, Kirkwood led McLaughlin by 2.4717 seconds. Palou was third followed by Newgarden and Dixon.
Palou, however, was in “fuel saving” mode while the other top five drivers appeared to be safe.
That was before the final two incidents of the race determined the ending.
Keyword: Kirkwood Earns Second Career Win In Music City Grand Prix