Alex Palou found more speed than any other driver Saturday morning during the first practice for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Presented by Gainbridge, a big plus because he’s going to need it.
Championship leader Palou led the 90-minute practice for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale at Nashville Superspeedway with a top lap of 199.862 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou only needs to finish ninth or better in the race Sunday to clinch his third series title in the last four years, but he also has received a nine-spot starting grid penalty for an unapproved engine change after the last event, Sept. 1 at the Milwaukee Mile.
SEE: Practice Results
Palou leads Will Power of Team Penske by 33 points entering the 206-lap race Sunday (3 p.m., NBC, Peacock, Universo, INDYCAR Radio Network). Power was sixth fastest in the practice at 198.942 in the No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. Power must finish at least third or better to have a chance to win his third title.
Scott Dixon helped Chip Ganassi Racing take the top two spots in this practice, second at 199.847 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Dixon, like all 27 drivers in the field, used the session to explore the differences between the Firestone Firehawk primary tire and the alternate, red sidewall tire being used on an oval for the first time this season.
“We trimmed more with the alternate (tires) and still had good grip,” Dixon said. “The deg (tire degradation), I think we’ll see maybe later this afternoon if there’s a big difference there between the primary and the alternate, which will make a difference in the race. But for qualifying, I think you’re going to just run the alternates.”
NTT P1 Award qualifying is next, at 2:15 p.m. ET today (live, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network).
Nashville-area resident Colton Herta was third in practice at 199.686 in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda of Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian, followed by Pato O’Ward at 199.180 in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.
Kyle Kirkwood rounded out the top five at 199.031 in the No. 27 AutoNation Honda of Andretti Global, as the Andretti and Ganassi teams each put two drivers in the top five.
Besides experimenting with tires, the 27 drivers in the field also learned how to navigate a bump in Turn 4 of the 1.33-mile concrete oval that is challenging drivers and engineers to devise a smooth-riding setup.
“It’s bumpy out there,” O’Ward said. “It’s a fast track. The alternate (tire) definitely is quicker. There’s quite a bit more you can get out of it, especially in (Turns) 3 and 4 with that bump that seems to be catching out a lot of cars, a lot of wiggles. It can get gnarly pretty quick, so you have to stay on top of it.”
The Turn 4 bump caught rookie Nolan Siegel 10 minutes into the session. Siegel did a quarter-spin between Turns 3 and 4 after running over the bump and backed into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4. Siegel was unhurt, but his No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet suffered heavy damage and required an unapproved engine change, moving back Siegel nine spots on the starting grid.