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Charles Bradley

IndyCar Nashville: Power fastest, then crashes in practice

The two-time series champion lapped the 11-turn, 2.1-mile temporary street course in 1m16.4042s but ended his session by smashing into the wall at Turn 1.

After a rain shower that impacted the preceding Indy NXT practice, the track had dried completely for the 75-minute session.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s rookie Marcus Armstrong set the early pace at 1m18.2776s, less than a tenth clear of Toronto winner Christian Lundgaard (Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing).

Lundgaard then improved to 1m18.009s to take P1 away, 0.02s ahead of Romain Grosjean (Andretti Autosport).

Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward was an early visitor to the Turn 9 run-off but rejoined to take the top spot at the halfway point with 1m17.4437s. Series leader Alex Palou then took over at the top for Ganassi with 1m16.9063s, 0.06s quicker than Colton Herta (Andretti).

Teams ran the green-sidewalled alternate rubber inside the final 15 minutes after their race-run sims were completed on primaries.

Palou produced 1m16.6494s to extend his advantage, before Power toppled him with 1m16.4042s. Alexander Rossi (McLaren) went P3 just before a red flag for Callum Ilott (Juncos Hollinger Racing) becoming stranded in the Turn 11 run-off.

The session restarted but was red flagged again when Power slammed the wall at Turn 1 and was forced into an awkward rejoin, while Benjamin Pedersen stalled at Turn 11. “Not ideal,” rued Power.

Linus Lundqvist, Meyer Shank Racing Honda (Photo by: Josh Tons / Motorsport Images)

O’Ward was fourth, ahead of Lundgaard, Herta, David Malukas (Dale Coyne Racing), Grosjean, Scott McLaughlin (Penske) and Scott Dixon (Ganassi).

Series debutant Linus Lundqvist was a hugely impressive 11th for Meyer Shank Racing, as he fills in for the still-sidelined Simon Pagenaud.

Armstrong, Rossi and Jack Harvey (Rahal) were others to visit the Turn 9 run-off, while McLaughlin also had a moment that caused him to come to a halt at Turn 10.

Marcus Ericsson also slithered to a halt, this time at Turn 4, and struggled to the 25th fastest time.

IndyCar Nashville FP1 Results:

 
 
     
Driver Info
 
 
Cla Driver # Laps Time Interval Mph
1 Australia W. Power Will Power Team Penske 12 20 1'16.4042   98.947
2 Spain A. Palou Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing 10 20 +0.2452 0.2452 98.631
3 United States A. Rossi Alexander Rossi Arrow McLaren 7 18 +0.3150 0.0698 98.541
4 Mexico P. O'Ward Patricio O'Ward Arrow McLaren 5 16 +0.3736 0.0586 98.466
5 Denmark C. Lundgaard Christian Lundgaard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 45 27 +0.5220 0.1484 98.276
6 United States C. Herta Colton Herta Andretti Autosport 26 16 +0.5656 0.0436 98.220
7 United States D. Malukas David Malukas Dale Coyne Racing 18 17 +0.7494 0.1838 97.986
8 France R. Grosjean Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport 28 23 +0.7751 0.0257 97.954
9 New Zealand S. McLaughlin Scott McLaughlin Team Penske 3 17 +0.8758 0.1007 97.826
10 New Zealand S. Dixon Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing 9 15 +0.8834 0.0076 97.816
11 Sweden L. Lundqvist Linus Lundqvist Meyer Shank Racing 60 30 +0.9482 0.0648 97.735
12 New Zealand M. Armstrong Marcus Armstrong Chip Ganassi Racing 11 24 +0.9982 0.0500 97.671
13 United States J. Newgarden Josef Newgarden Team Penske 2 18 +1.0112 0.0130 97.655
14 United States K. Kirkwood Kyle Kirkwood Andretti Autosport 27 21 +1.1054 0.0942 97.536
15 United States G. Rahal Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 15 18 +1.4159 0.3105 97.147
16 Brazil H. Castroneves Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing 06 25 +1.4830 0.0671 97.063
17 United Kingdom C. Ilott Callum Ilott Juncos Hollinger Racing 77 19 +1.5357 0.0527 96.998
18 Sweden F. Rosenqvist Felix Rosenqvist Arrow McLaren 6 17 +1.5415 0.0058 96.991
19 Netherlands R. van Kalmthout Rinus van Kalmthout Ed Carpenter Racing 21 26 +1.5890 0.0475 96.932
20 United States R. Hunter-Reay Ryan Hunter-Reay Ed Carpenter Racing 20 21 +1.7249 0.1359 96.763
21 United Kingdom J. Harvey Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing 30 23 +1.7555 0.0306 96.725
22 Canada D. DeFrancesco Devlin DeFrancesco Andretti Autosport 29 19 +1.7827 0.0272 96.691
23 Denmark B. Pedersen Benjamin Pedersen A.J. Foyt Enterprises 55 28 +1.8261 0.0434 96.638
24 Argentina A. Canapino Agustin Canapino Juncos Hollinger Racing 78 24 +1.8994 0.0733 96.547
25 Sweden M. Ericsson Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing 8 17 +2.3252 0.4258 96.025
26
R. Robb Ray Robb Dale Coyne Racing
51 24 +2.5261 0.2009 95.781
27 United States S. Ferrucci Santino Ferrucci A.J. Foyt Enterprises 14 24 +3.0503 0.5242 95.149
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