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Charles Bradley

IndyCar Nashville: Will Power fastest, then crashes in practice

Power 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 dominator Alex Palou then took over at the top for Ganassi with 1m16.9063s, 0.06s quicker than Colton Herta (Andretti).

Patricio O'Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet (Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images)

Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin was third fastest on primary tires, ahead of Scott Dixon and his Ganassi team-mate Armstrong.

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. “I just locked-up a little bit on the way in, thought I was going to make it. Not ideal,” rued Power.

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

Linus Lundqvist, Meyer Shank Racing Honda, Michael Shank (Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images)

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 the inaugural race winner here struggled to the 25th fastest time.

Cla Driver  Car / Engine   Time   Delay   Laps 
12 Will Power Dallara/Chevrolet 1'16.4042   20
10 Alex Palou Dallara/Honda 1'16.6494 0.2452 20
7 Alexander Rossi Dallara/Chevrolet 1'16.7192 0.3150 18
5 Patricio O'Ward Dallara/Chevrolet 1'16.7778 0.3736 16
45 C.Lundgaard Dallara/Honda 1'16.9262 0.5220 27
26 Colton Herta Dallara/Honda 1'16.9698 0.5656 16
18 David Malukas Dallara/Honda 1'17.1536 0.7494 17
28 Romain Grosjean Dallara/Honda 1'17.1793 0.7751 23
3 Scott McLaughlin Dallara/Chevrolet 1'17.2800 0.8758 17
10  9 Scott Dixon Dallara/Honda 1'17.2876 0.8834 15
11  60 Linus Lundqvist Dallara/Honda 1'17.3524 0.9482 30
12  11 Marcus Armstrong Dallara/Honda 1'17.4024 0.9982 24
13  2 Josef Newgarden Dallara/Chevrolet 1'17.4154 1.0112 18
14  27 Kyle Kirkwood Dallara/Honda 1'17.5096 1.1054 21
15  15 Graham Rahal Dallara/Honda 1'17.8201 1.4159 18
16  06 H.Castroneves Dallara/Honda 1'17.8872 1.4830 25
17  77 Callum Ilott Dallara/Chevrolet 1'17.9399 1.5357 19
18  6 Felix Rosenqvist Dallara/Chevrolet 1'17.9457 1.5415 17
19  21 R.van Kalmthout Dallara/Chevrolet 1'17.9932 1.5890 26
20  20 Ryan Hunter-Reay Dallara/Chevrolet 1'18.1291 1.7249 21
21  30 Jack Harvey Dallara/Honda 1'18.1597 1.7555 23
22  29 D.Defrancesco Dallara/Honda 1'18.1869 1.7827 19
23  55 B.Pedersen Dallara/Chevrolet 1'18.2303 1.8261 28
24  78 Agustín Canapino Dallara/Chevrolet 1'18.3036 1.8994 24
25  8 Marcus Ericsson Dallara/Honda 1'18.7294 2.3252 17
26  51 Sting Ray Robb Dallara/Honda 1'18.9303 2.5261 24
27  14 Santino Ferrucci Dallara/Chevrolet 1'19.4545 3.0503 2
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