By David Morgan, Associate Editor
NASHVILLE – Fresh off his first NTT IndyCar Series podium finish last weekend, Christian Lundgaard rolled right into Nashville and was fast once again, topping the board in Friday’s first practice session for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.
Even without racing at this track last season, Lundgaard seemed unfazed by the treacherous Nashville layout, as he jumped to the top of the timing sheet late in the 75-minute session with a lap of one minute, 15.966 seconds, where he would remain until the clock reached zero.
“I must say I wasn’t really expecting to be up here this far up today, never having been here before, show up and the pace was there. You see Malukas was in P3 as well,” Lundgaard said.
“I think just the rookie field this year is quite strong. For me, Toronto, the car was good, which was the last street circuit. Coming here we were expecting to have a better package. It seems like the package is there.”
Felix Rosenqvist was second-fastest in practice, looking to build on his speed from the previous street course race in Toronto, where he captured his lone podium finish of the season.
“It’s good to be back in Nashville,” Rosenqvist said. “I kind of forgot how bumpy it is out there. Definitely takes a few laps to get into it.
“It’s fun. I love this track. It feels a bit different compared to last year. Took a little while to kind of get up to speed. But, yeah, it was great to start the weekend strong.
“I think it’s very early, though. The track is still going to rubber in a lot. A lot of people are going to find speed. Seems to be kind of like a messy session in general.
“Coming out P2 in first practice, again, it shows that we haven’t gotten into this whole thing too much, and we’re focused on the job. We’re ready to go kick some ass.”
Another driver in the rookie contingent, David Malukas, ended practice in third, followed by Scott McLaughlin in fourth, and hometown hero Josef Newgarden rounding out the top-five.
“Very good,” Malukas said of his session. “All the changes we made went in the right direction. Especially when we put the alternate tires on, it went surprisingly well. I would say surprising, but in some ways it’s not surprising. I think the team has done a really good job to make sure the car is ready from the bat.
“At the beginning of this season, we kind of had to work our way towards finding a car by…
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