IndyCar at Nashville: Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske Earn Pole Position For Music City GP | IndyCar

McLaughlin earned his second career pole in dramatic fashion, stealing the top spot from Romain Grosjean as the final car on track. The Team Penske driver seems to have a knack for street courses, with his first pole coming in the season-opener on the streets of St Petersburg.

“The car was phenomenal,” McLaughlin said. “Really proud of the guys. We did that on one lap, used tires. It was one of those good laps. I’ll tell you what, this DEX car is really good. We’ve been going really fast in this car. We won the St. Pete opener with it. We won Mid-Ohio and now we’re on pole at Nashville, which is an amazing racetrack.”

Although it was a gut punch for Grosjean, the Andretti Autosport driver will still have a good view of the green flag from the front row. The former Formula One driver is still searching for his first career win, but did come away with a runner-up finish at Long Beach earlier this year.

Two more hungry drivers, Christian Lundgaard and Alex Palou, will start from Row 2 tomorrow. Lundgaard has been fast all weekend, leading the opening practice session on Friday. The Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing driver is one of several rookie drivers that have been impressive on the Nashville street circuit.

Pato O’Ward and Nashville native Josef Newgarden both advanced to the Firestone Fast six, and will start from Row 3 tomorrow. There were five teams represented in the Firestone Fast Six, with an equal number of Chevrolet and Honda-powered cars.