By David Morgan, Associate Editor
LEBANON, Tenn. – The bump strikes back.
In addition to the majority of the NTT IndyCar Series field having to learn the intricacies of a new track in Nashville Superspeedway for this weekend’s running of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, the field was in for a rude awakening when they hit the track for the first time on Saturday.
Through Turns 3 and 4, a section of the concrete surface near the tunnel that runs under the track had been ground, creating a bump that should a car bottom out over it, could catch a driver out and get them in trouble.
First it was the Indy NXT drivers that had their own issues with it and then in the opening minutes of IndyCar practice, rookie Nolan Siegel was the first to feel the wrath of the section of track nicknamed “Lucinda” by some of the drivers.
Siegel’s No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet shot up into the outside wall after going over the bump, putting his team behind the eight ball for the rest of the day as they worked to get his car repaired. It was only in the final minutes of final practice that the team was able to get back on track to make some laps.
Qualifying was largely uneventful, but when the sun went down and teams tuned their cars up for final practice, trouble was lurking again.
Polesitter Kyle Kirkwood was the unfortunate driver to find the limit of the bump as his No. 27 Andretti Global Honda bottomed out over the bump in the waning minutes of practice and like Siegel, he had an untimely meeting with the outside wall.
His battered machine was towed back to the paddock, setting up a long night of work for his team to get him ready to go for Sunday’s race.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s season finale, the bump has certainly gotten everyone’s attention as a point of concern throughout the 206-lap event.
“I think the bump is definitely the overriding concern of everybody right now, and it’s kind of nice,” second-place starter Josef Newgarden said. “It definitely has character. It’s not like all over the track, it’s just this one point, but you’ve got to make up for it, and some are setting the car up around it, too.
“It reminds me of Iowa in Turn 1, Turn 2 when you have huge big corner bump that everyone always had to account for, so it feels a little bit like that, but yeah, I think 3 and 4 will be the tougher spot.”
Conor Daly added that it certainly has added a new element to an already…
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