Kyle Kirkwood delivered the headline of the Nashville Superspeedway weekend by beating Josef Newgarden to pole position for the 2026 IndyCar Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix.
Kirkwood powered the No. 27 Sam’s Club Andretti Honda to a two-lap average of 47.5885 seconds at an average speed of 196.852 mph, which put him just over 0.4mph clear of Newgarden’s No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet.
This marked his first pole of the 2026 season, the sixth pole of his IndyCar career, and his second pole at Nashville Superspeedway.
“Quite honestly, it’s the car that Andretti gives me here,” Kirkwood said. “We were quick in practice. We’ve been good here the past couple of years.
“I did the same as everybody else is doing, right? You just hold it flat, and you hope your car goes fast. They built a really good car around me, did everything right. I managed the tools a little bit, got aggressive with some trim. It worked out well.”
Newgarden’s teammate Scott McLaughlin qualified third in the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Chevrolet, followed by Chip Ganassi Racing duo of Alex Palou and Scott Dixon in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Alexander Rossi took sixth, Christian Rasmussen seventh, Marcus Armstrong eighth, Rinus VeeKay ninth and Marcus Ericsson tenth.
Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward could only manage 12th, while teammate Christian Lundgaard qualified down in 17th adding to his troubles as he faces a nine-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change.
Top 10 drivers with most IndyCar Championship wins
Full 2026 IndyCar Nashville Starting lineup
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Total Time | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global | 47.5485s | 196.852 |
| 2 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 47.5993s | 196.642 |
| 3 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | 47.7339s | 196.087 |
| 4 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | 47.7429s | 196.05 |
| 5 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 47.8034s | 195.802 |
| 6 | 20 | Alexander Rossi | ECR | 47.8371s | 195.664 |
| 7 | 21 | Christian Rasmussen | ECR | 47.8565s | 195.585 |
| 8 | 66 | Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank Racing | 47.8581s | 195.578 |
| 9 | 76 | Rinus VeeKay | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 47.8933s | 195.434 |
| 10 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global | 47.9045s | 195.389 |
| 11 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 47.9183s | 195.332 |
| 12 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren | 47.9622s | 195.154 |
| 13 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren | 48.0131s | 194.947 |
| 14 | 26 | Will Power | Andretti Global | 48.0421s | 194.829 |
| 15 | 4 | Caio Collet | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 48.0426s | 194.827 |
| 16 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 48.0457s | 194.815 |
| 17 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing | 48.0472s | 194.808 |
| 18 | 8 | Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 48.1594s | 194.355 |
| 19 | 7 | Christian Lundgaard | Arrow McLaren | 48.2260s | 194.086 |
| 20 | 45 | Louis Foster | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 48.2275s | 194.08 |
| 21 | 77 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 48.3982s | 193.396 |
| 22 | 18 | Romain Grosjean | Dale Coyne Racing | 48.6018s | 192.585 |
| 23 | 19 | Dennis Hauger | Dale Coyne Racing | 48.6936s | 192.222 |
| 24 | 12 | David Malukas | Team Penske | No Time | — |
| 25 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | No Time | — |
