Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood could see time is running out for 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES accolades, and he arrived at the season-ending Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Presented by Gainbridge with neither an NTT P1 Award nor a race victory.
Saturday, Kirkwood secured the former at Nashville Superspeedway. Next comes a chance to grab one of the latter.
It’s time to get greedy.
“I’m stoked right now,” the driver of the No. 27 AutoNation Honda said after posting the fastest two-lap average in Saturday’s single-car qualifying session. “(The pole) is huge for our season, right. To end off (the season) with a pole – I was a little upset that we (hadn’t) got a win or a pole. This was our final chance to do it, and we got it done.
“(I’m) super happy.”
Nashville has become Kirkwood’s event. Last year, he won the Aug. 6 street race by the same name on the downtown circuit around Nissan Stadium, the home of the NFL’s Tennessee Titans. The event was made the season finale this year, and the 1.33-mile concrete oval east of Nashville became the choice when the street circuit wasn’t available.
Kirkwood said he wasn’t sure what to expect from the oval, but he has been pleasantly surprised by Andretti Global’s performance so far this weekend. He had the fifth-fastest lap in Saturday’s first practice, then he delivered a two-lap average of 201.520 mph to best all comers in NTT P1 Award qualifying.
“We knew we were good from the start,” he said. "We rolled off (the weekend) solid, just (needed) some minor changes. This car is quick.”
But a problem arose in the final practice Saturday night, when Kirkwood backed into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4 after crossing the bump that has captured every driver's attention this weekend. Kirkwood told strategist Bryan Herta on the radio that he thought something broke in the back of the car, causing it to shower sparks from the rear before spinning into the barrier.
Kirkwood will start alongside Josef Newgarden (No. 2 Hitachi Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet) when the green flag drops (3 p.m. ET, NBC, Peacock, Universo, INDYCAR Radio Network). Newgarden posted a two-lap average of 201.352 mph. Those two were the only drivers to qualify in excess of 201 mph and among the 11 to exceed 200 mph.
There’s quite a contrast between the oval histories of Kirkwood and Newgarden. The Team Penske driver has earned 17 of his 31 career series victories on such tracks. Both of Kirkwood’s series wins have come on street circuits (Long Beach and Nashville). Then again, Kirkwood had never won a pole on an oval track before Saturday.
In part because of his inexperience at the front of an oval field and because he has never raced at this track, guessing what happens Sunday is all Kirkwood can do. But he desperately wants that first oval victory in this series.
Kirkwood scored junior category oval wins in USF Pro 2000 at Lucas Oil Raceway in 2018 and in Indy Pro 2000 at World Wide Technology Raceway in 2019.
“This is all new to us,” he said. “We don’t know how this car is going to react (here) in traffic. We have no idea.”