IndyCar
Colton Herta wins Music City Grand Prix pole position; Scott Dixon starts 2nd.
NASHVILLE, TN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta is on the pole position for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES inaugural Music City Grand Prix. Herta was the only driver to cut a lap in the 1-minute, 13-second bracket as Honda’s claimed five of the Top six starting spots.
“What we did in the first session, on blacks (Primary Firestone Tires) set-up what we were able to do here,” said Herta, who also won the pole position at the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. “We were in a league of our own.”
The Music City Grand Prix pole award is named after Bryan Clauson, the USAC Sprint Car star who passed five years ago from injuries sustained in a midget-car crash in Belleville Kansas. The Clauson family was on-hand and joined Herta on pit road afterwards (pictured above).
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon will start second after a fast lap of 1:14:2327-seconds in the No. 9 PNC Bank Grow Up Great Honda. The front row start is Dixon’s best qualifying effort since his pole win at the Indianapolis 500 and his 3rd front row start of 2021.
“The PNC Bank No. 9 is super-fast,” said Dixon. “The first two runs of qualifying I was kind of taking it a little cautious just to be sure we converted. We knew Herta was going to be fast because he was the only guy with new tires and he’s been quick all weekend.”
Dixon’s teammate Alex Palou qualified third but will start ninth after being assessed a grid penalty for an unapproved engine change following a team test last week at Portland International Raceway.
“There’s nothing we can do about that,” said Palou. “We’ll just have to pass a few more cars, that’s all.”
Alexander Rossi will now start third after Palou’s penalty. Felix Rosenqvist will start fourth and Romain Grosjean rounds out the Top 5.
Team Penske struggled in qualifying as none of the Penske cars advanced to the Fast 6. Simon Pagenaud will start eighth and Will Power will start eleventh.
Hometown favorite Josef Newgarden stuffed his Hitachi Team Penske Chevy into the wall while running sixth and trying to stay in the Top 6 in order to advance. Newgarden caused a local yellow and was penalized his fastest lap and will start 12th
Notable drivers that failed to qualify for the Fast 12 included Graham Rahal, Ryan Hunter-Reay, Helio Castroneves and Sebastian Bourdais.
Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin brushed the wall and damaged his steering. Carvana Chip Ganassi Racing Jimmie Johnson hit the wall early in the session in the same spot that Alexander Rossi hit the wall during the second practice.
Sunday’s action starts with a warmup at Noon local. The green flag drops at 5:45 p.m. ET.
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 15, 2026) – The NTT IndyCar Series is making it’s first visit to a new street circuit in Markham, Ontario but a familiar face topped the speed charts after the first practice.
Four-time Series Champion Alex Palou turned the fastest lap around the 12-turn, 2.19-mile temporary street course, a 1-minute, 14.9915-seconds (100.811 mph) lap in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.
A.J. Foyt Racing rookie Caio Collett was second quick with a 1-minute, 15.0454-seconds (100.739) in the No. 4 Chevrolet.
Louis Foster was third quick in the No. 45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing Honda at 1:15.0278 (100.702) followed by Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin 1:15.2981 (100.401). Will Power rounded out the Top 5 at 1:15.3152 (100.378).
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates were not as strong. Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon was 20th at 1:16.4583 (98.877) in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. Kyffin Simpson was 24th at 1.17.3893 (97.688) in the No. 8 Sunoco Honda. Simpson made contact with the wall at Turn 6, causing damage to the rear suspension. Simpson limped to pits for repair and returned to action later in the session.
Practice 2 is set for 2:30 p.m. as delayed track construction forced officials to cancel Friday’s activities and condense Saturday’s schedule. NTT P1 Pole Qualifying is set for 6:30 p.m. ET
MARKHAM, ONTARIO (August 14, 2026) – Issues with the completion of the temporary street circuit in Markham Ontario has forced the NTT INDYCAR SERIES first practice to be moved to Saturday as all of Friday’s on-track activity had to be scrubbed from the schedule.
“INDYCAR is incredibly disappointed that our promoter was not able to complete the track build on time, despite significant support from our team on site,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “Ontario has always been a magnificent market for our sport and the number of spectators that attended today is a shining example of that. New events can always pose logistical challenges and we join in the frustration of our loyal fans and apologize.”
Green Savoree Promotions also issued a statement.
“Ensuring the safety of the drivers and the completion of the certification process of competing on a brand-new racetrack delayed all on-track activities today. Today’s sessions have been rescheduled to Saturday, August 15, to allow for further track preparations.”
“We greatly appreciate all the fans who made it out to the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham today and chose to spend the day with us. The attendance and support were overwhelming.”
The revamped schedule calls for the first practice to take place at 10:00 a.m. followed by a second practice at 2:30 p.m. and P1 Pole Qualifying at 6:30 p.m.
PORTLAND, OR (August 9, 2026) – Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing are closing in on another NTT IndyCar Series Championship after winning Sunday’s Only Bulls Portland Grand Prix.
Palou started second and passed Felix Rosenqvist during the first round of pit stops by staying out an extra lap and using the ‘overcut’ to get the lead and then dominated, leading 60 of 110-laps to grab his sixth victory of 2026.
“Everybody at CGR and Honda did an incredible job,” said Palou, who started second. “I had an absolute rocket ship today. It was very, very nice to drive every single lap.”
“We had to do something different than Felix,” said Barry Wanser, team manager for the No. 10 Honda. “We had to go longer than him. It takes a lot of performance by Alex and certainly the Honda engine to give us the fuel mileage to jump in one more and do the overcut. That helped us. We had a pretty smooth pit stop and got the jump there.”
Rosenqvist, who started on the pole in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Grateful Dead Honda, closed to within a second late but couldn’t get back to the front.
“He got us in a sequence,” said Rosenqvist, the 2026 Indianapolis 500 winner. “I got kind of twisted up leaving my box because I was so close to the Schumacher crew. I think between the overcut and that, we kind of lost the position. From there on we just sat in second.”
Andretti Global’s Will Power finished third in the No. 26 TWG Honda to lockout the podium for the manufacturer.
“Great day for us,” said Power. “Great day for Andretti. Didn’t quite have the pace I think the top two guys. Probably about a tenth off. Just seriously fast pace all day. Qualifying laps, really good quality. Such a quality field now.”
The victory for Palou increased his Championship lead to 110 points over Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Global, a gap of more than two races with just five races remaining this season.
“Chip puts the best guys around me, but then also everybody is just executing,” said Palou. “That car is a rocket ship, and I’m just lucky enough to drive it.”
The next NTT IndyCar Series race is the inaugural Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham on Sunday, Aug. 16 on the streets of Markham, Ontario.
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