Romain Grosjean qualifies his Andretti Autosport Honda second for Sunday’s Big Machine Music Grand Prix
Christian Lundgaard continues run of strong qualifying efforts, will start third
Defending series champion Alex Palou qualifies fourth
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Aug. 6, 2022) – In his best qualifying performance of 2022, Romain Grosjean advanced through all three rounds of NTT INDYCAR SERIES “knockout” qualifying today in his Andretti Autosport Honda, and will start on the outside front row – second – in Sunday’s second annual Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the downtown Nashville temporary street circuit.
For the second consecutive race weekend, Rahal Letterman Lanigan’s Christian Lundgaard also advanced to the final, “Firestone Fast Six” qualifying round, and will start third, his career best INDYCAR start and best among the rookies in the field. Defending series champion Alex Palou will start fourth in his Chip Ganassi Racing Honda as the top 10 all posted times within a second of the 1:14.555 pole time.
Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Honda Qualifying Results
2nd Romain Grosjean Andretti Autosport Honda
3rd Christian Lundgaard-R Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
4th Alex Palou Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
7th David Malukas-R Dale Coyne Racing with HMD Honda
9th Graham Rahal Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
11th Jack Harvey Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda
13th Simon Pagenaud Meyer Shank Racing Honda
14th Scott Dixon Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
17th Alexander Rossi Andretti Autosport Honda
18th Marcus Ericsson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
20th Takuma Sato Dale Coyne Racing with RWR Honda
23rd Colton Herta Andretti Autosport Honda
24th Helio Castroneves Meyer Shank Racing Honda
25th Devlin DeFrancesco-R Andretti Autosport Honda
26th Jimmie Johnson Chip Ganassi Racing Honda
R – Rookie
Quotes
Romain Grosjean (#28 Andretti Autosport Honda) will start second: “I think this is a very good result for all of us on the #28 car. We’ve worked very hard to get the car working the way I wanted it to be. I knew from the opening practice that we were headed in the right direction, and every change we made on the car was in the right direction, thanks to my engineer Olivier [Boisson], Honda and everyone on the team, who have been working just as hard. Now we have to continue on and finish the job tomorrow.”
Christian Lundgaard (#30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Honda) will start third: “I think the rain [prior to qualifying] actually helped us. It just cooled everything down from earlier in the day. It definitely helped stabilize our car under braking. I think it was a very exciting qualifying. And we’re making progress as a team, which is the most important thing. I’ve always liked street circuits, but after Toronto [where he started 10th and finished 8th] and today I’m starting to like them even more!”
Fast Facts
Honda drivers and teams dominated the results sheets of last year’s inaugural Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, as Marcus Ericsson recovered from an opening lap contact and brief “flight” to head a Honda sweep of the first seven finishing positions, and eight of the top 10.
Scott Dixon made it a Honda and Chip Ganassi Racing 1-2 result last year in Nashville, with James Hinchcliffe running third to complete the podium sweep for the manufacturer. Honda drivers Ryan Hunter-Reay, Graham Rahal, Ed Jones, and eventual series champion Alex Palou completed the top seven for Honda, with Helio Castroneves finishing ninth.
Previously, INDYCAR and the Indy Racing League conducted eight races on the 1.33-mile Nashville Super Speedway oval in Lebanon, Tennessee, from 2001-2008. Honda drivers and teams won five of the six races the manufacturer contested, from 2003-08.