2026 IndyCar Nashville | Practice 1 results

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It’s time for Round 12 of the NTT IndyCar season at the Nashville Super Speedway, view the full results of Practice 1 here.

The Nashville IndyCar weekend for 2026 features a longer race than the grid’s 2025 visit, going from 225 laps to 300. This means more tires and more stops for the teams, throwing out new challenges for them to contend with.

Prior to the beginning of the race, grid penalties were announced for the No.7 Arrow McLaren and No.12 Team Penske. Following team tests on July 8th at the Milwaukee Mile, both cars took unapproved engine changes. This unnaproved change will result in a 9-place drop in position from wherever either car qualifies.

Coming into the weekend, Alex Palou leads the championship over Kyle Kirkwood. It’s also a big weekend for Christian Lundgaard, who heads into the weekend without a seat for the 2027 season, with Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist moving into the Arrow McLaren team.

Early on in the session, Marcus Ericsson had a scary moment high in the corner of Turn 4. Alex Palou throws the gauntlet down early, with a rapid 194.71 mph. David Malukas suffers from a huge hit to the wall after losing it low between turns 1 and 2. Not a great start to the weekend, as Malukas also has an engine penalty to contend with.

Kyle Kirkwood ends the session in P1, with Palou close behind in second. And, despite his crash early in the session, David Malukas rounds out the top 3 in third.