IndyCar: Cars running special Penske shocks run 1-2-3 in Nashville practice 2

It’s called the Penske unfair advantage.  When the track is bumpy, the Penske cars fly.

Running shocks no one has except Team Penske, Scott McLaughlin led a Team Penske sweep of the top three spots in practice Saturday at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the washboard streets of Nashville.

McLaughlin’s top lap was 1 minute, 15.4609 seconds in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Team Penske Chevrolet. Leading the charts continued a strong weekend so far for 2021 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year McLaughlin, who was fourth quickest Friday.

All 26 drivers on track dealt with more than just the bumps and varying surfaces on the 11-turn, 2.1-mile temporary circuit on the streets of Nashville, as the air temperature was 90 degrees with relative humidity higher than 50 percent.

“It’s about as hot as the DEX Imaging Chevy right now,” McLaughlin said. “The car feels really nice. I’m feeling really good. Very hot out there, but we train hard for this. It’s humid; that’s the hardest thing for us as drivers.

“We hardly changed (the car). We took a little bit of front wing out and focused on what I can do.”

Two-time series champion and Nashville-area native Josef Newgarden was second at 1:15.7554 in the No. 2 PPG Team Penske Chevrolet. Series points leader Will Power completed the Penske party in the top three at 1:15.8415.

Alexander Rossi, winner last Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, was fourth at 1:15.8457 in the No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda. Kyle Kirkwood was the fastest rookie and fifth overall at 1:15.9972 in the No. 14 Sexton Properties Chevrolet.

Rookie Christian Lundgaard, who led Friday practice at 1:15.9659, ended up ninth in this session at 1:16.0813 in the No. 30 Shield Cleansers Honda.

Practice 2 Results