IndyCar Nashville starting lineup: Scott McLaughlin wins pole for Team Penske

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — Scott McLaughlin won the second pole of his IndyCar career, and Romain Grosjean and Christian Lundgaard earned their highest starting spots of the season in the starting lineup for Sunday’s Music City Grand Prix (3 p.m. ET, NBC).

McLaughlin won the pole on a flying final run around the 11-turn, 2.1-mile course in Saturday’s session, which started 90 minutes late because of weather delays, and a sloppy, shortened first qualifying group left some drivers steaming with anger in the hot, humid Nashville post-rain conditions.

The Team Penske driver was also fastest in Saturday morning practice. The New Zealand native opened the season by winning from the pole in St. Petersburg, Florida, for his first career victory.

INDYCAR AT NASHVILLE: Schedules, details for watching this weekend on NBC

QUALIFYING RESULTS: Click here for the full report from Nashville l Round 1, Group 1 l Round 1, Group 2 l Round 2 l Fast Six

“This car was phenomenal,” McLaughlin said of the No. 3 Dallara-Chevrolet. “One of those good laps. Hopefully, more of the same (Sunday). Heads down, bums up and focus on what we need to do.”

Grosjean qualified second for Andretti Autosport, which had three drivers eliminated in the first round of qualifying. Lundgaard was a career-best third for Rahal Letterman Lanigan, which advanced all three of its drivers to the top 12.

Alex Palou, Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden rounded out the Fast Six drivers who made the final round of qualifying.

The top five starting spots were represented by five teams: Team Penske, Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan, Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow McLaren SP.

RETWEET to congratulate @smclaughlin93!

The @Team_Penske driver wins the pole and will lead the field