Dixon bags front row spot for Nashville race

Scott Dixon will start second for tomorrow’s IndyCar race at Nashville.

The Kiwi will join Colton Herta on the front row after a mega lap by the Andretti driver in the final six shootout.

Herta bettered his earlier time in the shootout by over a full second to comfortable seal pole.

Dixon snuck a lap in late in the session, having crossed the finish stripe with ten seconds remaining on the clock.

The six-time series champion was always going to have a challenging time beating Herta, who was the only one in the field with fresh tyres to burn.

Still, a strong lap meant Dixon finished 0.542s behind the pole sitter.

It was an overly solid day for Dixon.

He topped the group 2 session to book a spot in the Fast 12, which would then determine who would be in the top six shootout.

Given the street nature of the circuit, speeds were constantly improving, and the fastest times of the Fast 12 were set in the final moments.

Dixon landed the fourth-fastest time at the death of the session, and that secured his place in the pole position shootout.

Championship leader and Dixon’s teammate Alex Palou starts third, ahead of Alexander Rossi.

Felix Rosenqvist was fifth, while Romain Grosjean was a standout sixth.

Grosjean was promoted to sixth when Josef Newgarden shunted into the wall in the final minute of the Fast 12 and parked himself down an escape road.

Newgarden lost his fastest time and will start 12th for tomorrow’s race.

Scott McLaughlin was eliminated in group qualifying and will start 23rd.