INDYCAR: Driver Ratings for 2023 Big Machine Music City GP at Nashville

Crash INDYCAR journalist Chad Smith goes through the field to hand out driver ratings for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville.
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske at Nashville
Scott McLaughlin, Team Penske at Nashville

Kyle Kirkwood: 10

The sophomore driver is cementing h🅰imself as the alpha dog in his first season with Andretti Autosport.

Scott McLaughlin: 9

An🐟other Nashville pole, another Nashville runner-up for the Team Penske driver.

Alex Palou: 9

Yet another podium finish for Palou, who extended his championship lead with just four race𓆉s remaining.

Josef Newgarden: 9

I♐t was a great day for th𝔉e hometown racer, who climbed his way to the front, but he still finished behind Palou.

Scott Dixon: 8

Although he was never in posi♉tion to win the race, it was a third consecutive top-five finish for Dixon at Nashville.

Romain Grosjean: 8

A 6th 𓄧place finish almost felt like a podium for Grosjean, who kept it clean, led some laps, a𝓰nd brought the car home in one piece.

Romain Grosjean
Romain Grosjean

Marcus Ericsson: 6

It was an odd weekend for💛 Ericsson, who was at both ends of the spectrum at times but still earned a solid 7th place finish.

Pato O'Ward: 7

Arrow McLaren didn't have race-winning cars this weekend, but Pato made 💧the most of the situation and earned anothe𝔉r top-ten result.

Christian Lundgaard: 7

Lundgaard once again led the way for🐷 an RLL Racing 💛team that is still trying to figure things out.

Will Power: 7

Power was frust♒rated by his mistake in qualifying, and was never able to find his way to the fꦚront on Sunday.

Helio Castroneves: 8

This was the best race of the season for Castroneves, and a solid weeken꧋d overall for Meyer Shank Racing.

Callum Ilott: 7

Ilott didn🥂't have any highlights this weekend but still a decent day for the Juncos Hollinger Racing driver.

Marcus Armstrong: 7

Given his performances already this season, this weekend seemed like somewhat of a disappointment for the talente𒊎d rookie.

Rinus VeeKay: 5

A decent run was thrown away yet again as VeeKay was penalized for maki﷽ng side contact with Alexan♏der Rossi in a high-speed section of the track.

Graham Rahal: 6

This was another mediocre run for Rahal, fi💫🌊nishing in the middle of the pack once again.

Ryan Hunter-Reay: 6

Not a bad day for the veteran, as he continues t🍷o make slow and steady progress with Ed Carpent💫er Racing.

Sting Ray Robb: 6

Tܫhere were no issues for the rookie or his team this weekend, which is a positive takeaway.

Santino Ferrucci: 5

The AJ Foyt Racing cars are not known for their strength on street courses, ♔so this result was not much of a surprise.

Alexander Rossi: 3

He was nearly taken out by VeeKay, but even befo🥂re that, Rossi strug꧃gled to keep pace with the front of the field.

Agustin Canapino: 5

Before he got into the run-off area on the final restart, Canapino was havi📖ng a decent day making clean passes on track.

Colton Herta: 2

A great qualifying Saturday and a terrible ꦺrace on Sunday. Rinse and repeat for Herta, who continues to have issues when the green flag waves.

Felix Rosenqvist: 5

Felix had a mostly positive day until the incident in the closing laps when he got into the tire 🍨barr🐻iers.

Benjamin Pedersen: 3

The rookie was involved in the three-car pileup, but was also a non-🀅factor today.

Jack Harvey: 4

Harvey showed some improve💝ment early on in the race, but that ended when he slid head-first into the wall lat♛er in the day.

Linus Lundqvist: 8

A sensational debut for the rookie, w⛎ho was running inside the top-five without his hood scoop for much of the day. The end resul𝐆t was just a tiny mistake, that could have happened to anyone.

Devlin DeFrancesco: 5

Nothing positive came from Devlin's weekend, other than the fact that he had an amazing ♈livery.

David Malukas: 7

Malukas had a great run going insideꦇ the top-five when a mechanical failure on his Dale Coyne Racing Honda ended his day early.

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