David Malukas didn’t know this weekend’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Priix presented by OnlyBulls was going to be this challenging.

Already dealing with a nine-position starting penalty for an unapproved engine change, Malukas (photo, top) crashed four laps into Saturday’s first practice at Nashville Superspeedway. Malukas said he hit his right knee on the steering wheel in the car’s rear-first impact, and he was taken to a local hospital for tests and observation.

SEE: Race Starting Lineup/Tire Choice

The Team Penske driver who has qualified on the front row for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ past five oval races – two last year, three this year, including the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge – was unavailable for NTT P1 Award qualifying, but he returned to the 1.33-mile oval track in time for evening practice, which he led at 193.766 mph.

“Everything came back clean, nothing’s broken (and) nothing’s torn, which is pretty impressive because I literally took the wheel off with my knee – I can’t believe that,” he said before climbing into the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet. “It’s badly bruised, but we’ve got some good people around me (to) massage it a little bit. So, we’re good to go.”

Malukas, who finished second at Indy, needed a couple of minutes following the incident to gather himself, and then he gingerly got out of the car and walked to the AMR INDYCAR Safety Team vehicle to be transferred to the track’s infield medical center. The team was unsuccessful in getting the car prepared for the afternoon qualifying session, but all was well three hours later.

“I mean, it was rushing,” Malukas said of his efforts to return to the track. “I was eating lunch while getting my knee scanned and looked at, just to make sure the timing was on track. I mean, what incredible support from the group behind me getting the car moving and ready.”

Malukas wasn’t worried about missing track time in the first practice because that session is usually focused on qualifying preparation. He said he’d take information from teammates Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin to expedite the adaptation process. That clearly worked in the final practice, which Malukas led.

Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard also will serve a penalty of nine starting positions due to exceeding INDYCAR’s season engine limit. His car, along with that of Malukas, received new Chevrolet engines following the July 8 test at the Milwaukee Mile. Lundgaard will start 24th and Malukas 25th in the race.

Sunday’s 300-lap race at Nashville Superspeedway will be the 12th of the 18-race season. The green flag will wave shortly after the FIFA World Cup final on FOX (approximately 5:30 p.m. ET). FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls also will have live coverage.

Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood will start on the pole.

Graham Rahal

Three Drivers Crash in Eventful Final Practice

Malukas returning from a local hospital to post the fastest speed wasn’t the only attention-grabbing event in the final practice.

Graham Rahal (photo, above), Romain Grosjean and Marcus Armstrong were involved in separate accidents in the one-hour final session, with varying amounts of damage to their cars. None of the drivers was hurt.

SEE: Final Practice Results

Rahal’s nightmarish Saturday – he didn’t make a qualifying attempt due to an apparent fuel pressure problem and will start 23rd – got worse in the final practice when his No. 15 Fifth Third Bank Honda brushed the Turn 2 wall.

The series veteran insisted at the start of practice and the high-line session that preceded it that something was wrong with the back of his car, so his Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing crew tried numerous fixes, to no avail. He ended up last at 176.909, nearly 17 mph slower than Malukas’ session-leading speed of 193.766.

“I had a hunch something was broken at the start of the session, and it never got any better,” Rahal said. “If it’s like that in the race, I won’t make it more than a few laps before I’m out. I hate that for all of our sponsors. It’s unreal. I don’t know what to tell you. It’s going around on me.”

Grosjean also fought handling problems and pushed into the SAFER Barrier in Turn 2 with the right side of his No. 18 BMax Honda of Dale Coyne Racing. With around 10 minutes left, Armstrong hit the SAFER Barrier in Turn 4 in his No. 66 Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Honda.

Rahal, Grosjean and Armstrong each will be allowed one install lap in their repaired cars after the INDY NXT by Firestone race Sunday afternoon. Each car will be allowed only one trip past the start-finish line.

Will Power

Power: Father Had Medical Emergency

Andretti Global’s Will Power had a challenging start to the season, and part of the reason why has been revealed.

Power (photo, above) spoke briefly about the family health situation that had weighed on his mind since the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge in May. In the days prior to the biggest race of the year, his father, Bob, had a heart-related medical emergency while swimming at their home of Toowoomba, Australia, and lapsed into a coma.

“It was terrible because my dad was in a coma, and we were talking about the decision on who would make the decision to pull the plug because, at his age, it’s unlikely that he’s going to wake up,” Power said. “He may wake up and have severe brain damage. So that was the Wednesday of the Indy 500. Really stressful.

“I remember thinking about him in the race. Had that exact thought in Turn 2. I know the exact spot, so it was really on my mind there, (at) Detroit (the next week) and so on and so on until I eventually had a conversation with him on the phone.”

Power said he had talked to his dad before nearly every race in his career. He said his father is in rehabilitation and able to walk and talk with friends and family, giving him hope that he will fully recover.

“I thought, knowing my dad, he will come out,” Power said. “He will be doing sprints in the pool again.”

Power’s race results have improved recently, as well. He has finished eighth, third and sixth in the past three starts, easily the best stretch of his season. Power qualified 14th for this race.

Malukas, Newgarden Top Oval Scorers

This is the fourth oval race of the season, following events at Phoenix Raceway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway. Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden has won two of them, with Felix Rosenqvist of Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian winning the other.

But neither of those drivers has scored the most points on such tracks this season. The leader in that category is Malukas. In addition to finishing second at Indy, Malukas was third at Phoenix and seventh at Gateway to accumulate 116 points.

Newgarden is second with 107 points, with Rosenqvist third with 94. Team Penske’s McLaughlin has scored 94 points, Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward 92. Newgarden, who won last year’s Nashville race, will start Sunday’s race on the front row with Kirkwood.

Series points leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing leads all drivers in points scored since the “500.” He has 167 points, with O’Ward second with 162 and Lundgaard third with 157. Malukas ranks fourth with 153 points.

Scott Dixon

Odds and Ends

  • Saturday’s top seven qualifiers have won series oval races in their careers: Kirkwood, Newgarden, McLaughlin, Palou, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon (photo, above) and ECR’s Alexander Rossi and Christian Rasmussen.
  • Dixon is already having a winning week after watching his 5-year-old son, Kit, capture his first go-kart victory from the pole at New Castle (Indiana) Motorsports Park.
  • Dixon, along with Palou and Kyffin Simpson, can give Chip Ganassi Racing its 150th series victory. Team Penske holds the record with 248.
  • Simpson’s best oval finish in the series came last year in this event, dueling McLaughlin in the closing laps before finishing fourth. Simpson also finished fourth at Road America last month.