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 himself as the alpha dog in his first season wit🌃h Andretඣti Autosport.

Scott McLaughlin: 9

Another Nashville pole, another Nashvꦉille runner-up for the Team Penske driver.

Alex Palou: 9

Yet another podium finish for Palou, who extended his🍃 champi♔onship lead with just four races remaining.

Josef Newgarden: 9

It was a great day for the hometown racer, 🌳who climbed his way to the front,꧑ but he still finished behind Palou.

Scott Dixon: 8

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

Romain Grosjean: 8

A 6th place finish almost felt like a podium for🦄 Grosjean, who kept it clean, led some laps, and 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 s𒅌pectrum at times but still earned 𒐪a 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 situaไtion and earned another 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 frustrate𓆏d by his mistake in qualifying, and was never able to find his way to the front on Sunday.

Helio Castroneves: 8

This was the best race of the season for Castroneves, and a solid weekend overall for Meyer Shank 𒉰Racing.

Callum Ilott: 7

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

Marcus Armstrong: 7

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

Rinus VeeKay: 5

A decent run was thrown away y꧅et again as VeeKay was pe✱nalized for making side contact with Alexander Rossi in a high-speed section of the track.

Graham Rahal: 6

This was another mediocre run for Rahal, finishing in the middle of the pack once agaℱin.

Ryan Hunter-Reay: 6

Not a bad day for 🌜the veteran, as he continues to make slow and steady progress with Ed Carpenter Racing.

Sting Ray Robb: 6

There were no issues for the rookie or his team this weekend, which is a positive take﷽away.

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 ou♑t by VeeKay, but even befo♏re that, Rossi struggled 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 having a dꦜecent 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 wh꧑en the green flag waves.

Felix Rosenqvist: 5

Felix had a mostly positive day until the incident in the closing laps when he got in🉐to the tire barriers.

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 improvement early on in the race, but that endedℱ when he slid head-first into the wall later in the day.

Linus Lundqvist: 8

A sensational debut for the rookie, who was running ins🌟ide the top-five without his hood scoop for much of the day. The end resuꦰlt was just a tiny mistake, that could have happened to anyone.

Devlin DeFrancesco: 5

Nothing positive came fr🥀om Devlin's weekend, other than the fact that he had an amazing lꦡivery.

David Malukas: 7

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

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