A podium finish for Lundgaard at last week’s race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course appears to have unlocked his confidence and as he lapped the bumpy 2.1-mile street course in Nashville 1min15.9695sec to head the field by over two-tenths.
With an extra set of primaries to use, it was predominantly the rookies who hit the 2.1-mile course in the opening 15 minutes, with David Malukas of Dale Coyne Racing with HMD-Honda setting a 1min18.1595sec, an average speed of 96.725mph. He was just ahead of Andretti Autosport-Honda’s Devlin De Francesco, and Rookie of the Year points leader Christian Lundgaard of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing-Honda.