By David Morgan, Associate Editor
LEBANON, Tenn. – The bump strikes back.
In addition to the majority of the NTT IndyCar Series field having to learn the intricacies of a new track in Nashville Superspeedway for this weekend’s running of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, the field was in for a rude awakening when they hit the track for the first time on Saturday.
Through Turns 3 and 4, a section of the concrete surface near the tunnel that runs under the track had been ground, creating a bump that should a car bottom out over it, could catch a driver out and get them in trouble.
First it was the Indy NXT drivers that had their own issues with it and then in the opening minutes of IndyCar practice, rookie Nolan Siegel was the first to feel the wrath of the section of track nicknamed “Lucinda” by some of the drivers.
Siegel’s No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet shot up into the outside wall after going over the bump, putting his team behind the eight ball for the rest of the day as they worked to get his car repaired. It was only in the final minutes of final practice that the team was able to get back on track to make some laps.
Qualifying was largely uneventful, but when the sun went down and teams tuned their cars up for final practice, trouble was lurking again.
Polesitter Kyle Kirkwood was the unfortunate driver to find the limit of the bump as his No. 27 Andretti Global Honda bottomed out over the bump in the waning minutes of practice and like Siegel, he had an untimely meeting with the outside wall.
His battered machine was towed back to the paddock, setting up a long night of work for his team to get him ready to go for Sunday’s race.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s season finale, the bump has certainly gotten everyone’s attention as a point of concern throughout the 206-lap event.
“I think the bump is definitely the overriding concern of everybody right now, and it’s kind of nice,” second-place starter Josef Newgarden said. “It definitely has character. It’s not like all over the track, it’s just this one point, but you’ve got to make up for it, and some are setting the car up around it, too.
“It reminds me of Iowa in Turn 1, Turn 2 when you have huge big corner bump that everyone always had to account for, so it feels a little bit like that, but yeah, I think 3 and 4 will be the tougher spot.”
Conor Daly added that it certainly has added a new element to an already tricky track for these drivers to figure out.
“It was definitely kind of a wild one out there,” said Daly. Three, four is really, really, really challenging. The bump is just absurd, but I mean, we are flat over the bump, so you are able to do something with it.
“It certainly will make things interesting, that’s for sure. But I think it’s been fun so far. It’s been fun to compete here and then learn a new track.”
Likewise for Graham Rahal, who noted that it is something that they’re going to have to try to dial in their setups around, but it is almost inevitable that it will catch someone out during the race.
“Here for sure the bump is a major, major issue,” said Rahal. “And it’s gonna catch a lot of people out, I think. Unfortunately. Wish it wasn’t the case, but it appears that’s gonna be a problem. And that was ground before, right? It was ground. It was unfortunately maybe in the wrong spot, but I’m not gonna start pointing fingers. It’s easier said than done, honestly.
“It’s a very hard thing to pinpoint it, you know? I don’t know how we laser scan it and find the exact millimeters that it is from start/finish, so to speak. But it’s always gonna be a challenge.”
Asked whether there is anything the drivers, teams, or the series can do about it, most concur that it is just something they will have to live with as the race plays out.
“Just along for the ride. I mean, for sure you can go slower but then you can get passed. Crash or pass, those are your options,” Colton Herta noted.
“Just gonna have to live with it,” Santino Ferrucci added. “I think it’ll make some entertaining saves on Sunday though.”
Scott McLaughlin on the other hand explained that it should be left alone, given the character it adds to the track.
“It’s up to everyone to figure it out. I think it’s a good character, otherwise we’d just be easy, flat everywhere. It’s boring, isn’t it?”
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