INDYCAR: Driver Ratings for 2023 Big Machine Music City GP at Nashville
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Crash INDYCAR journalist Chad Smith goes through the field to hand out driver ratings for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville.
Kyle Kirkwood: 10
The sophomore driver is cementing himself as the alpha dog in his first season with Andretti Autosport.
Scott McLaughlin: 9
Another 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 races remaining.
Josef Newgarden: 9
It was a great day for the hometown racer, who climbed his way to the front, 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.
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 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 frustrated 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 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 talented rookie.
Rinus VeeKay: 5
A decent run was thrown away yet again as VeeKay was penalized 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 again.
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 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 before 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 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 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 ended when he slid head-first into the wall later in the day.
Linus Lundqvist: 8
A sensational debut for the rookie, who was running inside the top-five without his hood scoop for much of the day. The end result 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 inside the top-five when a mechanical failure on his Dale Coyne Racing Honda ended his day early.