- All-new challenge awaits Indy Lights leader in “Music City”
- Swede aiming high with dominant Detroit street showing fresh in mind
At Indy Lights’ most recent street course event, Linus Lundqvist swept the charts. This weekend, the Swedish points leader will be going after another barrier-lined jackpot, as the championship heads to Nashville for the first time to fill the “Music City” with high-revving beats.
First staged for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES last year, the Nashville event proved an instant hit, delivering one of the most action-packed races in modern times.
As feeder series Indy Lights joins the programme this year, expectations will be high for more thrills and spills in the fun-loving city as the title race continues to intensify.
Lundqvist, driving the #26 HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing entry, arrives in Tennessee with plenty of reasons to smile. At the latest street course event, held in Detroit back in June, the Swede was in dominant form; winning both of the races staged on the occasion from pole position, and leading every lap along the way.
It’s little surprise, therefore, that the 23-year-old is keen to take on the latest addition to the calendar, and a place brand new to the entire field.
“Nashville is one of the races I’ve been looking forward to the most this season,” says Linus Lundqvist. “I love new circuits and I normally get up to speed fairly quickly. The fact that it’s a new track for everyone probably plays to my advantage. Considering the massive weekend we had in Detroit, we can only aim high this weekend. I’m going for the win on Sunday.”
Lundqvist currently heads the Indy Lights standings by 77 points from New Zealand’s Hunter McElrea. While admittedly an encouraging lead, the gap could have been greater still had Lundqvist not lost his on-the-road victory last time out on the Iowa Speedway oval, where the stewards subsequently demoted him off the podium in the wake of a late-race incident.
“I’m out to make amends,” Linus Lundqvist concludes. “Losing that win in Iowa only made me even more determined to return to Victory Lane. We’re entering the final stretch of the championship and I obviously need to be smart, but it doesn’t really change anything. Nashville, on paper, is a great opportunity for us and I intend to make the most of it.”
Joining Linus Lundqvist as Event Title Sponsor for this weekend is Swedish-based company FX Airguns, a global powerhouse in the airgun industry with more patents and unique innovations than any other manufacturer in the field.
www.fxairguns.com
Practice begins in Nashville on Friday, with qualifying due on Saturday and the race going green on Sunday.
TIME TABLE
All times local (U.S. Central)
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
Rd. 10 | Nashville
Friday 5 August
Practice 1: 2:00-2:50 pm
Saturday 6 August
Practice 2: 10:15-10:55 am
Qualifying: 2:40-3:00 pm
Sunday 7 August
Race: 12:00 pm
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
Top 5 | After 9/14 races
1: Linus Lundqvist (SWE), 383 p.
2: Hunter McElrea (NZL), 306 p.
3: Sting Ray Robb (USA), 293 p.
4: Matthew Brabham (AUS), 289 p.
5: Christian Rasmussen (DEN), 272 p.
View full standings
ENTRY LIST
View entry list here
STREAMING & TIMING
racecontrol.indycar.com
INDYCAR Live!
UPDATES & RESULTS
www.linuslundqvistracing.se
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FURTHER INFORMATION
Indy Lights Presented by Cooper Tires
HMD Motorsports with Dale Coyne Racing
