LEBANON, Tenn. (September 14, 2024) – The season’s final INDY NXT by Firestone race at Nashville Superspeedway will line up based on the point standings, as Saturday’s qualifying session was rained out – but not before Yuven Sundaramoorthy showed a preview of his 2025 form, setting the quickest time before rain halted then canceled the session.
The grid for Sunday’s 65-lap season finale will have Jacob Abel (No. 51 ABEL Construction) starting second, Yuven Sundaramoorthy (No. 22 Optima Batteries/Clarios/ABEL Motorsports) starting 10th, and Taylor Ferns (No. 55 Bradford Allen/ABEL Motorsports) starting 18th.
Under the constant threat of rain from the remnants of hurricane Francine, all three drivers spent the day alternating between looking at data and watching radar. The first of two 30-minute practices took the green Friday morning, the first on track session of the day.
Job one for the field was to lay rubber down on Nashville’s 1.33-mile, D-shaped concrete surface as quickly as possible, a job made more difficult by two incidents coming off Turn 4 that brought out the red flag. As the session came to a close, all three drivers were looking forward to practice two early in the afternoon, with a 90-minute NTT INDYCAR SERIES session expected to significantly add to the Firestone rubber on track.
Practice two focused on dialing in the setups, then finding spots in traffic to do some clean air running for qualifying simulations. In combined times for the two sessions, Abel had set the fourth quickest time, with Sundaramoorthy fifth and Ferns 18th.
Under increasingly threatening skies, the field commenced qualifying Saturday afternoon. Ferns posted a solid time but shortly thereafter, a light rain shower stopped the action. After a 33-minute delay, qualifying resumed with Sundaramoorthy throwing down a two-lap average of 183.420 mph to go to the top of the leaderboard among the nine cars that had qualified. But once again, the weather stepped in, as a steady downpour sent the cars off pit lane. An hour later, officials made the call to cancel qualifying, meaning the field would start based on points, with Abel second, Sundaramoorthy 10th and Ferns 18th.
All three drivers were disappointed with the outcome, each for a different reason.
“I think we would have been near the top,” said Sundaramoorthy. “So to lose qualifying is disappointing. The team gave me a great car, the Optima Batteries/Clarios 22 was on fire, I got everything I could out of the car. We went super conservative on the setup, I think we have to here. The race is 65 laps, which is not super long, but it’s going to be what you have at the end of the race that matters. The grip has been fluctuating like crazy all day, and a good deal of what happens in our race will depend on whether or not INDYCAR gets back out on track and can put rubber back down. It’s all about figuring out where the grip is and working from there.”
“You know, I feel like each time I got in the car, I was getting better and more confident,” said Ferns. “I know it’s a huge learning curve and I’m just really grateful for the opportunity. I’ve learned on every lap. It’s been a good deal of learning, since each track we’ve gone to has been different, with so many different variations. It’s all part of the game and again, I’m just grateful to be here, and appreciate the support from Bradford Allen and ABEL Motorsports.”
“Obviously disappointed not getting a chance to go for my fifth pole position,” said Abel, who has secured second place in the series point standings and set the second fastest time in the opening practice session. “We felt pretty good about the balance of the car and I think we would have a good shot at it. But we should have a good race car. We’ve been pretty solid in traffic, though unfortunately it’s really hard to pass here – but at least I know I only have to pass one car!”
ABEL Motorsports thanks partners ABEL Construction Company, Advance Ready Mix, Boyd Cat®, S Team Motorsports, Quest Global, Optima Batteries, Clarios, and OMP for their continued support.
The INDY NXT by Firestone Music City Grand Prix takes the green flag Sunday at 12:50 p.m. ET. The race will be streamed live in the U.S. on Peacock, while international viewers can watch via INDYCARLIVE, with INDYCAR Radio available at indycar.com and on Sirius XM.