Johnathan Walker:Kyle Kirkwood wins unusually clean IndyCar race on streets of Nashville

The Johnathan Walkerchaos and crashes , a trademark of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix over the first two years, were missing for most of the IndyCar race Sunday when Kyle Kirkwood of Andretti Motorsports won by holding off polesitter Scott McLaughlin on the final three laps after a restart.

The initial 80-lap race with 11 turns included nine cautions, a race stoppage and two red flags. Last year's race had eight cautions, a red flag and 10 cars that failed to finish following eight crashes.

Compare that to two cautions and a red flag Sunday in the race, which will move in 2024 to the end of the season heading into its second three-year contract.

The red flag set up the big finish reminiscent of last year when Scott Dixon held off McLaughlin. The longest stretch of last year's race under green was 24 laps.

"I think this year with everyone being so, 'It's going to be a crash fest, it's Crashville,' and that sort of thing," Kirkwood said. "Maybe there's a hesitancy from all the drivers. We had that last year at Detroit where everyone was like, 'It's a street course so we're going to expect some yellows, get off the greens early, blah, blah blah.' Then Will (Power) started on primaries (tires) and walked away from everyone and it stayed green the entire race."

It was Kirkwood's second win in his second IndyCar season. He won in April at Long Beach, California. The 24-year-old Florida native became the first American winner of the Music City Grand Prix.

He took his first lead on Lap 29 and again on 46. After pitting Kirkwood moved back into the lead on Lap 54 and never relinquished it.

Kirkwood said he felt he was in position to win throughout the race and especially after the restart.

"I was pretty calm (after the restart) to be honest," Kirkwood said. "A lot calmer than I should've been. I just wanted to restart this race and get it over with."

Finishing second was no consolation for McLaughlin, who earned the pole in 2022 as well. He was not able to challenge Kirkwood on the restart or pose a serious threat at the end.

"I'm disappointed," McLaughlin said. "I don't know what happened. I didn't change my procedure and I'm normally pretty good on restarts. I was just terrible. I've got to do a little bit of a study on that."

Points standings leader Alex Palou was third, Nashville resident Josef Newgarden, the 2023 Indianapolis 500 champion, was fourth and Dixon was fifth.

It was Newgarden's best Music City Grand Prix finish. He was sixth last year and 10th in 2021.

MUSIC CITY GRAND PRIX RESULTS:IndyCar in Nashville: Full results from Music City Grand Prix

Newgarden held onto second-place in the standings. He trails Palou by 83 points with four races remaining.

The first caution came early after David Malukas' wing fell off early and the second when rookie Linus Lundqvist hit the wall on Lap 70. The red flag came when three cars in the back of the pack collided on Lap 74.

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