Helio Castroneves Dealt Engine Change Grid Penalty for Nashville

IndyCar has levied a six grid position penalty for Helio Castroneves ahead of Sunday’s Big Machine Music City Grand Prix.

The Meyer Shank Racing crew changed the engine on the No. 06 Honda following the most recent IndyCar race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. As a result, that change put Castroneves on his fifth engine of the 2022 IndyCar season.

IndyCar mandates that a driver is allowed four engines to complete a full season of mileage, defined as 10,000 miles. A driver can escape an engine change penalty for a change to a fifth engine if they complete 10,000 miles with their first four engines.

Castroneves was 23rd fastest out of 26 cars in the opening practice session with a fastest lap of 1 minute, 18.1575 seconds to average 96.728 mph around the 11-turn, 2.1-mile circuit. The four-time Indianapolis 500 winner finished ninth last year at Nashville.

IndyCar qualifying coverage on Peacock begins at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 6th. The live race coverage on NBC begins on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. ET.