McLaren’s Pato O’Ward took pole position for the season-ending 225-lap race, setting a two-lap average of 202.621 mph at the concrete speedway.
David Malukas was second for AJ Foyt Racing (201.922 mph) while O’Ward’s teammate Christian Lundgaard was third (201.713 mph).
Champion-elect Alex Palou will start fourth ahead of Chip Ganassi Racing teammate Dixon in fifth.
Josef Newgarden, who goes into the final race of the season still without a win, was the best of the Team Penske trio in sixth.
Nolan Siegel was seventh for McLaren but took a nine-place grid penalty for an unscheduled engine change.
That promoted Team Penske’s McLaughlin ahead of Kyffin Simpson (Chip Ganassi Racing), Felix Rosenqvist (Meyer Shank Racing), and Power (Team Penske).
Callum Ilott was poised to start ninth, but he too took a nine-place grid penalty for an engine change.
IndyCar’s most recent race winner, Christian Rasmussen, also took a nine-place grid penalty for an engine change, which dropped him out of his 16th place qualifying result.
Pole winner O’Ward has never won a race from top spot, a streak he is eager to end.
“The car was great,” O’Ward said.
“Felt really comfortable in practice and didn’t give me any scares or anything. I was happy with that. Very good.”
Monday’s race gets underway at 4am AEST with coverage live and exclusively on Stan Sport.
Results: Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix presented by WillScot Qualifying, Nashville Superspeedway
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Time | Speed (mph) |
| 1 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren | 23.5968 | 23.6639 | 47.2607 | 202.621 |
| 2 | 4 | David Malukas | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 23.6537 | 23.7706 | 47.4243 | 201.922 |
| 3 | 7 | Christian Lundgaard | Arrow McLaren | 23.7347 | 23.7387 | 47.4734 | 201.713 |
| 4 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | 23.752 | 23.7474 | 47.4994 | 201.603 |
| 5 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | 23.7324 | 23.806 | 47.5384 | 201.437 |
| 6 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | 23.7727 | 23.7768 | 47.5495 | 201.39 |
| 7 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren | 23.7511 | 23.802 | 47.5531 | 201.375 |
| 8 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | 23.8059 | 23.8275 | 47.6334 | 201.035 |
| 9 | 90 | Callum Ilott | PREMA Racing | 23.8125 | 23.8716 | 47.6841 | 200.822 |
| 10 | 8 | Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing | 23.8973 | 23.815 | 47.7123 | 200.703 |
| 11 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian | 23.8454 | 23.8685 | 47.7139 | 200.696 |
| 12 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | 23.8057 | 23.9215 | 47.7272 | 200.64 |
| 13 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global | 23.8346 | 23.9278 | 47.7624 | 200.492 |
| 14 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | 23.8089 | 23.9666 | 47.7755 | 200.437 |
| 15 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Global w/ Curb-Agajanian | 23.89 | 23.9215 | 47.8115 | 200.287 |
| 16 | 21 | Christian Rasmussen | Ed Carpenter Racing | 23.8725 | 24.0059 | 47.8784 | 200.007 |
| 17 | 66 | Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian | 23.9682 | 23.9171 | 47.8853 | 199.978 |
| 18 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global | 23.9179 | 23.9951 | 47.9130 | 199.862 |
| 19 | 83 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA Racing | 23.9865 | 24.0024 | 47.9889 | 199.546 |
| 20 | 20 | Alexander Rossi | Ed Carpenter Racing | 23.9562 | 24.0651 | 48.0213 | 199.412 |
| 21 | 77 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 24.0414 | 24.0704 | 48.1118 | 199.036 |
| 22 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 24.0973 | 24.1088 | 48.2061 | 198.647 |
| 23 | 30 | Devlin DeFrancesco | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 24.0748 | 24.144 | 48.2188 | 198.595 |
| 24 | 45 | Louis Foster | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | 24.0555 | 24.164 | 48.2195 | 198.592 |
| 25 | 76 | Conor Daly | Juncos Hollinger Racing | 24.0761 | 24.242 | 48.3181 | 198.187 |
| 26 | 18 | Rinus VeeKay | Dale Coyne Racing | 24.2247 | 24.2991 | 48.5238 | 197.346 |
| 27 | 51 | Jacob Abel | Dale Coyne Racing | 24.4519 | 24.4603 | 48.9122 | 195.779 |
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