Alex Palou secured his third IndyCar championship despite finishing a lap down in the season finale in Nashville.
Colton Herta scored his second victory of the year as the curtain fell on the 2024 IndyCar season by passing Pato O’Ward with five laps to go.Any intrigue over the outcome of the championship ended after 12 of the 206 laps of Nashville Superspeedway. Will Power, the only driver mathematically capable of beating Palou to the title, had already dropped back five places when he arrived in the pits unexpectedly early.
Disastrously, the Penske driver’s seat belts had worked loose. His car sat in the pits for what felt like an eternity, and he eventually finished seven laps adrift.
Kyle Kirkwood led the opening stages of the race, rebuffing the advances of Josef Newgarden. However Felix Rosenqvist behind them crashed out early on due to a deflating tyre, prompting a rush for the pits in which Kirkwood dropped back to 10th.
Two more caution periods, triggered by Katherine Legge and Marcus Ericsson respectively, transformed the battle for the lead of the race. David Malukas led into the closing laps, hoping to eke his fuel out in the event of a late caution period, to no avail.
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As he pitted, O’Ward moved into the lead of the race with Herta in hot pursuit. The Andretti driver was clearly the quicker of the two, but O’Ward skilfully manoeuvred his way through traffic to keep his rival boxed in.
He ran out of tricks when they bore down on Sting Ray Robb, however. The pair dived either side of the Foyt driver and Herta brilliantly captured the lead with shades of Mika Hakkinen’s 2000 Belgian Grand Prix-winning pass on Michael Schumacher, albeit this time with a McLaren driver on the receiving end.
Newgarden ended his season with third place after passing team mate Scott McLaughlin, who caught a snap of oversteer as the pair went side-by-side. Kirkwood separated them at the flag in fourth.
Santino Ferrucci took sixth after being ordered to relinquish a position for trespassing beneath the yellow line. Malukas, after his late pit stop, came in ninth behind Marcus Armstrong and Linus Lundqvist, while Conor Daly completed the top 10 after another solid turn for Juncos Hollinger.
Race result
| P. | No. | Driver | Team | Engine |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Colton Herta | Andretti/Curb-Agajanian | Honda |
| 2 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 3 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 4 | 22 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti | Honda |
| 5 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 6 | 13 | Santino Ferrucci | Foyt | Chevrolet |
| 7 | 11 | Marcus Armstrong | Ganassi | Honda |
| 8 | 8 | Linus Lundqvist | Ganassi | Honda |
| 9 | 30 | David Malukas | Meyer Shank | Honda |
| 10 | 20 | Conor Daly | DRR-Cusick | Chevrolet |
| 11 | 10 | Alex Palou | Ganassi | Honda |
| 12 | 18 | Rinus VeeKay | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 13 | 16 | Jack Harvey | Coyne | Honda |
| 14 | 25 | Christian Rasmussen | Carpenter | Chevrolet |
| 15 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 16 | 32 | Romain Grosjean | Juncos Hollinger | Chevrolet |
| 17 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Ganassi | Honda |
| 18 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 19 | 27 | Christian Lundgaard | RLL | Honda |
| 20 | 26 | Sting Ray Robb | Foyt | Chevrolet |
| 21 | 24 | Pietro Fittipaldi | RLL | Honda |
| 22 | 4 | Kyffin Simpson | Ganassi | Honda |
| 23 | 14 | Graham Rahal | RLL | Honda |
| 24 | 12 | Will Power | Penske | Chevrolet |
| 25 | 23 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti | Honda |
| 26 | 28 | Katherine Legge | Coyne/WR | Honda |
| 27 | 29 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank | Honda |
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IndyCar
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- Kirkwood takes pole for finale, Palou only 24th after penalty
Dex
16th September 2024, 1:47
Championship standings would be a nice addition too, in this case.
Craig
16th September 2024, 11:17
I was expecting that bump to take someone out and decide the championship, not seat belts.
Billy-Ray Jim-Bob Jim
16th September 2024, 12:58
Indycar points system is a bit of a joke really, lets be honest. They give points to the driver who finishes last for crying out loud. The difference between points after the Top 5 is menial at best. Redundant even.
Doh
16th September 2024, 17:06
The point is is keeps people in contention. Even a bad day will yield enough points to stay in the title battle.
Jason
17th September 2024, 0:47
Really? How bout the F1 standings – the points gap between #4 and #5 is hilarious. I can appreciate their points system even nascar actually. Also watkins glen was amazing though they should limit overtime to 1 GWC lol. The xfinity race was a nail biter with the former karter taking the victory!
someone or something
17th September 2024, 14:30
The points gap between 4th place and 5th place is two points. Unless you find that number inherently funny, I fail to see the point.
The points gap between Lando Norris (#4) and Sebastian Vettel, probably (#5), is 254 points. Which isn’t too surprising, given that Vettel isn’t in F1 anymore.
The points gap between Oscar Piastri (4th in the WDC) and Carlos Sainz (5th in the WDC) is 38 points. That’s a rather large gap, unsurmountable in a single race weekend. But it’s justified by the fact that Piastri has regularly outscored Sainz, and by the the fact that Piastri has only had one no-score (caused by a collision with Sainz, fittingly) against Sainz’s three.
In that respect, the gap between them is a fair reflection of their performances so far. It wouldn’t be fair if those standings could be turned on their head with one single result.
So, that was my attempt at making sense of your comment about ‘hilariousness’. Did I come close to what you meant?
Don
16th September 2024, 15:04
Palou is really, really good! Congrats.
MichaelN
16th September 2024, 17:09
Palou is undoubtedly a deserving champion and a great racer. Good for him!
It’s extra satisfying that Penske didn’t take the title after their early season shenanigans.
Gabriel (@gabf1)
16th September 2024, 22:01
That pass by Colton Herta at the end was exceptional!