Will Power‘s long shot bid to win the 2024 IndyCar championship at the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville unraveled on lap 14, so to speak.
Power, who needed to make up 33 points on season leader Alex Palou, noticed his seatbelt was partially unfastened and needed to make a lengthy pit stop that put him several laps down to the leaders by the time he was able to get back on track.
The incident essentially handed the title to Palou early, but there was still a race left to run. He would ultimately settle for an 11th place finish after starting 24th on the grid due to a pre-race penalty for an engine replacement, which earned him more than enough points to claim the crown.
Pole sitter Kyle Kirkwood led the first 53 laps before Nashville native Josef Newgarden took over through lap 91 and again from 124 to 139, but he couldn’t pull off the hometown hero win. Someone else did.
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Colton Herta’s title hopes were blow during the first of the twin Milwaukee Mile races two weeks ago when he lost a wheel late in the race that led to a 22nd place finish. A third place result the following day wasn’t enough to close the gap and he came into Nashville with no mathematical chance of catching Palou.
Herta was born in Southern California, but moved to Nashville a couple of years ago and did his adopted city proud with a strong run all day that saw him vying for the win with Pato O’Ward in the closing laps.
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Herta was trailing O’Ward on lap 202 when they simultaneously lapped Sting Ray Robb and O’Ward went to the outside while Herta made a daring move to the inside to to take the lead and made it stick.
The win was Herta’s first on an oval track and moved him to second in the season standings ahead of Scott McLaughlin and Power.
Palou’s championship was his second in a row and third in four years.