The NTT INDYCAR SERIES completed its 2024 17-race series with a finale on the all-concrete 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, with only the drivers’ and teams’ championships still up for grabs; Chevrolet already claimed the manufacturer’s title, the Bow-Tie brand’s ninth sine 2012 and third consecutive win over Honda.
While the series was looking forward to another race through Nashville’s city streets, local rebuilding wouldn’t accommodate both INDYCAR and INDY NXT and the decision was made to move the season finale to the speedway, a venue where few current racers had any kind of real racing experience. Testing, yes, but testing isn’t racing. Following a 16-year absence, INDYCAR was back in middle Tennessee at this track for the first time since 2008 and completing this season on an oval, which is what fans have clamored to see.
The 2008 race yielded a win by none other than Scott Dixon, now a six-time champion who won his first title in 2003! That the Kiwi is still truly competitive in 2024, finishing sixth in the 2024 points chase is pretty remarkable. It’s also amazing that Dixon’s single-lap average qualifying record from his first championship season in 2003 has not yet been broken (22.6952 seconds at 206.211).
Like everyone else on the 27-car grid, Dixon chased his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate and reigning titleholder Alex Palou. The Spaniard clinched his 2023 title with a single race left on the docket, something that normally doesn’t happen. The title usually goes to the last lap of the last race and that’s what happened this year.
Palou led the standings since the series visited WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in June, despite challenges from Team Penske’s Will Power (-33) and Scott McLaughlin -50). Fellow Honda racer Colton Herta was fourth for Andretti Global, 63 points behind Palou, while Dixon stood 82 points back and would need the four drivers ahead of him to pretty much fail to deliver in order to claim a seventh championship. That’s how they came into the season finale. With the green flags, everything changed.
Showing his sense of humor, Dixon’s fellow Kiwi McLaughlin tried different ways to psyche out Palou: he offered to take him skydiving, offered him “homemade” sushi, attempted to secure Ducati motorcycles from Graham Rahal for a pre-race “tour” of the countryside or considered locking him into a port-a-potty at the track so he couldn’t score points for starting the race. None of that worked; despite starting 24th (!) for an engine change penalty of nine spots, Palou earned his third title in the past four years after Power had early-race issues with loose belts and McLaughlin’s bid just came up short.
This weekend marked the second time INDYCAR has run Firestone’s alternate tires on an oval; they’re omnipresent at all road and street courses, but this use was the first in a championship fight. Sunday’s 206-lap, 267.8-mile contest determined the champion; both the alternate tires and INDYCAR’s new hybrid systems played a part in the determination of this race and this championship. Tire and system management were key to the results of the race and the championship.
Among INDYCAR’s arcane rules, manufacturers are supposed to provide only four engines for the entirety of the 17-race season. That includes the Indianapolis 500, where most teams use a fresh engine for the race then tuck it away for future use down the road. That’s permitted. With the introduction of hybridization at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in July, everyone on the grid has had time to learn how to use this technology to their benefit; usage varies between road, street and oval circuits and those who best use hybridization – and alternate tires – are usually the victors.
The race itself came down to a pass – with four laps remaining – by Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, who snookered both Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward and two-time Team Penske Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden. Herta, who has relocated from Southern California, where he was born, to the Nashville region, considered this his “home” race. It’s the same for Newgarden, who was born and raised in the Nashville area, so both were pretty happy about their results at home.
Finishing fourth after a late-race fuel-only stop, Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who took his Honda-powered Dallara to pole position on Saturday. McLaughlin took fifth for Team Penske, Santino Ferrucci was sixth for A.J. Foyt Racing, followed by Marcus Armstrong (Ganassi), Linus Lundqvist (Ganassi), David Malukas ninth for Meyer Shank Racing and Conor Daly, rounding out the top ten, albeit one lap down for Juncos Hollinger Racing. Palou was 11th, which with Power’s issues (he was 24th, which is where Palou started the 206-lap enduro) allowed the Spaniard to earn his third title.
An important aspect of Palou’s success is the relationship he has with his strategist, Barry Wanser. When his driver earned a second title in 2023 in California, there were photos of Wanser carried by all crew members in Victory Lane, but Wanser wasn’t there as he battled health issues. This year he was back to full strength, and it showed in the No.10 team’s cohesiveness and attitude throughout the season. Wanser is a longtime Ganassi employee, as is crew chief Ricky Davis, both hugged hard by Palou once he exited his racecar.
With 27 entries, which has been the usual and customary group for this season, it was good to see 24 still running and only three out by single-car contact. The INDYCAR series has gotten safer and the teams and drivers operating in this environment have gotten better through the years. Next season will have more cars, with Italian team PREMA Motorsports entering the series with two Chevrolet-powered Dallara race cars. They just announced Callum Ilott as one of their two drivers for the 2025 season.
During the Nashville weekend it was announced that Ferrucci would return to Foyt for a third full-time season, with David Malukas as his teammate. Larry Foyt hired Michael Cannon to oversee the team and they are affiliated with Team Penske, which has improved every part and parcel of that squad. Felix Rosenqvist re-signed with Meyer Shank Racing, while his teammate there is an unknown quantity. Malukas has driven for Meyer Shank since his recovery from a wrist injury incurred prior to the season starter; he was hired to drive the No. 6 Arrow McLaren Chevy for the 2024 season, but his slower than acceptable recovery scotched that and the ride went to Nolan Siegel, who is learning on the job.
There’s talk about a different system for teams in the coming years, rather than the Leader’s Circle program that’s been used for years and through this season, and rewards the top 22 cars’ entrants points. Since the substitute program is still in the talking stages, let’s just look at the Leader’s Circle machinations: that came down to a single point for the final, 22nd car, which was the No. 20 of rookie Christian Rasmussen. Juncos Hollinger’s No. 78, driven in the last few races by Conor Daly, notched No. 21, while Malukas helped Meyer Shank to the 20th spot in their No. 66.
The driver points chase mixed up with Power’s issues that put him five laps down to the leader; he started the contest second in points and ended up fourth, trading places with the race winner, Herta. McLaughlin took third for the season as well as the race, while Pato O’Ward earned fifth place and Scott Dixon was sixth. Kirkwood, Newgarden, Ferrucci and Alexander Rossi, whose future plans are unknown after he was let go by Arrow McLaren, holds tenth place in driver’s points.
The 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season is completed and the 2025 season starts the first Sunday in March on the streets of St Petersburg and ends the final Sunday in August, again at Nashville Superspeedway. In a big change from past years, all races will air on FOX broadcast network, rather than the suite of NBC stations that have carried INDYCAR in the past. Streaming will come on FS1 and FS2 but all racing will take place on free-to-air television.
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