Will Power saw his 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship aspirations dashed because of a faulty seat belt early in the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Presented by Gainbridge on Sunday.

Two-time series champion Power came to the season finale 33 points behind Alex Palou for the championship lead and rolled off 20 spots ahead of Palou, who started 24th in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Driving at speeds near 200 mph, the lap belt came off Power while driving his No. 12 Verizon Business Team Penske Chevrolet. The frightening moment forced Power to pit road on Lap 12 of the 206-lap event, essentially ending his title chances.

“It actually just popped like a failure,” Power said. “It didn’t just come loose; it popped off. I was in the middle of a battle, and then I felt it pop. I knew I had to pit. It was a pretty bad situation, really. If I hit the wall, a little bit of pressure from my body might get thrown out of the car.”

Power lost five laps during repairs, dropping him to last among the 27 competitors racing at Nashville Superspeedway. He finished 24th, eight laps down, handing the title to Palou, who became the first repeat champion since Dario Franchitti’s three-year reign from 2009-11.

Two of those three championships by Franchitti were at the hands of Power.

Power led Franchitti by 12 points entering the 2010 season finale, but a crash on Lap 143 of the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway left Power 25th. Franchitti finished eighth, taking his second consecutive championship.

A year later, Power led Franchitti again, this time by 11 points. Franchitti finished runner-up at Kentucky Speedway while Power was 19th for his third straight title.

In 2012, Power led Ryan Hunter-Reay by 17 points. Power crashed at the season finale at Auto Club Speedway, finishing 24th. Hunter-Reay won his first championship with a fourth-place result.

Where does a seat belt malfunction land on the list of devastating ways to lose a title?

“That was a strange one,” Power said. “I mean, everyone had failures. (Alex) Palou had one in Milwaukee. But this is strange in it’s a clasp that we’ve been using. What happens if I have a crash at some point? Was it just a faulty clasp? I don’t know, but we have to look into it pretty deep.”

Power said the seat belt popped off again later in the race, bringing him down pit road for a second unscheduled pit stop.

“After a second time, I was like, ‘There’s something wrong with it.’ I’ve never had that happen before. Strange one.”

Power left Nashville with a positive outlook on the 2024 season, choosing to look at the broader picture than what was left on the table.

“Very satisfying,” he said. “Three race wins, one on an oval, couple on road courses. Had a dominant win, too. Just a good year for the whole team.

“Obviously, we’d love to win the championship, and I think we all had the potential. It’s just Palou is very, very good. He’s very measured. He’s a tough guy to beat.”

Kirkwood Leads Most Laps, Finishes Fourth

Kyle Kirkwood avoided too much trouble following his final practice crash Saturday night. Hours after Kirkwood scored his first NTT P1 Award of the season, he pounded the Turn 4 SAFER barrier with three minutes remaining in the session.

His Andretti Global team thrashed on the No. 27 AutoNation Honda well into the night, getting the car rebuilt around 1 a.m. locally.

Kirkwood started Sunday’s race from the top spot and finished fourth after leading a race-high 67 of 206 laps.

“Jeez, I’ll take that,” he said when told of leading the most laps. “It was heartbreaking last night knowing that we had such a good car and ending up in the wall. We had to get the car back together, and we were clean sailing today. The car was amazing.”

Kirkwood caught a break with where the contact occurred on his car Saturday night. The incident didn’t break any aerodynamic parts, with the underwing, front wing and most of the bodywork all escaping carnage.

“The rear wing was the only major thing we had to change,” Kirkwood said. “Everything else is pretty interchangeable.”

An Andretti Global car in victory lane with Colton Herta on a day another Andretti car started on pole is something Kirkwood said the organization can learn from and take into next season.

“That’s the main thing of confidence going out of the season,” he said. “We’ve been really, really strong. I feel like we’re taking a constant step up. Hopefully that trend continues through the offseason, and we show up to St. Pete with rocket ships. That’s the goal, but this is good confidence for the guys.”

O’Ward Finishes Runner-Up in Finale

Pato O’Ward came 1.8106 seconds short of scoring his second victory in the final three races of the season. O’Ward was victorious Aug. 31 at Milwaukee Mile and finished runner-up Sunday in his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to Herta.

“It’s a great end to the season and some momentum rolling into the offseason, but we’ve got some work to do,” he said. “We’re going to put our heads down and make the cars better to challenge for the championship once again next year. Hopefully this time we’re coming out on the top end.”

O’Ward finished fifth in the standings after ending up fourth last season. His best finish was third in 2021.

He won three of the 17 races this season beginning with the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding. O’Ward was also victorious in the debut of the hybrid power unit July 7 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.

Nashville was his third runner-up finish of the season, joining the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge and the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart on July 13 at Iowa Speedway.

Chevrolet Takes Manufacturers Title

Chevrolet won the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Manufacturers Championship for the third straight season. Winning the 2024 Manufacturer Championship marks the ninth time Chevrolet has captured the coveted award since its return to INDYCAR SERIES competition in 2012.

“This is a proud moment for everyone at Chevrolet,” GM President Mark Reuss said. “The effort by GM Motorsports competition engineering and propulsion engineers, along with our partners at Ilmor, to deliver power and reliability in the Chevy 2.2-liter V6 INDYCAR engine has been outstanding.

“This championship is truly a combined effort and could not have been accomplished without the teamwork, preparation and execution of the five Chevrolet teams: Team Penske, Arrow McLaren, Ed Carpenter Racing, AJ Foyt Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing. Congratulations to our teams and drivers, and thank you to INDYCAR for providing an incredibly competitive series.”

Winning Moment For Hunt Family

David Hunt is a longtime NTT INDYCAR SERIES spotter. He spots for Colton Herta and Sunday helped to guide the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda to the win.

Hunt had a special moment in victory lane at Nashville Superspeedway. His daughter, Emilee, works for Chip Ganassi Racing and was also celebrating a championship with Palou in the same space.

The father-daughter combo celebrated a win for dad and championship for daughter.

“It makes this very special,” David Hunt said. “I knew one of these days I’d get a win, but to be able to get a win on the same weekend when she wins a championship, that’s a very special moment.

“Racing has been in our family blood for a long time, so it’s extremely important for us to have this success together. It’s been a great day. It’s a great day for the family.”

Odds and Ends

• Among Herta’s nine NTT INDYCAR SERIES victories, three (33 percent) have occurred in season finales. He won the 2019 finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the 2021 final race on the streets of Long Beach and Sunday’s last race at Nashville.

• Alexander Rossi finished 15th on his final start in the No. 7 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. The team announced earlier this summer Christian Lundgaard will drive the car next season, joining Pato O’Ward and Nolan Siegel as full-time drivers. Rossi was winless in his two-year (2023-24) stint with Arrow McLaren but had nine top-five finishes and 21 top-10 results in 33 points paying starts.

• Lundgaard finished 19th in his final start driving the No. 45 Hy-Vee Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Lundgaard made his NTT INDYCAR SERIES debut with the team on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in August 2021. He qualified fourth and finished 12th. He went on to make 51 starts with RLL, earning a win (Toronto 2023), three podium finishes, seven top-five finishes and 21 top 10’s.

• Linus Lundqvist finished eighth Sunday but already clinched NTT INDYCAR SERIES Rookie of the Year honors at Milwaukee Mile. This is the second consecutive season a Chip Ganassi Racing driver earned top rookie honors, with Marcus Armstrong securing the crown in 2023. Other CGR drivers to be named Rookie of the Year are Felix Rosenqvist (2019), Juan Montoya (1999), Alex Zanardi (1996) and Eddie Cheever (1990).

• The No. 12 Team Penske pit crew won the Firestone Pit Stop Performance Award for the third consecutive year. This distinction is presented to the NTT INDYCAR SERIES team that scores the most Pit Stop Performance Award points during the season. Teams are awarded points at each race for the shortest average time in pit lane during each event. Awarded to the driver who advances the most cumulative places during the season, the winner receives $25,000.

• Palou’s chief mechanic Ricky Davis earned his series leading sixth Chief Mechanic of the Year Award. This has been presented to the championship-winning team on behalf of the chief mechanic every season since 1997.

• Rinus VeeKay completed the most laps this season, 2,522 out of 2,551 laps. Herta was second best, completing 2,516 laps.

• McLaughlin’s five NTT P1 Awards this season are tops in the series. Herta and Palou each had three, Josef Newgarden two, and Santino Ferrucci, Kirkwood, Rosenqvist and Lundqvist one apiece.

• McLaughlin finished third in the final standings in the last two years, both leaving him as the top Team Penske driver in the final standings both seasons.