Alex Palou successfully defended his IndyCar crown to repeat as champion, while Colton Herta charged to victory in a wild season finale at Nashville SuperSpeedway.
The result makes Palou a three-time champion, but also the first to go back-to-back since Dario Franchitti pulled off a three-peat from 2009-11. Palou, at 27 years old, becomes the second-youngest three-time champion in series history, behind Sam Hornish Jr.
Herta’s late charge featured a thrilling battle with Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward as the pair pushed through lapped traffic. In the end, Herta was able to take the win by 1.8106s over O’Ward at the 1.33-mile oval. Herta also elevated to second in the championship standings as a result of the victory.
Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden finished third, with pole-sitter Kyle Kirkwood taking fourth ahead of another Team Penske driver, Scott McLaughlin, in fifth.
Will Power, who came into the weekend second in the standings and the only true contender to Palou’s crown, was forced to pit early after a seat belt came loose in the early running and went several laps down. He was only able to recover to finish 24th.
The Race
Kirkwood led the field to the green flag and was immediately thrust into a wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead with Newgarden, which continued through the end of lap 2 before a successful defense by the pole-sitter.
Power, who started fourth, rose to third, while title rival Palou was up four spots from his 24th-place start shortly after the opening lap.
The selection of choosing to start on the softer alternate tires began showing as Power began to drop down the running order, fading to eighth by lap 8. Palou was up to 17th by lap 10.
While Kirkwood continued to lead Newgarden and Rosenqvist, Power elected to dive to pit road on lap 12 and immediately called “lap belt” over the radio in reference to an issue. The team was thrust into resetting the loose seat belt, while also putting on a fresh set of alternates and sending him back out but five laps down.
One of the early movers was Herta, who was up to fourth by lap 32 after starting ninth.
By lap 40, Kirkwood continued to lead and held the top spot by 0.4432s over Newgarden – both drivers were on the harder primary compound.
The first pit stop for Palou happened on lap 47, with his team changing out the alternates for the more favorable primary tires.
Kirkwood handed off the lead to Newgarden after opting to pit on lap 54 and swapped to primaries. However, the caution came out moments later after the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Honda of Felix Rosenqvist crashed after the right-front tire went down in Turn 2 on lap 56.
Newgarden led the rest of the field yet to pit in for service on lap 60.
The restart came on lap 67, with Newgarden getting a clean jump while Herta was under attack by Malukas for second. From the dirtier high lane, Herta was able to fend off Malukas and then went on the attack for the lead. Newgarden held steady as Herta was unable to complete the pass from the high lane.
Herta continued to make multiple runs on Newgarden over the next several laps, with both drivers on the softer compound.
Newgarden continued to lead by lap 80, but at a slim 0.4308s. That gap dwindled slightly to 0.3795s by lap 85.
The second caution came out on lap 89 after Katherine Legge spun off Turn 4 and ended up in the infield grass. The incident began after Pietro Fittipaldi passed Legge with a late move into Turn 3, then drifted up, which took the air off her front wing and left her unable to push through the corner.
The field pitted for service on lap 92, with Newgarden coming off pit lane first, with Malukas in second. However, Arrow McLaren’s Alexander Rossi assumed the lead after opting not to pit.
Rossi, on primaries, led the field to the green flag restart on lap 98, with Newgarden and Malukas directly behind on fresh alternates. Despite the older rubber, Rossi was able to hold the lead over Newgarden.
Moments later, Malukas ended up losing the third spot to Herta, while Marcus Ericsson lost the fifth spot to Scott McLaughlin.
Rossi’s lead was a healthy 0.9423s over Newgarden by the halfway mark.
Meanwhile, the No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet of Santino Ferrucci was forced to give up two spots for exceeding track limits after going under the yellow line on the front stretch while trying to pass Kirkwood for seventh.
The field widened out as Rossi’s lead was reduced slightly to 0.4752s by lap 115.
Rossi pitted from the lead by lap 124, with Newgarden assuming the race lead.
Another caution came out on lap 135 after Ericsson hit the outside wall in Turn 4, but was able to continue back to the pits for service and repairs.
Newgarden led Herta and Malukas to pit lane once more on lap 139, with Newgarden coming out ahead. This time, Pato O’Ward opted to not stop for service, allowing his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to cycle up to the lead.
O’Ward led the field to the restart on lap 146. Moments after, Malukas pulled off an inside pass on Newgarden, who also fell in the clutches of Herta.
Malukas was forced to pass the lapped car of Dixon from the high line to set sights on O’Ward. However, Herta was also on the attack and turned an outside attempt into an inside pass to secure second over Malukas.
By lap 155, O’Ward led Herta by 2.99255s.
While things appeared straightforward at the front, the driver on the move was Kirkwood, who blasted by McLaughlin on lap 155 before getting by Newgarden to take fourth a few moments later.
Although O’Ward built up a lead of 3.3208s by lap 160, he pitted the next lap to hand the lead off to Herta.
Herta’s lead grew to 6.7986s over Malukas by lap 166.
Kirkwood continued to flash his stout pace after getting by Malukas for second and closing the gap to leader Herta to 3.5964s by lap 175.
Newgarden pitted on lap 177, with McLaughlin following two laps later. Then, Kirkwood was able to take the lead after Herta pitted on lap 180.
Kirkwood led Malukas by 4.9592s on lap 190. However, Kirkwood pitted on lap 194, with Malukas assuming the lead.
With 10 laps to go, Malukas led Palou and O’Ward, with Herta charging in fourth.
The battle for the win was on as the cluster of O’Ward, Herta and Palou navigated lapped traffic.
Malukas pitted on lap 201, which put O’Ward and Herta in a fight for the lead.
O’Ward held the top spot until the two came up on Sting Ray Robb. O’Ward was forced to the high side on Robb, which allowed Herta to dive to the bottom and make an inside pass to seize the lead.
Herta held on, while Palou crossed the finish line 11th to take the title.