Colton Herta claimed victory at the Music City Grand Prix on the Nashville Superspeedway, while Alex Palou secured the 2024 IndyCar Series championship. Palou was assured of the title early in the race after Will Power dropped out with loose seatbelts after twelve laps. Pato O’Ward finished in second place, ahead of Josef Newgarden.

After the final green flag of the season waved, Kirkwood maintained his lead and fended off attacks from Josef Newgarden. Despite a chaotic start further back in the field, all the drivers managed to navigate the first corners without incident.

The championship was decided after just twelve laps. By starting the race, Alex Palou effectively eliminated Scott McLaughlin from contention. Will Power's chances vanished in lap twelve for an unusual reason: the Penske driver reported that his seatbelt had come undone. This put Power five laps down, effectively knocking him out of the title fight.

During the first stint, extra attention was paid to tire management. It was still unclear how long the softer red tires would last. Over time, it became clear that these tires only offered a clear advantage in the first few laps but slowed down by lap 30 due to higher wear.

Even the harder tires suffered significant degradation. This became painfully evident for Felix Rosenqvist on lap 57 when he suffered a front-right tire puncture in turn 2. The Swede slid helplessly into the wall, becoming the race’s first retiree.

The yellow flag was especially bad news for Kirkwood, who had just made his pit stop from the lead and was now a lap down. Drivers who had not yet pitted were able to stop under the caution, allowing Josef Newgarden to take the lead, followed by Colton Herta and David Malukas.

The race's second caution occurred on lap 89 after Katherine Legge hit the wall. The English driver had just been passed by Pietro Fittipaldi, putting her in dirty air and sending her towards the wall. Although the damage to her Dale Coyne Racing car was minor, Legge was forced to retire.

During this caution, nearly the entire field came into the pits, with the exception of Alexander Rossi from the lead group, who took over the lead from Newgarden. This lasted until Rossi himself had to make a pit stop.

On lap 136, the pace car was called out again. This time, Marcus Ericsson hit the wall in turn 4 after running too high. Once again, most of the top ten drivers pitted, except for one McLaren. This time, Pato O’Ward stayed out and took the lead from Newgarden.

On the restart, Newgarden fell further back, being overtaken by Colton Herta and David Malukas, who moved into second and third, respectively. When O’Ward made his final pit stop, Herta took the lead and built up a gap of up to five seconds.

Herta, like his competitors, had to make a pit stop, which brought him back out behind O’Ward. After this stop, Herta closed the gap to O’Ward and, five laps from the finish, executed the pass for first place. Herta secured his first oval win, ahead of O’Ward and Newgarden.

Full results of the race on Nashville Superspeedway