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Colton Herta Clinches Victory In Nashville As Alex Palou Wins INDYCAR Championship
Colton Herta clinched his second victory of 2024 and his first career oval win in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES finale at Nashville Superspeedway. Alex Palou secured his third Drivers' Championship in four years, while Linus Lundqvist was named Rookie of the Year.
Palou entered the final race with a 33-point lead. Despite starting 24th due to qualifying issues and an engine-change penalty, he finished 11th, securing his second consecutive title. This marks Honda's 20th Drivers' Championship in 31 seasons.
Herta's performance was equally impressive. He made a thrilling three-wide pass in the closing laps to win the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix. His victory propelled him from fourth to second in the final standings.
Lundqvist ended the season on a high note with an eighth-place finish. He had already clinched Rookie of the Year honours at Milwaukee earlier this month. Lundqvist is now the 23rd Honda driver to earn this accolade.
The race results for Honda drivers were notable. Kyle Kirkwood finished fourth, Marcus Armstrong seventh, and David Malukas ninth. Jack Harvey came in 13th, Scott Dixon 17th, Christian Lundgaard 19th, and Pietro Fittipaldi 21st.
Race Results
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The championship standings saw Palou leading with 544 points and two wins. Herta followed with 523 points and two wins as well. Scott McLaughlin of Team Penske secured third place with 505 points and three wins.
Quotes from key figures highlighted their achievements. Palou expressed his excitement about winning three races despite challenges: "What an amazing year! We made it a bit more exciting than we wanted, obviously, with the issues we had in race 2 at Milwaukee."
Herta shared his joy over his performance: "The whole race, I was getting my passes done coming off the corners... Second in the championship is awesome, but it gives us something to shoot for in 2025."
Lundqvist reflected on his rookie season: "Winning Rookie of the Year is obviously amazing... I've made plenty of rookie mistakes, but I've also learned a lot."
David Salters, President of Honda Racing Corporation USA, praised the team's efforts: "In summary: Pole, Win, Drivers' Championship... Huge congratulations to Andretti Global on their race win today and of course to the folks at Chip Ganassi Racing on Alex's third drivers' title."
The season concluded with anticipation for next year. The Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg will kick off the 2025 season on March 2nd in Florida.
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