# 2024 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix

The 2024 Big Machine Music City Grand Prix was the seventeenth and final round of the 2024 IndyCar season. The race was held on September 15, 2024, in Lebanon, Tennessee at the Nashville Superspeedway. Due to the construction of New Nissan Stadium, the race was moved from Nashville Street Circuit to Nashville Superspeedway, owned by Marcus Smith and his Speedway Motorsports group. This was the last IndyCar race aired on NBC. From 2025 onwards, the IndyCar series will be televised by Fox.
Following the race, Álex Palou would win the 2024 season championship.

## Entry list

| Key | Meaning |
| R | Rookie |
| W | Past winner |
| No. | Driver | Team | Engine |
| 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 4 | Kyffin Simpson R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 5 | Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 6 | Nolan Siegel R | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 7 | Alexander Rossi | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet |
| 8 | Linus Lundqvist R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 9 | Scott Dixon W | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 10 | Álex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 11 | Marcus Armstrong | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda |
| 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet |
| 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet |
| 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 18 | Jack Harvey | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda |
| 20 | Christian Rasmussen R | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet |
| 21 | Rinus VeeKay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet |
| 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian | Honda |
| 27 | Kyle Kirkwood W | Andretti Global | Honda |
| 28 | Marcus Ericsson W | Andretti Global | Honda |
| 30 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 41 | Sting Ray Robb | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet |
| 45 | Christian Lundgaard | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda |
| 51 | Katherine Legge | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda |
| 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda |
| 66 | David Malukas | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda |
| 77 | Romain Grosjean | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet |
| 78 | Conor Daly | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet |
| Source: ||||

## Qualifying
### Qualifying Classification

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Time | Time | Final grid |
| Final grid ||
| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Lap 1 | Lap 2 | Final grid |
| 1 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood W | Andretti Global | Honda | 23.7487 | 23.7702 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 23.7518 | 23.8066 | 2 |
| 3 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 23.8360 | 23.8828 | 3 |
| 4 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 23.8372 | 23.8929 | 4 |
| 5 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 23.8550 | 23.9062 | 5 |
| 6 | 66 | David Malukas | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 23.8596 | 23.9061 | 6 |
| 7 | 78 | Conor Daly | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 23.8745 | 23.9117 | 7 |
| 8 | 5 | Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 23.8392 | 23.9705 | 8 |
| 9 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 23.9057 | 23.9193 | 9 |
| 10 | 8 | Linus Lundqvist R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 23.8819 | 23.9567 | 10 |
| 11 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 23.9008 | 23.9543 | 11 |
| 12 | 21 | Rinus Veekay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 23.9679 | 23.9809 | 12 |
| 13 | 9 | Scott Dixon W | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 23.9694 | 23.9985 | 13 |
| 14 | 11 | Marcus Armstrong | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 23.9441 | 24.0337 | 14 |
| 15 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 23.8800 | 24.1124 | 15 |
| 16 | 77 | Romain Grosjean | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 23.9928 | 24.0141 | 16 |
| 17 | 20 | Christian Rasmussen R | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 24.0293 | 24.0560 | 17 |
| 18 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson W | Andretti Global | Honda | 24.0914 | 24.0541 | 18 |
| 19 | 30 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 24.0633 | 24.0852 | 19 |
| 20 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 24.1128 | 24.2361 | 20 |
| 21 | 4 | Kyffin Simpson R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 24.3394 | 24.1915 | 21 |
| 22 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 24.3788 | 24.4241 | 22 |
| 23 | 18 | Jack Harvey | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 24.5266 | 24.4538 | 23 |
| 24 | 45 | Christian Lundgaard | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 24.4946 | 24.4952 | 24 |
| 25 | 51 | Katherine Legge | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | 24.9094 | 24.6864 | 25 |
| 26 | 41 | Sting Ray Robb | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | No time | No time | 26 |
| 27 | 6 | Nolan Siegel R | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | No time | No time | 27 |
| Source: ||||||||

## Race

Coming into the race, 3 drivers were mathematically eligible to win the championship, Alex Palou, Will Power, and Scott McLaughlin. However, McLaughlin was eliminated from contention upon race start since Palou started the race. Early in the race, Will Power came to pit road after his seatbelts came loose, in essence eliminating him from the title fight. On lap 55, Felix Rosenqvist ran high out of Turn 2, hitting the wall and bringing out the first caution. He was eliminated from the race. On lap 85, Katherine Legge hit the wall coming out of Turn 4, bringing out the second caution and eliminating her from the race. On lap 137, the third and final caution of the race came out after Marcus Ericsson hit the wall in Turn 4, taking him out of the race.
At the end of the race, Colton Herta fought off a hard-charging Pato O'Ward, who was on a different strategy, to take the win. This was his first win on an oval track.
Points leader Alex Palou finished 11th, securing his 3rd IndyCar championship. Colton Herta would finish 2nd in the standings (–31), and Scott McLaughlin came 3rd (–39).

### Race results

| Pos | No. | Driver | Team | Engine | Laps | Total Time | Pit Stops | Grid | Laps Led | Pts. |
| 1 | 26 | Colton Herta | Andretti Global with Curb-Agajanian | Honda | 206 | 01:43:15.2534 | 4 | 9 | 24 | 51 |
| 2 | 5 | Pato O'Ward | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 206 | 01:43:17.0640 | 4 | 7 | 21 | 41 |
| 3 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 206 | 01:43:17.2145 | 4 | 2 | 54 | 36 |
| 4 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood W | Andretti Global | Honda | 206 | 01:43:19.9709 | 3 | 1 | 67 | 36 |
| 5 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 206 | 01:43:23.0371 | 4 | 18 | 0 | 30 |
| 6 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 206 | 01:43:24.4870 | 4 | 14 | 0 | 28 |
| 7 | 11 | Marcus Armstrong | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 206 | 01:43:29.6404 | 3 | 12 | 0 | 26 |
| 8 | 8 | Linus Lundqvist R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 206 | 01:43:29.9053 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 24 |
| 9 | 66 | David Malukas | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 206 | 01:43:30.5260 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 23 |
| 10 | 78 | Conor Daly | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 205 | +1 Lap | 3 | 6 | 0 | 20 |
| 11 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 205 | +1 Lap | 4 | 24 | 0 | 19 |
| 12 | 21 | Rinus Veekay | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 205 | +1 Lap | 4 | 10 | 0 | 18 |
| 13 | 18 | Jack Harvey | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 205 | +1 Lap | 3 | 20 | 0 | 17 |
| 14 | 20 | Christian Rasmussen R | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 205 | +1 Lap | 3 | 20 | 0 | 16 |
| 15 | 7 | Alexander Rossi | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 205 | +1 Lap | 4 | 26 | 32 | 16 |
| 16 | 77 | Romain Grosjean | Juncos Hollinger Racing | Chevrolet | 204 | +2 Laps | 4 | 13 | 0 | 14 |
| 17 | 9 | Scott Dixon W | Andretti Global | Honda | 204 | +2 Laps | 3 | 11 | 0 | 13 |
| 18 | 6 | Nolan Siegel R | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 204 | +2 Laps | 4 | 27 | 0 | 12 |
| 19 | 45 | Christian Lundgaard | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 204 | +2 Laps | 4 | 21 | 0 | 11 |
| 20 | 41 | Sting Ray Robb | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 204 | +2 Laps | 3 | 23 | 0 | 10 |
| 21 | 30 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 204 | +2 Laps | 5 | 18 | 0 | 9 |
| 22 | 4 | Kyffin Simpson R | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 202 | +4 Laps | 5 | 19 | 0 | 8 |
| 23 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 202 | +4 Laps | 4 | 19 | 0 | 7 |
| 24 | 12 | Will Power | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 198 | +8 Laps | 6 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| 25 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson W | Andretti Global | Honda | 137 | Contact | 3 | 15 | 0 | 5 |
| 26 | 51 | Katherine Legge | Dale Coyne Racing with Rick Ware Racing | Honda | 85 | Contact | 2 | 22 | 0 | 5 |
| 27 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 55 | Contact | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Fastest lap: Pato O'Ward (Arrow McLaren) – 24.2869 (lap 165) |||||||||||
| Source: |||||||||||