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Big Machine Music City Grand Prix presented by Gainbridge
Lebanon, Tennessee
September 15, 2024

JOSEF NEWGARDEN No. 2 ASTEMO CHEVROLET

START: 2ND  
FINISH: 3RD  
POINTS: 8TH (-143)
 

RACE RUNDOWN: Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Astemo Chevrolet team used a late-race push to finish third in Sunday's Big Machine Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway. As a child growing up in Nashville, Newgarden would attend INDYCAR SERIES races at the 1.33-mile oval and today the 33-year-old Tennessee native competed at his hometown track for the first time. Newgarden rolled his Hitachi Astemo Chevrolet from the outside pole and would battle Kyle Kirkwood for the race's top spot early. He would make his first stop around Lap 46 going to alternate red Firestone tires along with a slight wing adjustment. A timely yellow prior to the pit stop allowed Newgarden to pit with the rest of the small grouping of lead lap competitors, and he would continue as the leader when racing resumed on Lap 67 while fending off a challenge from Colton Herta. Newgarden would use his second set of reds on Lap 136. After restarting in traffic, the Hitachi Astemo Chevrolet would fall back to fourth as various strategies would befall the leaders. Once making his final pit stop, Newgarden would charge from eighth to finish third at the end of 206 laps of competition. He would end the day by leading 54 laps in the event to close out the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season.

NEWGARDEN'S THOUGHTS: "Yeah, good to be back here racing in Nashville. I just want to say again everything that Scott (Borchetta) has done with Big Machine to make sure we maintain this event on the calendar I think was really, really important. We had an incredible crowd for making the shift year over year. Everybody's efforts should be applauded. We should be super thankful for what everyone has done. It should be on the calendar. As for our race with the Astemo Chevy, I don't know, we made up there in the last 25 laps, maybe 12 seconds or something. We'll digest that next week. Going to be a tough pill to swallow, but one we're going to have to swallow. I thought the race was incredible as far as ease-ability. It's what we wanted, to put on a good show. I think it was very possible to do that today. A big event. Congrats to Colton on a good win. Yeah, hard to not be upset today because we had a winning car, in my opinion."

SCOTT MCLAUGHLIN No. 3 DEX IMAGING CHEVROLET

START: 18TH  
FINISH: 5TH  
POINTS: 3RD (-39)

RACE RUNDOWN: Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet team finished fifth in Sunday's Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, the season finale for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES in 2024. It marked McLaughlin's fifth top-five finish on ovals in a season in which he finished no lower than eighth in any circle track race. After receiving a nine-position grid penalty for an engine change, McLaughlin started the race from the 18th position. He and the No. 3 Chevy team elected to employ an overcut strategy on the first pit cycle of the day, which proved to be the right call as they caught a timely caution during the cycle while running in the seventh position. McLaughlin was able to pit with the rest of the lead lap cars and remain towards the front of the field when the race resumed. Despite several anxious moments over the remaining laps, McLaughlin soldiered on for a solid finish that secured his second third-place finish in the final standings in as many years. It also garnered McLaughlin the Biggest Mover of the Race Award as he picked up 13 positions over the course of the event. The 2024 season was one in which McLaughlin made big strides in his craft as he won the pole position for the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 and picked up the first oval wins of his career. He will also be awarded the season-long NTT P1 Award at the INDYCAR Victory Lap celebration thanks to his five pole positions on the year. 

MCLAUGHLIN'S THOUGHTS: "I'm really happy with the execution of everyone on the DEX Imaging Chevy. Obviously, Team Chevy got us the goods all season. It was a pretty fun race to finish it off. We got the Biggest Mover Award so that's always a good thing, but we had a heck of a race there. Finished third in the championship, so that's a great thing two years in a row."

WILL POWER No. 12 VERIZON CHEVROLET

START: 4TH 
FINISH: 24TH 
POINTS: 4TH (-46)

RACE RUNDOWN: Will Power and the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet team entered Sunday's Big Machine Music City Grand Prix with an outside shot to win their third NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship before an untimely pit stop for loose safety belts early in the 206-lap event left them fourth in the final standings. Knowing he was basically in a must-win situation, Power qualified solidly in the fourth position but quickly began to fall through the field after realizing he had an issue with his belts. At speeds approaching 200 mph at Nashville Superspeedway, Power could not continue under those conditions and made his way to pit lane on Lap 13. The safety belt repairs resulted in a loss of five laps to the race leaders, effectively ending his day just after it began. To be sure, it was a fantastic season for the 43-year-old Australian as he won three races for the first time since 2018 and now holds down fourth place on the all-time wins list by himself. 

POWER'S THOUGHTS: "On the lap belt, I'm like 'man, that was weird.' It felt kind of loose in the car. Came out of turn two and I'm feeling around, and I felt the end of the belt as it goes in. I thought 'Man, my belt just fell off, we're going to have to pit.' It took five laps to… It could've happened a second time at the race. We learned how to do it quickly. If we'd known that… That's a very abnormal thing. I just don't know what went wrong. We'll have to send it back to the manufacturer. Very strange failure. I do wonder if I hit the wall and if it did break, if I was going to have a real bad situation, but never have that before. You have (other issues). Disappointing, but big congrats to Alex (Palou). Tough guy to beat. Ganassi did a great job this year. Been fun racing those guys this year. We dropped back to fourth (in the championship) because of this day, but man, if you don't win it doesn't matter. But happy with the season. The whole team won about half of the races. We did well. I want to win that championship, so I'll come back fighting next year."

The opening round of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season takes place Sunday, March 2 on the streets of St. Petersburg, the first race of the new television partnership with FOX.