Jeffrey Hrunka - Motorsport Today Contributor
As Colton Herta, driver of the #26 Chevrolet, crossed the line for the final time in the Big Machine Racing Grand Prix at Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, Sept. 15, he put the 2024 NTT INDYCAR Series season to bed.
With it now in the rearview, here is a look back at five of the most memorable moments.
5) Arrow-McLaren’s Driver Swap Debacle
Arrow-McLaren started its season with the lineup of Pato O’Ward, David Malukas and Alexander Rossi, but those three drivers never hit the racetrack in the same uniform as an injury set the team in disarray.
The injury saw Malukas get dropped from the Arrow-McLaren No.6 Chevrolet after the fourth race of the 2024 season. His departure caused his seat to be split between Theo Pourchaire, Callum Ilott, and Nolan Siegel for the rest of the season. Siegel ended up being the permanent replacement for Malukas and remained the driver of the No.6 for the season's final three months.
This controversy only fueled the fire of the INDYCAR driver drama from last summer, with Chip Ganassi Racing and Arrow-McLaren both saying that they had Alex Palou under contract. The constant carousel of drivers left fans in the question of who would be in the No.6 from week to week.
4) Team Penske’s Double DQ at St. Petersburg
An illegal use of push-to-pass during the season opener by the Team Penske duo of Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin made the difference at the end of the season, as both drivers received disqualifications that set the tone for the rest of their seasons.
Although both drivers got penalties, McLaughlin’s season was affected the most. A stripped third-place finish was the difference between a championship and his third-place points finish when the 2024 NTT INDYCAR season ended in Nashville. If not for the DQ, McLaughlin and Palou would have been tied with 540 points, with McLaughlin getting the tiebreaker with three victories to Palou’s two.
Scott McLaughlin is the highest Team Penske driver in the driver standings for the second season in a row. This mistake at the beginning of the season forces one of the sport’s most talented competitors to wait another year for a shot at the title.
3) Alex Palou Becomes A Three-Time Champion
After defeating teammate Scott Dixon last season to win the 2023 NTT INDYCAR Championship, Palou ran it back en route to becoming a three-time INDYCAR champion.
Palou won two races and accumulated seven podiums in the 2024 campaign. His worst performance came during the oval-heavy portion of the season. He overcame these struggles with consistency through the first two-thirds of the season.
Palou fended off late charges by Will Power and McLaughlin, aided by penalties at the start of the season, to win his third title in four years. Is this a dynasty in the making?
2) Josef Newgarden Wins Back-to-Back Indy 500s
One thing that can make up for a lackluster season is winning the biggest motorsports race in the world, the Indianapolis 500. After getting a penalty early in the season that put his championship aspirations to rest, Newgarden won the 108th Indianapolis 500.
His consecutive Indy 500 victories marked the sixth time a driver accomplished the feat. Helio Castroneves, in 2001 and 2002 with Team Penske, was the last driver to do so.
After Newgarden’s 2023 Indianapolis 500 was mired in controversy, with a one-lap shootout and a now outlawed last-lap block, he was able to win this year’s event to cap off a dominant weekend for Team Penske with a bell lap pass on O’Ward. He led 26 laps after starting on the front row and topping nearly every practice session during the month of May.
1) Kyle Larson Joins the Grid for the Indy 500
The story that made the most headlines throughout the 2024 NTT INDYCAR season was NASCAR star Kyle Larson making his series debut at the 2024 Indianapolis 500. While he finished 18th in the race, the build-up to the event was something to be remembered.
The lead-up commenced with numerous rookie orientation sessions and oval testing last year. The hype continued into the month of May when he qualified fifth for the greatest spectacle in racing. While he did not get the finish he wanted, he led four laps and ran inside the top 10 for the first half of the race while also earning “Best Rookie” honors for the event.
On Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024 Hendrick Motorsports and Arrow-McLaren announced Larson will be making a second attempt at “the Double,” with priority being the Coca-Cola 600 for Larson and Hendrick Motorsports. Will weather plague Larson again? Fans must wait until Sunday, May 25, 2025 to find out.
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