Winners and losers from qualifying for the 2024 IndyCar Nashville finale

The IndyCar season finale will wrap up tomorrow at Nashville Superspeedway — and qualifying has set the grid for our final American open-wheel race of the year.

For the final time in 2024, these are our winners and losers for the IndyCar series.

Winners and losers from qualifying for the 2024 IndyCar Nashville finale

Winner: Kyle Kirkwood

Andretti Global driver Kyle Kirkwood, who is one of several racers on the grid to have never competed on Nashville Superspeedway’s concrete surface, but that didn’t stop him from mastering the conditions and taking pole position.

His average speed of 201.520 miles per hour launched him ahead of provisional polesitter and oval icon Josef Newgarden by just 0.168 miles per hour — the blink of an eye.

Kirkwood isn’t fighting for a championship this year, in large part because it’s been a season of ups and downs for the American. But this promising end to the finale will surely boost his morale.

Loser: Will Power

Team Penske’s Will Power was entering the 2024 season finale at Nashville Superspeedway on the back foot to begin with; the driver is 33 points in arrears of leader Alex Palou — and if he wants to take another title, he was going to need every single point he could scoop up during this weekend.

And Power has already lost out on his first. On any given IndyCar weekend, there are 54 points up for grabs: 50 for a race win, one for leading a lap, two for leading the most laps, and one for scoring pole position.

Power can still score three bonus points in the race; if Palou finishes 10th or lower, Power will take a title.

Championship aside, 2024 also breaks a 15-year streak. Power, who has more pole positions than anyone in series history, has scored a pole position every year for the past 15 years — but not in 2024.

Winner: Meyer Shank Racing

Meyer Shank Racing first entered IndyCar full time in 2020, and despite securing an historic Indy 500 win with Helio Castroneves in 2021, the team has really struggled to come into its own… until 2024.

Felix Rosenqvist started off the 2024 season especially strong in comparison to his teammate Tom Blomqvist — the latter of whom was dropped mid-season due to poor results. David Malukas has instead been brought in to replace him, and things seem to be looking a little more promising.

Nashville qualifying has been one of the best showings for the MSR outfit this year. Felix Rosenqvist will start the race from third, with Malukas starting in third. They’ll have to work hard to maintain those positions in the race — but they’ve put themselves in a great place to capitalize.

Loser: Alex Palou

Chip Ganassi Racing didn’t want to take any chances this weekend, and the Nashville finale started off with an engine change for championship leader Alex Palou. While that meant he was committing to starting the season finale from 10th or lower, the CGR team was quick in practice and looked set to salvage a decent qualifying position.

But when it came time to set two fast laps in quali, the Spaniard couldn’t get it done. His average time was only good enough for 15th on the grid — before his penalty. With the penalty, he’ll be taking the green flag from 24th.

It would be silly to discount Palou from the title chase for this start position alone; the Spaniard has an uncanny ability to stay out of trouble on race day, making up critical positions in the process. He’ll just have a much more challenging path in front of him on Sunday.

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Winner: Santino Ferrucci

We’ve discussed before what a competent oval racer Santino Ferrucci has become, and he proved that once again in Nashville when he secured a fifth-place finish after setting two monster laps.

Ferrucci has been re-signed to A. J. Foyt Racing’s No. 14 machine for the 2025 season, and his performance at an unfamiliar Superspeedway will only prove to the team that it made the right call.

But it also bodes well for Ferrucci’s future. A. J. Foyt Racing has effectively become a Penske satellite team this season, with the dominant Penske sharing data and information with Foyt. Ferrucci has made the most of this partnership, and when Penske’s Will Power considers retirement in the next few years, Ferrucci is looking set to be a natural choice to take the Australian’s place.

Loser: Colton Herta

If Alex Palou is seemingly immune to chaos, Colton Herta is the exact opposite. Trouble has a penchant for chasing the Andretti Autosport driver wherever he goes, and it struck again in qualifying for Nashville.

Herta came on the radio to report that he was simply unable to lock into the gear he wanted to use for his high-speed laps, and it saw him secure a starting slot of 11th place.

Now, 11th is by no means terrible — but in a weekend where his teammate Kyle Kirkwood was so powerfully quick, the challenging qualifying session will sting a little harder for Herta.

Winner: Conor Daly

Most of the drivers on our list today have drives secured for 2025 — but not Conor Daly. The stand-in for former No. 78 Juncos Hollinger Racing driver Agustin Canapino hasn’t been perfect, but he’s been pretty damn competent — and his seventh-place starting position in Nashville is yet another reminder of that skill.

Daly hasn’t had a full-time ride in the IndyCar series for years; instead, he’s become something of the series’ unofficial reserve driver, taking over plenty of different seats as they become available during the course of a season.

Could that change in 2025? There are still plenty of seats open on the IndyCar grid, and Daly is certainly putting in his best efforts to prove he’s worthy of that honor. Plenty of team owners will be keeping an eye on Daly’s performance on Sunday as they firm up their plans for next season.

Loser: Arrow McLaren

Today was a miserable one for Arrow McLaren, and it started off in practice.

During a brief practice session, driver Nolan Siegel lost control of his No. 6 Chevrolet after cresting a large bump in the track surface. His machinery hit the wall and crumpled it beyond repair — meaning Siegel was forced to sit out of qualifying.

That bump tried to come for Siegel’s teammate Alexander Rossi, too. As Rossi pushed his car to its limits in qualifying, he got out of shape on the bump. Thankfully, Rossi didn’t hit the wall, but the wiggle saw him lose momentum, translating into a miserable start of 20th.

And then there was Pato O’Ward. An eighth-place start isn’t terrible for the racer from Mexico — but onboard cameras showed just how hard O’Ward was fighting for that position. As he careened around Nashville, he was making near-constant adjustments on his steering wheel in pursuit of a balance that just didn’t seem to be there.

Arrow McLaren has become quite a force to be reckoned with over the past few years — but Nashville’s qualifying sessions has been one to forget.

Read next: IndyCar Nashville finale: Who can win the 2024 championship — and how?