LEBANON, Tenn. — Álex Palou simply drove to his third IndyCar championship in 4 years when challenger Will Energy’s seatbelt got here unfastened minutes into the season-deciding finale Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway.

Colton Herta, who earlier this yr moved to Nashville, gained the Music Metropolis Grand Prix for his first profession victory on an oval and second win of the season for Andretti International. Herta topped Pato O’Ward in a wheel-to-wheel battle within the closing laps.

However all consideration was on the championship race as Palou, a Spaniard who gained his first title in 2021 in his first season driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, gained back-to-back IndyCar titles.

The competitors for the crown was solely between Palou and Energy, the two-time champion from Australia who gained his final title in 2022 sandwiched between Palou’s run.

Energy had two possibilities within the final two races to reclaim the crown however didn’t capitalize each occasions. Palou had an engine subject two weeks in the past on the Milwaukee Mile and Energy was briefly in place to win the race till the Australian spun on his personal and completed a disappointing tenth.

That allowed Palou to take a 33-point lead into Nashville, the place the downtown road race had been shifted 35 miles away to the present concrete oval due to building on the Tennessee Titans’ new stadium. Palou had by no means earlier than raced on a concrete oval, whereas Energy completed eleventh in his solely profession race on the superspeedway, IndyCar’s remaining go to in 2008.

However issues started trying up for Energy when Palou had a disastrous qualifying effort at fifteenth, and likewise had a nine-place penalty on the beginning grid for an unapproved engine change. That dropped Palou to twenty fourth for the beginning and Energy, who certified fourth, had erased Palou’s result in a meager seven factors when the race started based mostly on their present working positions.

It was nonetheless going to take lots of work for Energy to provide Staff Penske the title as Palou solely wanted to rally to a ninth-place end to win the title regardless of the place Energy completed. He wound up eleventh within the race.

It had lengthy been a moot level as a result of on the 14th lap, Energy’s lap belt got here undone.

“My belt, my belt has come off!” he shouted on his radio.

Energy needed to pit beneath inexperienced so his crew may get him safely buckled again accurately, and Energy had dropped 5 laps off the tempo by the point he acquired again on observe.

By then, Palou’s lead was again as much as 46 factors as he sliced his means by means of the sphere. He drove from twenty fourth to twelfth in about 30 laps, whereas Energy had plummeted to final.

Energy finally completed twenty fourth within the 27 automotive area and dropped to fourth within the remaining standings. Herta jumped as much as second and was adopted by Scott McLaughlin, who completed third within the standings and ended the season because the highest-ranked Staff Penske driver for the second consecutive yr.

O’Ward completed second within the race and fifth within the general standings, whereas Nashville native and two-time reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden was third within the race however a distant eighth within the standings.

Scott Dixon completed seventeenth within the race, which dropped him to sixth within the general standings. The six-time IndyCar champion had not completed decrease than fifth within the standings since 2016.