A Long Shot in Music City: Will Power’s Final Bid for IndyCar Glory

Will Power still has a chance to claim his third NTT IndyCar Series championship and extend Team Penske’s record number of titles to 18.

However, in order to overcome his 33-point gap behind reigning and two-time champion Alex Palou, the No. 12 Verizon Business Chevrolet driver will need a flawless performance Sept. 14-15 at the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix season finale at Nashville Superspeedway. And he would need Palou to stumble in astounding fashion.

That isn’t likely to happen to the Chip Ganassi Racing driver of the No. 10 DHL Honda. He has 13 top five results in the season’s 16 completed events. That’s just like his 2023 season, which Power marveled at in the preseason, calling it “a championship to remember in this field. That is a very, very impressive run” and saying, “This dude just absolutely mopped the floor, like, he nailed it. I couldn't see anyone beating that.”

The maximum points possible in a race is 54: 50 for a victory, one for earning the pole position, one for leading a lap, and two for most laps led in the race.

If Power wins at Nashville and manages to earn 54 points, Palou must finish ninth or better to clinch the championship.

If Power wins the race but does not start on the pole and does not lead most laps – for a total of 51 points – Palou needs to finish 12th or better.

Any scenario that leaves them in a tie would swing to Power’s favor. In that case, Power would win the championship, based on more points-paying victories. Power has won three times (Road America, Iowa Speedway, Portland), Palou twice (Grand Prix Indianapolis, Laguna Seca). (Palou also won the exhibition $1 Million Challenge at Thermal, California.)

Six-time series champion Scott Dixon said, “Very few times do you get to go to the last race and it's all over.” But the recent doubleheader at Milwaukee assured that would not happen. Both Palou and Power squandered their chances to seize control of the narrative in the second race there, as an electrical problem on a pace lap snuffed Palou’s shot at a triumph and Power spun on a restart while running in the top five and finished 10th.

Power, who said at Milwaukee that “God gave us a chance then, but [we] kind of let it go,” called his opportunity “a long shot now. That’s the season, man. You just can’t have those mistakes.”

His teammate Scott McLaughlin is the only other driver mathematically eligible for the championship. But he’s 50 points behind Palou and will be eliminated if Palou starts the race.

Palou said he’s “pumped” because “It’s not always that you get the chance to fight for the championship."

Dixon also warned, at least observed, “how quickly it can change.”

The Nashville showdown has all the makings of a country/western song —heartbreak, long odds, and a man chasing one last chance at glory.