Loose belts settle IndyCar title fight early as Herta gets first oval win

Alex Palou is a three-time IndyCar champion after finishing 11th in the series finale at Nashville, as Will Power’s loose seatbelts forced him to pit and took him out of contention early in a race won by Colton Herta.

It’s Herta’s first oval win after seven seasons of full-time IndyCar competition, and the Andretti driver treated the Nashville fans - a place where he lives himself - to joint donuts with Palou on the backstretch.

Here’s the full story of a brilliant season finale, and how the championship was won.

How Power lost the title

As a battle between polesiter Kyle Kirkwood and Josef Newgarden began up front, Power began to fall back in the early stages and was already down four spots from his fourth-place start when he peeled off to pit and went  five laps down.

Every driver has had belts come loose before, but the timing of this could not have been more costly for Power who lost five laps while the Penske team had to work around the steering wheel and a tight cockpit to secure the belts around Power’s lap.

Power had to finish in the top three to have a chance of the title, so he was already moving in the wrong direction.

He dropped to fourth in the standings by the end of the race, finishing eight laps down in 24th having had to have his belts fixed again in the closing stages.

What happened to Palou after that?

Palou had already moved up to 14th from 24th on the grid by the time Power pitted and was up another two spots a handful of laps later, where he remained until the first stops started.

But a caution on lap 56 of 206 for Felix Rosenqvist crashing out of third with a flat front-right tyre shuffled the order and gave a huge boost to the drivers who hadn’t yet pitted, shuffling Palou back to 15th.

He dropped to 17th on the restart and remained there until another caution on lap 89, which worked out very much against Palou. He couldn’t get a wave around because Alexander Rossi stayed out, so he pitted and was pinned down a lap.

Marcus Ericsson crashed ahead of him on lap 135 to trigger another caution, which gave Palou a lap back and put him into 11th after the restart.

Palou then ran a super-long final stint trying to make the end and was even involved in the lead battle briefly before peeling off with five laps to go in need of fuel, eventually finishing 11th.

Ninth was the position he needed to guarantee the title but with Power’s trouble, 11th was enough.

What happened up front?

Kirkwood was the early leader but he lost spots after pitting just before the first caution, promoting Newgarden into the lead.

The Penske pit crew were in top form for the #2, ensuring that Newgarden could stay ahead. He repeatedly fought off challenges from Herta in the first half.

However, on the lap 149 restart, Newgarden fell back as David Malukas and Herta came to the fore, once they had navigated the lap down car of Scott Dixon.

O’Ward had stayed out on that last restart and stopped on lap 162, which was an inspired move as he could make it to the end of the race and he could undercut.

While car after car bailed on trying to make the end and pitted, O’Ward jumped further and further forward, until only Malukas and Palou remained.

Malukas had to peel off with seven laps to go for fuel, and Palou followed a lap later, leaving O’Ward to fight Herta for the win.

Errant backmarker Sting Ray Robb proved pivotal as he caught out O’Ward and allowed Herta to make the move off Turn 2. It was spectacular to say the least.

Herta lives in Nashville and the result gives him second in the championship and a crucial superlicence if he ever does get the chance to move over to F1 with Andretti in the future.

O’Ward took second, ahead of Newgarden, Kirkwood and McLaughlin - who took third in the standings behind Herta and ahead of Power.

Santino Ferrucci secured AJ Foyt Racing’s first top 10 in the championship since 2002, while Ganassi team-mates Marcus Armstrong and rookie of the year Linus Lundqvist are fighting for their futures away from the team next year but took seventh and eighth today.

Malukas was ninth ahead of Conor Daly, in excellent form since taking over the Juncos Hollinger car just five races ago.

Fight for $1million

Ed Carpenter's decision to step aside and hand over his car to Christian Rasmussen for the last three races proved inspired as his replacement scored 14th and secured ECR $1million.

It might be the cash that helps Rasmussen keep his seat next year.

Robb’s Foyt entry had been the car that was 22nd in the Leaders’ Circle before the race but he finished 20th to drop out of the top 22.

In fact, Rasmussen jumped two places, and in the end it was Pietro Fittipaldi who scraped through in the last spot before the cut-off.

The cars in the top 22 are given $1m by IndyCar as part of a contract between teams and series.