Will Power fell short in his attempt to win a third IndyCar championship at the Music City Grand Prix, and it wasn’t even his fault.
Dealing with a faulty seatbelt on lap 12 sent him five laps down on the leaders and ultimately ended his title charge prematurely, as Alex Palou coasted to the finish.
Power is the only man to have beaten Palou across the course of a year across the last four seasons, but having faced him so many times now – he’s very familiar with his rivals’ strengths.
Power will be back to contend for the 2025 IndyCar crown, but with a six month off-season, he has plenty of time to reflect on his wrongdoings.
‘Measured’ Palou is ‘a tough guy to beat’
Six other drivers won the same number or more races than Palou in 2024, but he still claimed the title by 31 points over Colton Herta.
It’s his stunning consistency which helped him to retain the drivers’ title – the first man to go back-to-back since Dario Franchitti in 2010 and 2011.
Speaking to The Race after the Music City Grand Prix, Power discussed what makes Palou so hard to beat every weekend.
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“I feel like my race pace is always very good on the road and street courses,” he said. “It’s just a matter of getting up to the front and using it.
“It’s just a good year for the whole team. Obviously we’d love to win the championship, and I think we all had the potential. It’s just, Palou is very good; very, very good. He’s very measured. He’s a tough guy to beat.
“So if you’re beating him in a championship, you’ve done a good job.”
What Power needs to do to beat Palou next time
There are two recent glaring mistakes which come to mind when assessing Power’s championship run.
Being taken out of the Grand Prix of Madison at Gateway after a chaotic restart – caused in the first instance by a collision between himself and David Malukas cost him a big points haul.
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Then a spin in the second Milwaukee race denied him a shot at victory, leaving at least 40 points on the table across those two races.
That’s without considering the bad luck he suffered with seatbelt woes in the Nashville decider, so at least 50 points were taken away from him in the last month.
Had a bit more luck gone his way, he very well could have been the one lifting the trophy, but Palou’s mega consistency and calculated approach turned out to be just enough to retain the silverware.