NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship facts:

• Alex Palou leads the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship entering a title-deciding finale for the second time in his INDYCAR SERIES career. Palou also led the championship with a race to go in 2021 and won the championship. Palou, who clinched the 2023 championship with one race to go in 2023, has led the point standings after 11 of the 16 rounds this season. He took the point lead at the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey in June.
• Three drivers are still mathematically eligible for the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship: Alex Palou, Will Power and Scott McLaughlin. Palou will clinch his third NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship in the last four years with a finish of ninth or better.
• Nashville Superspeedway will host the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season finale for the first time in 2024. Tony Kanaan (2004) and Scott Dixon (2008) are the only drivers to win in Nashville and claim the INDYCAR SERIES championship in the same season.

Point differential: The 33 points separating Alex Palou and Will Power is the seventh-largest point margin with a race remaining since 2008. During that span, the average lead with one race remaining is 29.9 points.

Key championship point statistic: Ryan Hunter-Reay overcame a 17-point deficit to win the 2012 NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship – the largest margin made up by an INDYCAR SERIES champion in the finale since 2000. Dan Wheldon made up 19 points in the 2006 season finale at Chicagoland Speedway to tie Sam Hornish Jr. atop the point standings, but Hornish won the championship via tiebreaker.

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Notes:

• The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Presented by Gainbridge will be the 17th and final race of the 2024 season. There have been seven winners in 16 NTT INDYCAR SERIES races in the 2024 season. Pato O’Ward (Streets of St. Petersburg, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Milwaukee Mile-1), Scott Dixon (Streets of Long Beach, Streets of Detroit), Scott McLaughlin (Barber Motorsports Park, Iowa Speedway-1, Milwaukee Mile-2), Alex Palou (Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca), Josef Newgarden (Indianapolis 500, World Wide Technology Raceway), Will Power (Road America, Iowa Speedway-2, Portland International Raceway) and Colton Herta (Streets of Toronto) have all won in 2024. The modern record (1946-present) for the most different winners in a season is 11 in 2000, 2001 and 2014.
• The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Presented by Gainbridge will be the seventh oval race of the 2024 NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. Five of the first six oval races were won by drivers from Team Penske – Josef Newgarden (Indianapolis 500, World Wide Technology Raceway), Scott McLaughlin (Iowa Speedway-1, Milwaukee Mile-2) and Will Power (Iowa Speedway-2). The remaining oval race (Milwaukee Mile-1) was won by Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren.
• The Big Machine Music City Grand Prix Presented by Gainbridge will be the ninth INDYCAR SERIES event at Nashville Superspeedway. Scott Dixon is the only former Nashville Superspeedway winner entered in the event. But Dixon, Marcus Ericsson and Kyle Kirkwood won the three editions of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix held on the streets of downtown Nashville.
• Josef Newgarden has won 10 of the last 17 oval races on the NTT INDYCAR SERIES schedule. Newgarden, a native of Hendersonville, Tennessee, has never raced at Nashville Superspeedway.
• Three drivers have previous starts at Nashville Superspeedway – Scott Dixon, Will Power and Graham Rahal. Dixon has six starts, most of all drivers. Only Dixon has led laps at the track, leading 247 laps in his six starts.
• Milestones: Scott Dixon will attempt to make his 339th consecutive start, extending his record streak.

INDY NXT by Firestone Race Notes:

• Andretti Global’s Louis Foster has already clinched the INDY NXT by Firestone championship but can cap his historically dominant season with another win at Nashville. Foster, a native of England, leads the series in wins (seven), poles (six), laps led (297 of 575), top-five finishes (12) and top-10 finishes (13) through 13 races.