143 - 2024 IndyCar Season Finale - Nashville Winner Colton Herta Reflects on His First Oval Win

Speed Street

The checkered flag has flown on the 2024 IndyCar season, and Conor Daly brought the Juncos Hollinger 78-car home to a well-earned 10th place finish. He joins co-host Chase Holden to talk about the unknowns the paddock faced as they rolled into Nashville Superspeedway, a track the IndyCar Series last raced at in 2008 when only a handful of current drivers were competing. Conor explains that he actually leaned on his teammate from the 2024 Indianapolis 500 Ryan Hunter Reay for some intel on the track, to which Ryan provided his race notes from his last visit. Much of the weekend saw drivers dealing with the mountainous bump in turn four, which caused teams to focus on finding a balance in their setups to try and ease the jump. A race to the finish in the championship points standings was decided early when Will Power had a seat belt malfunction, and while Colton Herta drove into victory lane, Alex Palou celebrated his third season crown in four years.

Race winner Colton Herta joins the show to discuss his epic late race battle with Pato O’Ward, which saw the two front runners split slower traffic in a move that decided the final outcome. Colton explains that after an underwhelming qualifying effort, he wasn’t sure what to expect on race day. But the Andretti Global team’s improvements in raceability saw Colton making steady improvements throughout the season, and he was finally able to capture his first short oval victory. Conor and Colton relate on the confusion that short track racing can cause, as lead lap and slower cars are mixed across the surface, making it hard to determine which contests are for position. Colton is excited about the momentum this victory brings, and expects to be a championship contender in 2025.