Will Power has kept himself in with a realistic chance of securing the 2024 IndyCar Series title coming into Sunday's finale, putting his car fourth on the grid.
Championship leader Alex Palou was already facing a nine-place grid penalty for an unsanctioned engine change, and could only set the 15th fastest two-lap average when he made it out onto the track – meaning he'll start 24th.
Power needs to finish on the podium to have any chance of winning the title, with Palou out of the top 10, both of which look like realistic prospects heading into the final race of the season in Nashville.
Kyle Kirkwood, Josef Newgarden and Felix Rosenqvist will be the cars starting ahead of Power, the former taking his first pole of the season with a blistering two-lap run at a 201.520mph average.
Official IndyCar Big Machine Music City Grand Prix qualifying result
1. Kyle Kirkwood, #27 Andretti Global
2. Josef Newgarden, #2 Team Penske
3. Felix Rosenqvist, #60 Meyer Shank Racing
4. Will Power, #12 Team Penske
5. Santino Ferrucci, #14 AJ Foyt Enterprises
6. David Malukas, #66 Meyer Shank Racing
7. Conor Daly, #78 Juncos Hollinger Racing
8. Pato O’Ward, #5 Arrow McLaren
9. Scott McLaughlin, #3 Team Penske (9-place penalty, will start 18th)
10. Linus Lundqvist, #8 Chip Ganassi Racing
11. Colton Herta, #26 Andretti Global w/Curb Agajanian
12. Rinus VeeKay, #21 Ed Carpenter Racing
13. Scott Dixon, #9 Chip Ganassi Racing
14. Marcus Armstrong, #11 Chip Ganassi Racing
15. Alex Palou, #10 Chip Ganassi Racing (9-place penalty, will start 24th)
16. Romain Grosjean, #77 Juncos Hollinger Racing
17. Christian Rasmussen, #20 Ed Carpenter Racing
18. Marcus Ericsson, #28 Andretti Global
19. Pietro Fittipaldi, #30 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
20. Alexander Rossi, #7 Arrow McLaren (9-place penalty, will start 26th)
21. Kyffin Simpson, #4 Chip Ganassi Racing
22. Graham Rahal, #15 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing *
23. Jack Harvey, #18 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
24. Christian Lundgaard, #45 Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
25. Katherine Legge, #51 Dale Coyne Racing
26. Sting Ray Robb, #41 AJ Foyt Enterprises (DNQ)
27. Nolan Siegel, #6 Arrow McLaren (DNQ, 9-place grid penalty)
IndyCar 2024: Big Machine Music City Grand Prix race times
The race kicks off today (Sunday, September 15th, 2024) at 3 pm ET. Here are the start times converted to your time zone.
Eastern Time (EDT): 3pm Sunday Central Time (CDT): 2pm Sunday Pacific Time (PDT): 12pm Sunday United Kingdom (BST): 8pm Sunday Central European Time (CEST): 9pm Sunday