LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — Alex Palou easily drove to his third IndyCar championship in four years when challenger Will Power's seatbelt came loose minutes into the season-deciding finale Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway.
Colton Herta, who earlier this year moved to Nashville, won the Music City Grand Prix for his first career victory on an oval and second win of the season for Andretti Global. Herta topped Pato O’Ward in a wheel-to-wheel battle in the closing laps.
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LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — Alex Palou easily drove to his third IndyCar championship in four years when challenger Will Power's seatbelt came loose minutes into the season-deciding finale Sunday at Nashville Superspeedway.
Drives pass under the green flag as they start an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Alex Palou drives during an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Driver Alex Palou stands with his team before an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Driver Will Power, right, greets fans before an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Driver Alex Palou, right, greets fans before an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
“I couldn’t ask for a better ending to the year,” Herta said.
But all attention was on the championship race as Palou, a Spaniard who won his first title in 2021 in his first season driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, won back-to-back IndyCar titles.
“He never broke a sweat,” said team owner Ganassi, who celebrated his 16th IndyCar title in 29 years.
“I don't know too many guys who have three championships, not that many, but he's in pretty rarified air right now,” Ganassi continued. “His name has certainly got to be in the conversation of great drivers.”
Palou became just the 13th driver in IndyCar history to win at least three championships. He's just the seventh to win three titles in four years with Dario Franchitti — also for Ganassi — the last to do so from 2009 through 2011.
“I had no idea it would be this much fun or he would be this successful,” Ganassi said about signing Palou before the 2021 season.
At 27 years, 5 months, 14 days, Palou became the second-youngest driver to win three championships. Only Sam Hornish Jr. was younger at 27 years, 2 months, 8 days when he won his third title in 2006.
The competition for the crown was only between Palou and Power, the two-time champion from Australia who won his last title in 2022 sandwiched between Palou's run.
Power had two chances in the last two races to reclaim the crown but failed to capitalize both times. Palou had an engine issue two weeks ago at the Milwaukee Mile and Power was briefly in position to win the race until the Australian spun on his own and finished a disappointing 10th.
That allowed Palou to take a 33-point lead into Nashville, where the downtown street race had been shifted 35 miles away to the existing concrete oval because of construction on the Tennessee Titans' new stadium. Palou had never before raced on a concrete oval, while Power finished 11th in his only career race at the superspeedway, IndyCar's final visit in 2008.
But things began looking up for Power when Palou had a disastrous qualifying effort at 15th, and also had a nine-place penalty on the starting grid for an unapproved engine change. That dropped Palou to 24th for the start and Power, who qualified fourth, had erased Palou's lead to a meager seven points when the race began based on their current running positions.
It was still going to take a lot of work for Power to give Team Penske the title as Palou only needed to rally to a ninth-place finish to win the title no matter where Power finished. He wound up 11th in the race.
It had long been a moot point because on the 14th lap, Power's lap belt came undone.
“My belt, my belt has come off!” he shouted on his radio.
Power had to pit under green so his crew could get him safely buckled back correctly, and Power had dropped five laps off the pace by the time he got back on track.
By then, Palou's lead was back up to 46 points as he sliced his way through the field. He drove from 24th to 12th in about 30 laps, while Power had plummeted to last.
He said after the race the belt came loose a second time in the closing laps and it needs to be sent back to the manufacturer for inspection.
“I've never had that before,” Power said. “I want to give a big congrats to Alex, a tough guy to beat ever since he joined Ganassi. Happy with the season, we did well, but we want to win that championship and we'll come back next year.”
Power ultimately finished 24th in the 27 car field and dropped to fourth in the final standings. Herta jumped up to second and was followed by Scott McLaughlin, who finished third in the standings and ended the season as the highest-ranked Team Penske driver for the second consecutive year.
O'Ward finished second in the race and fifth in the overall standings, while Nashville native and two-time reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden was third in the race but a distant eighth in the standings.
Scott Dixon finished 17th in the race, which dropped him to sixth in the overall standings. The six-time IndyCar champion had not finished lower than fifth in the standings since 2016.
Santino Ferrucci finished sixth in the race to and end up ninth in the final standings — the highest an AJ Foyt Racing car has ranked since 2002. But it wasn't an overall banner day for the team as Sting Ray Robb's 20th-place finish eliminated that car from IndyCar's leaders circle program.
The leaders circle program pays a monetary bonus to the top 22 teams in the final standings and many organizations depend on that cash to fund their season budgets. Robb's car — which will be driven next year by David Malukas — fell one point short of the leaders circle bonus.
The drivers who squeezed out the final spots were Pietro Fittipaldi for Rahal Letterman Lanigan and Christian Rasmussen, who at the last minute was given the final three races of the season at Ed Carpenter Racing in an effort to keep the car inside the money.
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Pato O'Ward (5) and Colton Herta (26) drive during an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Drives pass under the green flag as they start an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Alex Palou drives during an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Driver Alex Palou stands with his team before an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Driver Will Power, right, greets fans before an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Driver Alex Palou, right, greets fans before an IndyCar auto race Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024, at Nashville Superspeedway in Lebanon, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cut its benchmark interest rate by an unusually large half-point, a dramatic shift after more than two years of high rates that helped tame inflation but also made borrowing painfully expensive for American consumers.
The rate cut, the Fed’s first in more than four years, reflects its new focus on bolstering the job market, which has shown clear signs of slowing. Coming just weeks before the presidential election, the Fed’s move also has the potential to scramble the economic landscape just as Americans prepare to vote.
The central bank’s action lowered its key rate to roughly 4.8%, down from a two-decade high of 5.3%, where it had stood for 14 months as it struggled to curb the worst inflation streak in four decades. Inflation has tumbled from a peak of 9.1% in mid-2022 to a three-year low of 2.5% in August, not far above the Fed’s 2% target.
The Fed’s policymakers also signaled that they expect to cut their key rate by an additional half-point in their final two meetings this year, in November and December. And they envision four more rate cuts in 2025 and two in 2026.
In a statement and in a news conference with Chair Jerome Powell, the Fed came closer than it has before to declaring victory over inflation.
“We know it is time to recalibrate our (interest rate) policy to something that’s more appropriate given the progress on inflation,” Powell said. "We’re not saying, ‘mission accomplished’ ... but I have to say, though, we’re encouraged by the progress that we have made.”
“The U.S. economy is in a good place," he added, "and our decision today is designed to keep it there.”
Though the central bank now believes inflation is largely defeated, many Americans remain upset with still-high prices for groceries, gas, rent and other necessities. Former President Donald Trump blames the Biden-Harris administration for sparking an inflationary surge. Vice President Kamala Harris, in turn, has charged that Trump’s promise to slap tariffs on all imports would raise prices for consumers even further.
Rate cuts by the Fed should, over time, lead to lower borrowing costs for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards, boosting Americans’ finances and supporting more spending and growth. Homeowners will be able to refinance mortgages at lower rates, saving on monthly payments, and even shift credit card debt to lower-cost personal loans or home equity lines. Businesses may also borrow and invest more. Average mortgage rates have already dropped to an 18-month low of 6.2%, according to Freddie Mac, spurring a jump in demand for refinancings.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” Laura Rosner-Warburton, senior economist of MarcoPolicy Perspectives, said of Wednesday's Fed move.
The additional rate cuts it indicated it will make, she said, will “prevent risks from building and the unemployment rate from rising. They are trying to keep the economy in good shape.”
In an updated set of projections, the policymakers collectively envision a faster drop in inflation than they did three months ago but also higher unemployment. They foresee their preferred inflation gauge falling to 2.3% by year’s end, from its current 2.5%, and to 2.1% by the end of 2025. And they now expect the unemployment rate to rise further this year, to 4.4%, from 4.2% now, and to remain there by the end of 2025. That’s above their previous forecasts of 4% for the end of this year and 4.2% for 2025.
Powell was pressed at his news conference about whether the Fed’s decision to cut its key rate by an unusually large half-point is an acknowledgement that it waited too long to begin reducing borrowing rates.
“We don’t think we’re behind,” he replied. “We think this is timely. But I think you can take this as a sign of our commitment not to get behind. We’re not seeing rising (unemployment) claims, not seeing rising layoffs, not hearing from companies that that’s something that’s going to happen.”
He added: “There is thinking that the time to support the labor market is when it’s strong and not when you begin to see the layoffs. We don’t think we need to see further loosening in labor market conditions to get inflation down to 2%.”
The Fed’s next policy meeting is Nov. 6-7 — immediately after the presidential election. By cutting rates this week, soon before the election, the Fed is risking attacks from Trump, who has argued that lowering rates now amounts to political interference. Yet Politico has reported that even some key Senate Republicans who were interviewed expressed support for a Fed rate cut this week.
Powell pushed back against any suggestion that the Fed shouldn't cut rates so close to an election.
“We’re not serving any politician, any political figure, any cause, any issue,” he said. "It’s just maximum employment and price stability on behalf of all Americans. And that’s how the other central banks are set up, too. It’s a good institutional arrangement, which has been good for the public, and I hope and strongly believe that it will continue.”
The Fed's move Wednesday reverses the inflation-fighting effort it engineered by raising its key rate 11 times in 2022 and 2023. Wage growth has since slowed, removing a potential source of inflationary pressure. And oil and gas prices are falling, a sign that inflation should continue to cool in the months ahead. Consumers are also pushing back against high prices, forcing such companies as Target and McDonald’s to dangle deals and discounts.
The Fed’s decision drew the first dissent from a member of its governing board since 2005. Michelle Bowman, a board member who has expressed concern in the past that inflation had not been fully defeated, said she would have preferred a quarter-point rate cut.
But the Fed's policymakers as a whole appear to recognize that after years of strong job growth, employers have slowed hiring, and the unemployment rate has risen nearly a full percentage point from its half-century low in April 2023 to a still-low 4.2%. Once unemployment rises that much, it tends to keep climbing.
At the same time, the officials and many economists have noted that the rise in unemployment this time largely reflects an influx of people seeking jobs — notably new immigrants and recent college graduates — rather than layoffs.
The Fed’s attention now is “preserving the health of the labor market and preventing unnecessary damage to the economy from a pretty restrictive (interest rate) stance,” said Rubeela Farooqi, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.
AP Business Writers Alex Veiga in Los Angeles, Paul Wiseman in Washington and Stan Choe in New York contributed to this report.
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
FILE - The seal of The Federal Reserve System is seen during a news conference by Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve Board Building on July 31, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
FILE - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell walks outside of the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium at Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park near Moran, Wyo., on Aug. 23, 2024. (AP Photo Amber Baesler, File)
FILE - The Federal Reserve is in Washington is shown on Nov. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
FILE - A detail of the Federal Reserve building in Washington is shown on Nov. 16, 2020. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
