Will Power Preparing Differently for '500' in Pivotal Year for Career

Fox Sports

14-05-2025

INDYCAR
Qualifying for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge takes place this weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and Will Power said Tuesday he would be fine with never winning the pole for this event.
'I'd qualify last if I could get (another race win), man,' the 2018 victor said.
Power can only imagine what a second win in 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing' might do for him. As it stands, his contract with Team Penske is set to expire at season's end, and for now, he is in limbo regarding the future. He expects to have options – current rivals have told him as much – but Roger Penske has been his boss since 2009, and the success they've had together has been nearly unmatched.
Forty-one of Power's 44 career race wins and 64 of his record-setting 70 poles have come as a Team Penske driver. Power's association with Verizon is the longest-running driver-sponsor partnership in the sport, and it would seem odd to have the Aussie in any other colors.
But business decisions are often made with the future in mind, and Power accepts that he is 44 years old. However, he continues to see himself as much of a championship contender as anyone can be in a season where Chip Ganassi Racing's Alex Palou is dominating. Palou effectively has a two-race lead on the field.
So, Power waits to see what Team Penske wants from him.
'I'm still as quick as ever,' he said before adding with a laugh, '(and) I'm getting better looking.'
Statistics certainly support the former. Last year, Power tied teammate Scott McLaughlin and Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward for the most race wins, and only McLaughlin led more laps. Palou and Power were the only two drivers at the season's final race at Nashville Superspeedway with a realistic chance to win the championship, and it took Power's seat belts coming loose in the early laps to knock him out of contention.
Since Power was involved in the first-lap accident in this year's season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding, he has posted four consecutive top-six finishes. Only three drivers have scored more points in the past four races, and one of them, obviously, is Palou. O'Ward has scored six more points than Power in that stretch; Arrow McLaren's Christian Lundgaard has scored two more.
Power has made it clear he wants to be in this series next year, and it is his intent to be in a seat in 2027, as well. After that, who knows.
For now, Power must wait to see what Team Penske offers him, if anything. He conceded Tuesday that other teams are waiting for that information, too.
'I have to wait, but it doesn't stop teams from (approaching),' he said. 'I can't help if someone comes up to me and says, 'We're very interested in you for next year.' It's like, 'OK, I can't say anything, but fine.' That happens.'
Power said his contract situation has him as motivated as ever to excel.
'I've been locked in all year, very very locked in,' he said. 'In particular, I've been locked in to the '500' because I've struggled in (recent years). I've had bad races for like five years.'
Beginning with the pandemic-impact race in 2020, Power has finished no higher than 14th, and his average finish in those five races was 21.2. He nearly failed to qualify in 2021, and last year he crashed out early for only the second time in his 17 races at IMS.
Power joined McLaughlin and teammate Josef Newgarden as front-row qualifiers here last year, but Power couldn't race at the pace of the others. That's on his mind as this month begins to take shape.
'(I'm) very motivated to understand why (last year went as it did) and to get the car right,' he said. 'I do understand the differences between (my car) and my teammates last year.
'My car was really good in clean air last year. I set it up that way because we qualified up front. I didn't realize every (pit) stop would be a yellow-flag stop. You just had all these restarts where we were in traffic. That was my problem. If I was out front or in the first two, I would have been very strong, so this year I'm very focused on heavy traffic (and) restarts. That's where I struggled.'
Power said he worked on a chassis setup at last month's Open Test that was similar to what was used on McLaughlin's. He said he felt 'very good' in traffic, and he posted the third-fastest lap behind those of McLaughlin and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Takuma Sato, a two-time '500' winner. That's encouraging.
Power was reminded that Simon Pagenaud was similarly in a contract year in 2019 when he won the '500' from the pole for Team Penske. In the post-race news conference, team owner Penske said his driver would 'absolutely' get a new contract, and he did for two years.
Power wouldn't mind history repeating itself.
'Yeah, obviously, (winning the '500') puts you in a very good position, a very strong position,' he said. 'Either way, it's all good, man. There's a lot of good teams in the series, and it will be interesting to see what happens.'
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