Latest news with #PenskeRacing
11-08-2025
- Automotive
A power loss changed everything: How Palou secured his fourth IndyCar title
Alex Palou wrapped up his fourth IndyCar championship in the last five seasons on Sunday at Portland International Raceway when title contender Pato O'Ward lost power early in the race. O'Ward started from the pole and was the only driver mathematically eligible to beat Palou for the championship. Palou went into Sunday with a cozy 121-point lead over O'Ward in the standings and so long as he left Portland up by 108 points, he'd clinch the championship in the first race of a three consecutive weekends to close the season. The Astor Cup became his just 22 laps into the race on the Portland road course when O'Ward had an electronic issue on his Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and had to make an unplanned pit stop. He returned to the track down nine laps from the leaders. Palou finished third, O'Ward finished 25th and Palou has the title cemented with two races remaining in the IndyCar season and an insurmountable 151-point lead. Palou was feisty in the closing portion of the race and raced unnecessarily aggressive at times — even driving off course with four laps remaining and drag-racing Christian Lundgaard for position. 'We're here to win. That's why we're here. We've said it many times. When we come here, although we have that big goal of winning the championship, our priority is always to win races and win every single weekend,' insisted Palou. 'Even though could have been OK to stay third, we wanted to win.' Palou has won all four of his championships for Chip Ganassi Racing and ran away with this one, his third consecutive, by storming out of the gate with a win in the first two races of the year to set the pace for Ganassi to win its 17th IndyCar title in 30 years. The 17 championships tie Penske Racing. Twelve of Ganassi's IndyCar titles have come in the last 17 years, starting with Scott Dixon's brilliant 2008 season in which he put together a run similar to the one Palou had this year. Dixon in 2008 won six races, including the Indianapolis 500, six poles and the first of his six championships. Ganassi has many times before dressed-down drivers for putting themselves in unnecessary positions, but this time had no qualms with Palou racing hard for a race win rather than sitting back and coasting to to the title. 'It depends on the situation, the driver. Like Alex said, we go into this race with that 10 car team, every race, we want to win the race, OK? That's how we got to this point,' said Ganassi. 'We didn't change anything today. You can't play God." But Ganassi admitted Palou did cause a brief scare with his determination to race hard in the final laps. 'When he was fighting for second or third, I was fine with it,' said Ganassi. 'I got to say my heart skipped a beat when he went off there, but other than that I was all for it.' Only A.J. Foyt (seven) and Dixon (six) have more championships than Palou, who broke through this season by winning on ovals to finally show he's the complete package. That was clear years ago, and he is embroiled in a $30 million breach of contract civil suit with Arrow McLaren for not honoring a deal to join that team. He's instead stayed loyal to Ganassi and this year, Palou won five of the first six races, including the Indianapolis 500 that had eluded him in five previous tries. That win at the Brickyard cemented the Spaniard's path to another championship and he's been untouchable since. Palou went into Portland with a series-high eight wins, five poles, 11 top-five finishes in 14 races, 563 laps led and a 1.2 average finish. He padded those number on Sunday. Palou joined Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Bourdais and Ted Horn as the only drivers in series history to win three consecutive titles. But, with two more races this season, Palou has a chance to tie the IndyCar record for victories in a season set at 10 by Foyt in 1964 and Al Unser in 1970. He lost his chance to break the most wins in a season record Sunday when Will Power won at Portland. It was the first victory of the season for the Penske fleet, which has been in a slump all year and did not get its first win until the 15th of 17 races.
Perth Now
11-08-2025
- Automotive
- Perth Now
Aussie powers Team Penske to IndyCar win in Portland
Australian driver Will Power sure is making Team Penske look silly right now. He became the first Penske driver to win an IndyCar race in this comically un-Penske-like season with a commanding victory at Portland International Raceway in Oregon on Sunday (local time). It was fitting that the breakthrough win came from Power, the steadiest of the Penske trio this season. He's ranked sixth in the IndyCar standings, higher than teammates Josef Newgarden and New Zealander Scott McLaughlin. "It's what we expect at that team. I'm driving the best I ever have, simple as that. I'm not slowing down. I am not slower, I am faster," Power declared. "My toolbox is still big as far as understanding the cars, race craft, all that. I guess I'm different to some people. I never stop working at it. It's a passion. I love it. That's why I'm still winning." It's a contract year for the Australian, who has given no indication the team has shown any movement towards extending Power into next year, despite his long history with the team, years of winning, and his showing as arguably the best of the Penske drivers this year. Power, who turned 44 this year, has been with Penske since 2009 and won an Indianapolis 500 and two IndyCar titles. His 45 career wins rank fourth on the all-time list. He also holds the record for the most pole positions in series history with 71. Power won three races a year ago and was in the championship fight until the finale. His Portland win is his second straight in Oregon and has him as the highest-ranked Penske driver. He said the win is a statement to both Penske and any other interested teams, but he was adamant he's got nothing to prove. "It's probably good on both fronts," Power said. "I mean, I won three races last year. If you're a team, if you're waiting on me to know if I'm good enough, I don't know what you're thinking. If you're actually waiting, (thinking) 'I'm not sure if this guy is good enough,' just go back to last year and you'll (expletive) know." Penske Racing president Jonathan Diuguid stayed away from commenting directly on Power's future as he celebrated his first win in his new role. "Will's future is about 30 minutes old from winning a race. His future's definitely bright," Diuguid said. "He did an amazing job today. Looking forward to the last two races of the season." Meanwhile, Spaniard Alex Palou wrapped up his fourth IndyCar championship in the past five seasons on Sunday when title contender Pato O'Ward lost power early in the race. O'Ward started from pole and was the only driver mathematically able to beat Palou for the championship. The Astor Cup became Palou's just 22 laps into the race when O'Ward had an electronic issue on his Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and had to make an unplanned pit stop. He returned to the track down nine laps from the leaders. Palou finished third and O'Ward 25th, clinching the title for the Spaniard with two races left in the season.
Yahoo
10-08-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Penske No Longer Winless in 2025 IndyCar Season, Will Power Delivers The Captain First Win
In a year where his future at Penske has been a talking point from weekend to weekend, Will Power delivered Roger Penske his first win of the season in the Grand Prix of Portland Sunday afternoon. With just three races to go heading into this weekend, it was starting to look like the bad luck that has marred the three Penske Chevrolets all year could lead to the first winless season for The Captain since 1999. Power started fourth after qualifying fifth and moving up one spot, thanks to pole winner Christian Lundgaard's six-place grid penalty for an engine change. Power and Lundgaard were on the same strategy all race, with Power coming up ahead in the closing half. The two were chased down by Alex Palou, who secured his third straight championship with a third-place finish. Power's last win came last year at Portland, when he was still within striking distance of stealing a championship away from Palou, in a less dominant year for the Chip Ganassi Racing driver. Since then, engine failures, tire failures, and Indy 500 controversies have kept Power from a race win. Power knows that it hasn't been pace that has been keeping Penske and the No. 12 team back. "I just think it's a big win for all the team, we've had a rough year, and it's not really because we've been off the pace, but it's just been unfortunate circumstances," Power told IndyCar on Fox. "I've had two engine failures, a tire failure, it was hard for the win. We picked that strategy to run hard and pull enough of a gap. It was a bit dicey at the end there." The first half of the race was marked by cautions and chaos, starting with Santino Ferrucci hard into the pit wall on the exit of the final corner of the first lap. Two A few laps later, pushing and shoving between Christian Rasmussen and Conor Daly ended when Rasmussen sent Daly into the wall in a brutal hit. On the third restart, Pato O'Ward fell off pace, suffering a failure that forced him to the pits with no power, ultimately ending his hopes of winning the 2025 IndyCar Championship. Ultimately, Tony Kanaan explained that the issue in the No. 5 Chevy was that a wire connected to O'Ward's engine injection box was vibrating, causing a short in the entire wire system, burning the box. In the closing half, Palou cut the lead from 20 seconds behind Power and Lundgaard on the alternative strategy to under 10 seconds. Lundgaard, who would go on to finish second, was the first of the three leaders to pit for the final time, coming back to the race track in eighth. Power followed with 29 laps remaining in the race to put on a pair of used reds (tires), as Lundgaard and Palou still had new reds to run in the closing segment. Power's teammate, Josef Newgarden, went around after contact with Scott Dixon with 26 laps to go, bringing out a local yellow as Lundgaard was gaining on Power for the lead. With 20 laps to go Power, Lundgaard and Palou are within 1.9 seconds of each other. Eleven laps later, with nine to go, the three were within a second of each other, with Palou holding on to almost double the amount of push-to-pass of the leaders, attempting to force them to use it. Palou made his move on Lundgaard with four laps to go and ran out of track, running off into the grass and rejoining the track still in third place ahead of Graham Rahal, who had his best race of 2025. Alexander Rossi completed the top five ahead of the Prema of Callum Ilott in sixth. Power's teammate Scott McLaughlin finished seventh ahead of Marcus Armstrong and Felix Rosenqvist, who fell to ninth after starting next to O'Ward on the front row. Colton Herta completed the top ten. You Might Also Like You Need a Torque Wrench in Your Toolbox Tested: Best Car Interior Cleaners The Man Who Signs Every Car
France 24
13-07-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Mexico's O'Ward wins at Iowa in 100th career IndyCar start
O'Ward took his first victory of the season by edging six-time Iowa winner Newgarden after 275 laps over the 0.894-mile (1.43km) Iowa Speedway oval in the first of two weekend races at Newton, Iowa. "This is great. We've been waiting for this one all year," O'Ward said. "It's crazy. My 50th race was also a win here in Iowa (in 2022) and that's the only other win I have here so it's a cool story." O'Ward overtook pole-sitter Newgarden on the last pit stop exchange and held him off after a restart with 10 laps remaining. "Josef is the master at these races. He rules around here so I knew we had to be spot on," O'Ward said. Newgarden led 232 laps but settled for second, followed by Penske Racing teammates Will Power of Australia and New Zealand's Scott McLaughlin, who started 27th and last after a qualifying crash but nearly made the podium. "We lost track position there and it was game over," Newgarden said. On lap 153, Newgarden surpassed 2,000 laps led at Iowa, the first time any driver has led that many laps at any IndyCar track. O'Ward had not won since last year at the Milwaukee oval. "This is awesome and we have another chance tomorrow," O'Ward said. "It would be really cool to double up." Spain's Alex Palou, who won the pole for Sunday's race, is the campaign points leader with six wins including the Indianapolis 500 but saw his lead shrink from 114 to 105 points, 461-356 over O'Ward. Pole-sitter Newgarden grabbed the lead at the start and O'Ward charged into second after the first set of pit stops. They stayed that way until Newgarden's last pit stop with 43 laps remaining. He returned to the track just behind O'Ward and the Mexican refueled and stayed ahead of Newgarden until US racer Nolan Siegel crashed, halting the race for outer wall repairs. That set up a restart with 15 laps remaining, but Britain's Callum brushed the outer wall to force another restart with 10 laps remaining, O'Ward speeding away and staying ahead to the finish.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Mexico's O'Ward wins at Iowa in 100th career IndyCar start
Mexican racer Pato O'Ward won his eighth career title in is 100th career IndyCar start by capturing the Iowa 275 (James Gilbert) Mexico's Pato O'Ward held off American Josef Newgarden over the after a late restart to win Saturday's IndyCar Iowa 275, taking his eighth career triumph in his 100th IndyCar start. O'Ward took his first victory of the season by edging six-time Iowa winner Newgarden after 275 laps over the 0.894-mile (1.43km) Iowa Speedway oval in the first of two weekend races at Newton, Iowa. Advertisement "This is great. We've been waiting for this one all year," O'Ward said. "It's crazy. My 50th race was also a win here in Iowa (in 2022) and that's the only other win I have here so it's a cool story." O'Ward overtook pole-sitter Newgarden on the last pit stop exchange and held him off after a restart with 10 laps remaining. "Josef is the master at these races. He rules around here so I knew we had to be spot on," O'Ward said. Newgarden led 232 laps but settled for second, followed by Penske Racing teammates Will Power of Australia and New Zealand's Scott McLaughlin, who started 27th and last after a qualifying crash but nearly made the podium. Advertisement "We lost track position there and it was game over," Newgarden said. On lap 153, Newgarden surpassed 2,000 laps led at Iowa, the first time any driver has led that many laps at any IndyCar track. O'Ward had not won since last year at the Milwaukee oval. "This is awesome and we have another chance tomorrow," O'Ward said. "It would be really cool to double up." Spain's Alex Palou, who won the pole for Sunday's race, is the campaign points leader with six wins including the Indianapolis 500 but saw his lead shrink from 114 to 105 points, 461-356 over O'Ward. Advertisement Pole-sitter Newgarden grabbed the lead at the start and O'Ward charged into second after the first set of pit stops. They stayed that way until Newgarden's last pit stop with 43 laps remaining. He returned to the track just behind O'Ward and the Mexican refueled and stayed ahead of Newgarden until US racer Nolan Siegel crashed, halting the race for outer wall repairs. That set up a restart with 15 laps remaining, but Britain's Callum brushed the outer wall to force another restart with 10 laps remaining, O'Ward speeding away and staying ahead to the finish. js/bb
