NEWTON, Iowa – At 43, Will Power is one of the oldest drivers in the NTT IndyCar Series as he is in his 20th season in North America’s top open-wheel racing series.
With his latest win in Sunday’s Hy-Vee OneStep 250 at Iowa Speedway, he remains one of IndyCar’s best.
The two-time IndyCar Series champion made up 21 positions on the seven-eighths Iowa Speedway short oval to claim his first oval victory since a 2019 win at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. It was his 43rdcareer IndyCar win.
It was also Power’s second IndyCar win this season. He captured the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on June 9.
With the win, Power moved back to second in the standings, 35 points behind the driver he beat by 0.3915-of-a-second, Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing.
Power is both one of the quirkiest drivers in IndyCar and also one of the smartest. He could be called “Captain Quirk,” because there are times he looks like a cartoon character brought to life with his unique mannerisms, facial expressions and reactions.
But don’t be fooled by the quirky persona. Behind the wheel of an IndyCar, Power is absolutely brilliant.
That brilliance was on display as he charged from his 22nd starting position to second place behind Palou on Lap 98.
When Agustin Canapino slowed off Turn 2 on Lap 101, it created the caution that became a game-changer for Power because it guaranteed his strategy would work.
“Once I saw the yellow come out, I thought that this is very good for us,” Power recalled. “At last, saving a ton of fuel worked for me. I’ve had a few races this year where I’m definitely going longer than anyone and then a yellow falls before anyone pits. You’re like, ‘Oh. This time it worked out perfectly,’ which I had that feeling.
“If there’s going to be a yellow, it’s going to be through those sequences. So, if you can go really long, someone is going to make a mistake on the apron, the out-lap, the in-lap, they’re going to have to go yellow.
“That was the plan. Starting where I was, knowing how hard it was to pass, my plan is I’m going to sit back and save as much fuel as I can.”
From that point forward, Power was content to settle in and follow Palou in preparation for the final pit stop of the race.
On Lap 205, Palou pitted as the leader and that put Power in the lead as he attempted the “overcut” – running more laps than the competition before pitting.
Once Power pitted, his Team Penske crew was a full second faster than Palou’s No. 10 team so by the time Palou came out of Turn 2 at full speed, Power’s No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet was able to blend onto the track in front of Palou’s car.
Power was quickly up to speed, maintained his position and drove to victory in front of a very hot crowd at Iowa Speedway.
Because of the quick turnaround from Saturday’s night race — the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart — the race started at 11:30 a.m. local time, making it IndyCar’s version of brunch.
It also made event promoter and sponsor Hy-Vee put both of its Sunday concerts after the race, creating a unique situation where many of the ticket buyers who were interested in the two concerts – Kelsea Ballerini and Post Malone – were not baking in their seats for the IndyCar race.
According to Penske Corporation President Bud Denker, who served as the promoter for the Hy-Vee IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa Speedway, a line of traffic was entering the track as the race concluded. Others took their seats in the closing stages of the race.
But from a promoter’s standpoint, it all counts toward the final attendance.
Had the race started later in the afternoon and one of the two concerts been before the race, it would have boosted the optics in the grandstand during the IndyCar race.
According to Hy-Vee Iowa Race Weekend President Michael Montri, motorhomes at the track for the race were being held so the influx of concert attendees could get into the facility as late as the end of Ballerini’s performance but before Post Malone took center stage.
None of that, of course, should take away from Power’s pursuit of win No. 43.
“I had a very good car,” Power said. “My plan from the beginning was to sit back and save a lot of fuel, just get the best possible number using the speed, lifting. In that gap, I prayed for a yellow because I knew there would be out-laps. That would be when people would be prone to mistakes.
“That’s exactly what happened.”
“Captain Quirk” is smarter than he appears at times because Power knew the other side of that strategy.
“Even if it didn’t, we were just going to jump people by staying out,” Power explained. “They come in. You’re just faster. Jump a few people to a sequence, as well. Either way we were going to go forward. But that was the big one, getting that yellow.
“I felt like we had a better car than Alex. So, I sat back, saved fuel again, went long. Jumped him over in that sequence. Good in out-laps.
“Amazing stops as usual by my guys. They’re the best in pit lane. Don’t have to take my word for it. Just look at the times, every time. I’m lucky with that.”
Power has so much faith in his pit crew at Team Penske that he believes it gives him an advantage.
“They’re something I don’t have to worry about,” Power admitted. “I know if I hit my marks, it’s going to be an extremely fast stop.
“The car was great. My engineer did a great job with the car. Doing the overcut, I was pumping out some fast laps while Palou was leading me. Then I knew that we’d probably have a lap on him. We jumped him that way, too.
“Fast in-lap, fast out-lap, fast pit stop. Good strategy, good car. That’s how you got to win in this series, and every now and then catch a Scott Dixon yellow.
“I need another 15 of them to catch up over the years.”
Power was referring to Dixon’s propensity to predicting when the cautions will fall and using that strategy to his advantage.
Dixon is a six-time NTT IndyCar Series champion with 58 wins. Power is a two-time IndyCar Series champion with 43 wins. Both drivers have won the Indianapolis 500 one time in their careers with Dixon in 2008 and Power in 2018.
Power has also properly rebounded from a disappointing 2023 season, when his head wasn’t in the game as his wife Liz was struggling with a near-fatal Staph infection.
“It was just a throw-away year,” Power said. “I’m back to the form of 2022, and I’m fighting for the championship.
“I feel like we have a great chance here. Going to keep digging.”
Jul 14, 2024; Newton, Iowa, USA; Team Penske driver Will Power (12) of Australia, Chip Ganassi Racing driver Álex Palou (10) of Spain and Team Penske driver Scott McLaughlin (3) of New Zealand finish first, second and third at the Hy-Vee Homefront 250 at Iowa Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
Reese Strickland-USA TODAY Sports
Power completed a Team Penske sweep of the major races at Iowa Speedway in 2024. Ryan Blaney won the first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race at this track on June 16. IndyCar teammate Scott McLaughlin won Saturday night’s Hy-Vee Homefront 250 presented by Instacart and Power claimed the big win in the Hy-Vee OneStep 250 presented by Gatorade on Sunday.
“We’ve had a very good time here for the last few years actually even though the track has changed significantly for the worse for IndyCar,” Power said. “Yeah, it’s cool to have Blaney win, then Scott win, then me win.
“It’s pretty funny that it played out like that. Yeah, it’s a team that works hard. It’s amazing the results that keep coming, but it’s not when you see how they work. It’s not like they waste money in any area. They run very lean but extremely efficiently.
“I feel fortunate and lucky to be a part of that because if you look at it, there’s only two teams that win championships in this series, and Penske is one of them.
“To be in one of these teams, but for me to be with Penske, yeah, I’m very fortunate.”
It was also Power’s first victory at Iowa Speedway, which has been the home of IndyCar Series racing since 2007.
“It’s funny because I was trying to win this for so long,” Power concluded. “I finished second a few times before the repave, trying really hard to win. I didn’t really think I would win today.
“You know how life goes, it just happens like that. Yeah, been trying to win this one for a long time. Stoked to tick that box. I’ve won a lot of races at a lot of tracks.
“When you tick a box at a track you haven’t won on, it feels pretty good.”
Follow Bruce Martin on Twitter at @BruceMartin_500