At 41 years old, Will Power is past the age regular sportspeople retire, but last weekend sealed his second IndyCar title at Laguna Seca beating a respected field containing former and potentially future Formula 1 drivers.
Since joining Roger Penske’s legendary team in 2009, Power became the first Australian to win the IndyCar title and also achieved success at the Indianapolis 500 in 2018, the same weekend as Daniel Ricciardo’s triumph in Monaco.
A three-time runner up before his title year in 2014, Power has been a regular frontrunner in the top five up until last year when he struggled in ninth, but it was the perfect response this year to defeat teammate Josef Newgarden and six-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon to score his second crown.
A consistent season included just one victory, though Power scored seven podiums during his championship winning campaign in what has become a hotly contested series.
Not only did Power take the title, but he also broke Mario Andretti’s record for most poles at Laguna Seca by securing his 68th.
“I couldn’t really enjoy the pole yesterday because I was so focused on the race,” said Power after the race.
“A lot of stress this weekend. I was pretty calm all year.
“Once I got in the car and we started rolling, it was fine. A bit sketchy in the middle of the race. I was digging deep, just, ‘I’ve got to give everything I can. I can’t lose any positions here,’ and the car, the tires… yeah, it was interesting. Some sets of tires were really good, and some were not quite so good.
“But yep, mentally drained. Couldn’t show the sort of emotion that I showed when I won the 500 [2018]. But it’s been like a long journey over the year. I think it’s pretty fitting that we just did another solid day, just a sort of long-game day like today. That’s just been the story of our year.”
Power credited his Team Penske crew, in particular long-time race engineer Dave Faustino.
“It’s been a really focused, solid year all around,” Power lauded.
“We (Power and Faustino) just know each other well. We actually worked better this year together than ever, we really did…I think he’s probably seen a slow progression of maturity, and this year he’s seen the absolutely top level of that.
“We’ve got a lot of respect for each other. It’s just, you cannot beat experience. You cannot beat experience. That’s all I’ll say. Every scenario that can happen to you to make a race go wrong has happened to me and him, and it happens to everyone, and just at this stage of your career, you just know the game so well and you just play on that experience.”
Power emphasised the quality of not only his opponents, but within the walls of Team Penske as Josef Newgarden finished third, just ahead of Scott McLaughlin to cap off a superb campaign by the squad.
“The competition is just insane,” he said, “but what’s maybe surprising is the gap we had to the field as a team. We just seemed to execute in every way. Not necessarily faster – well, we were faster in some respects, some races – but just getting it right, pitlane and on track.”