Will Power Wins Portland, Closes Points Gap To Palou

Source: Matt Fraver/Penske Entertainment / other

PORTLAND, Ore. — Will Power delivered in what amounted to a must-win situation for he and his team on Sunday amongst the tall pines of Portland International Raceway.

Power led 101 laps of the 110 allotted to win the BitNile.com Grand Prix of Portland, and with the win was able to rebound and close the gap a bit to championship leader Alex Palou.

“Very rewarding,” Power said. “I came here determined, and so did the whole team. We wanted to get qualifying right and then execute in the race. It’s not a last-ditch effort, but really if Palou finished ahead of us today, it was going to be very difficult.”

Palou was able to finish second on the podium with Josef Newgarden claiming the third podium spot.

Determined is certainly the right word used by Power to describe the importance of the weekend for him and his team, especially coming off a DNF he could ill-afford at World Wide Technology Raceway the weekend prior. That DNF was coming off what has been described as a botched restart by Newgarden.

The hatchet buried in that regard, Power was able to start on the front row with Santino Ferrucci, who claimed his first P1 Award in qualifying on Saturday. Once race day came, however, Power was able to quickly overtake Ferrucci and get to a lead he would rarely surrender for pit stops.

“They (pit crew) called the strategy really well,” Power said. “I just did my job and got them fuel numbers. Had to keep an eye on Palou behind me. I could see the gap open and close. I knew we had a better car and when we got on the new tires that last stint, very strong.”

It’s Power’s 44th career win in the NTT IndyCar Series and his 3rd this season. It’s the first time since 2018 Power has had at least three wins in a single season.

The race put a cherry on top of the road/street course discipline of IndyCar racing for the 2024 season as the next three and final races will be about raw speed and cunning on the ovals. The series heads to the Milwaukee Mile for a doubleheader weekend in a week.

“We’ve been very, very good on ovals – very solid,” Power said. “Obviously, they’re two ovals that we haven’t raced at in a long time, so it’s anyone’s game. I hope we get it right. We’ll do our best and take the fight to Alex.”

Power will have to make up a 54-point deficit to Palou in order to accomplish that goal. Mathematically, the top eight drivers in the point standings as they sit now are still in the hunt for the series championship. Along with Palou and Power, drivers like Colton Herta, who finished fourth at Portland, and Scott McLaughlin, who was seventh, could also make runs for the title if the former two drivers slip up in any way between now and the season finale at Nashville.

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