Power Wins At Road America, His First IndyCar Win In Two Years

Source: Joe Skibinski/Penske Entertainment / other

ELKHART LAKE, Ind. — It had been two years since Will Power stood in victory lane. His thirst for a win was finally quenched on Sunday as he won the IndyCar XPEL Grand Prix at Road America.

“I wasn’t sure when it was going to happen. I’ve been digging all year. Sometimes it just works out,” Power said. “Very good strategy. Very fast cars. A lot of fun. Like, once all the yellows stopped, it was a very fast-paced race.”

Power had to survive an opening lap calamity in which pole-sitter Linus Lundqvist was spun out by his own teammate Marcus Armstrong. The lead was then yielded to Scott McLaughlin who would lead the most laps for the day at 18.

The opening lap caution was the first of three in the first six laps of the race. The middle caution was for debris, but the third was for Kyffin Simpson slapping the wall continuing a tough season for him.

The restarts were beneficial for the Team Penske drivers as McLaughlin had fabulous restarts, as did Josef Newgarden who was able to go from sixth to third in in the first ten laps. Newgarden was also slightly quicker than some of the top running drivers having started on the red alternate tires which were faster than the primary blacks for this particular weekend.

After the first round of pitstops on Lap 18, it appeared the fight was between McLaughlin and Newgarden as McLaughlin successfully undercut his teammate to keep the lead. But, the pit cycle also put Power back into the mix.

Power had gotten held up by the opening lap calamity and had to make up some ground. The Penske cars were now running 1-2-3 by Lap 22.

This juncture of the race spelled disaster for the points leader coming into the weekend Scott Dixon, who battled hard for position with Romain Grosjean in a car that struggled to find good handling. Dixon would end the day 21st.

Newgarden, who went on a different tire strategy, took the lead over McLaughlin on Lap 36 and his pit crew gave him a sizable advantage by the final round of pit stops on Lap 44. But, Power’s crew was just that much fast as he pulled off an overcut of Newgarden to keep the lead with 10 laps remaining.

Power held off his charging teammate over the last nine laps to steal the win, his first since Belle Isle in 2022.

“I said at the beginning of this year we need to get multiple wins,” Power said in Victory Lane. “That’s a beginning. We’ve been working hard. We’ve been fast everywhere. It’s just a tough series.”

Power gave lots of credit to his pit crew as he got to the lead and was the first of his three teammates across the start/finish line in a Penske sweep of the podium. Power is now the points leader in the series as they head to Laguna Seca in two weeks.

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