That represented the biggest gain of any driver in the field on Monday, and he did it without the help of a Safety Car intervention.
“Yeah, that’s a big day for the Verizon Chevy team considering it was full green,” said Power.
“They didn’t get any lucky yellows or anything. That was pure pace there.
“The guys had a great strategy and we had great speed. I was really patient and methodical getting through the field.”
Power wasn’t the only Team Penske pilot to start near the rear. Stablemate Scott McLaughlin started third-to-last in 25th while Josef Newgarden was 17th.
Newgarden drove forward to finish 13th while McLaughlin failed to finish after suffering a motor generator unit failure on Lap 19.
“I think we’re all pretty disappointed with qualifying,” said Power.
“I thought we certainly should’ve been in at least the top 10. That’s racing. That’s a good day.”
Nevertheless, Power was pleased with how the 65-lap race went considering where he began.
He sits 14th in the drivers’ championship after a Lap 1 crash on the streets of St Petersburg.
“You look on those days and that’s the sort of thing that will help you win a championship there,” said Power.
“We had an extra set of reds there. It helped, yes. Big time. It was kind of cool because at St. Pete, you didn’t have that luxury because the green was so soft, you couldn’t even use it in the race. But in this race, the (alternate) was the preferred tyre.
“It was just, man, you had one lap to do it. Made a mistake starting the lap. The tyre wasn’t quite in and I was disappointed with that because I’d been very fast in practice, running in the top six most of the time. But, you know, this is IndyCar, anything can happen.
“Keep your head on and keep rolling.”
The IndyCar Series resumes on April 14 on the streets of Long Beach.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou leads the standings on 102 points with a 39-point lead over Pato O’Ward. Scott Dixon sits third, 41 points in arrears.
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