The Andretti Global newcomer spun on his first flying lap and backed the #26 car into the outside wall.
Power reported no injuries, save for his leg striking the dash.
It’s the third crash in two events for the Australian, who bombed out of practice on the streets of St Petersburg and then suffered a nearly identical crash in the race.
Power will start Sunday’s race at Phoenix from 24th.
It was a tough day on the whole for Andretti, with Kyle Kirkwood the best of the trio in 11th and Marcus Ericsson only 14th.
“I did not expect that, that early in the corner,” Power explained of his crash.
“It’s surprising. That’s it. Rough start, man.
“It’s not ideal right now. It’s just we had a very good car.
“Gonna have to go back and look at that. That was very… I just did not expect that.
“It was pretty good in practice and testing and then all of a sudden incredibly loose.”
“A rough start to the year, for sure.”- Will Power https://t.co/vRN7Unduu8 pic.twitter.com/p6cbAGwOf8
— INDYCAR on FOX (@IndyCarOnFOX) March 6, 2026
While Power was commiserating, Team Penske was celebrating a one-two led by the Australian’s replacement.
David Malukas put the #12 car on pole position ahead of the #2 teammate of Josef Newgarden.
“I’m so happy. The story of ovals last season was we have [pole position], we wait until the last few guys, and then boom, we get P2,” said Malukas.
“Finally we got it. It feels so good. What a way to start this season. Big thank you to Team Penske, everybody here.”
Rahal Letterman Laningan Racing were the real surprise packet in third and fourth with Graham Rahal and Mick Schumacher.
In its last oval appearance at Nashville, no RLL car made the top 20 in qualifying.
Their efforts were made all the more impressive given their times were among some of the first set in the session.
Scott McLaughlin rounded out the top in the #3 Team Penske entry while countrymen Marcus Armstrong (Meyer Shank Racing) and Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) were 13th and 15th.
Results: IndyCar Series Phoenix Raceway, Qualifying
| Pos | Num | Driver | Team | Engine | Time | Diff | Gap | Speed (mph) | Lap 1 | Lap 2 |
| 1 | 12 | David Malukas | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 41.053 | 175.383 | 20.4928 | 20.5602 | ||
| 2 | 2 | Josef Newgarden | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 41.2493 | 0.196 | 0.196 | 174.548 | 20.6046 | 20.6447 |
| 3 | 15 | Graham Rahal | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 41.381 | 0.328 | 0.132 | 173.993 | 20.6391 | 20.7419 |
| 4 | 47 | Mick Schumacher | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 41.4587 | 0.406 | 0.078 | 173.667 | 20.7163 | 20.7424 |
| 5 | 3 | Scott McLaughlin | Team Penske | Chevrolet | 41.5109 | 0.458 | 0.052 | 173.448 | 20.6868 | 20.8241 |
| 6 | 20 | Alexander Rossi | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 41.5252 | 0.472 | 0.014 | 173.389 | 20.7483 | 20.7769 |
| 7 | 5 | Pato O’Ward | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 41.5359 | 0.483 | 0.011 | 173.344 | 20.6 | 20.9359 |
| 8 | 76 | Rinus VeeKay | Juncos Racing | Chevrolet | 41.5589 | 0.506 | 0.023 | 173.248 | 20.7626 | 20.7963 |
| 9 | 6 | Nolan Siegel | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 41.6196 | 0.567 | 0.061 | 172.995 | 20.8613 | 20.7583 |
| 10 | 10 | Alex Palou | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 41.6234 | 0.57 | 0.004 | 172.98 | 20.8517 | 20.7717 |
| 11 | 27 | Kyle Kirkwood | Andretti Global | Honda | 41.6479 | 0.595 | 0.025 | 172.878 | 20.7941 | 20.8538 |
| 12 | 77 | Sting Ray Robb | Juncos Racing | Chevrolet | 41.7305 | 0.677 | 0.083 | 172.536 | 20.8594 | 20.8711 |
| 13 | 66 | Marcus Armstrong | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda | 41.7551 | 0.702 | 0.025 | 172.434 | 20.853 | 20.9021 |
| 14 | 28 | Marcus Ericsson | Andretti Global | Honda | 41.7721 | 0.719 | 0.017 | 172.364 | 20.8614 | 20.9107 |
| 15 | 9 | Scott Dixon | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 41.8425 | 0.789 | 0.07 | 172.074 | 20.8776 | 20.9649 |
| 16 | 45 | Louis Foster | Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing | Honda | 41.9025 | 0.85 | 0.06 | 171.827 | 20.9078 | 20.9947 |
| 17 | 7 | Christian Lundgaard | Arrow McLaren | Chevrolet | 41.9664 | 0.913 | 0.064 | 171.566 | 21.0039 | 20.9625 |
| 18 | 21 | Christian Rasmussen | Ed Carpenter Racing | Chevrolet | 41.9728 | 0.92 | 0.006 | 171.54 | 21.1137 | 20.8591 |
| 19 | 8 | Kyffin Simpson | Chip Ganassi Racing | Honda | 41.9974 | 0.944 | 0.025 | 171.439 | 21.0631 | 20.9343 |
| 20 | 18 | Romain Grosjean | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 42.1512 | 1.098 | 0.154 | 170.814 | 21.0706 | 21.0806 |
| 21 | 14 | Santino Ferrucci | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 42.2096 | 1.157 | 0.058 | 170.577 | 20.9242 | 21.2854 |
| 22 | 19 | Dennis Hauger | Dale Coyne Racing | Honda | 42.3983 | 1.345 | 0.189 | 169.818 | 21.2608 | 21.1375 |
| 23 | 4 | Caio Collet | A.J. Foyt Enterprises | Chevrolet | 42.9474 | 1.894 | 0.549 | 167.647 | 21.5316 | 21.4158 |
| 24 | 26 | Will Power | Andretti Global | Honda | 174.137 | 20.6734 | ||||
| 25 | 60 | Felix Rosenqvist | Meyer Shank Racing | Honda |
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