Will Power says he is in an “aggressive” mode as he tries to make up ground in the IndyCar title race.
The 2022 champion finished second in Detroit, his best result of the season to date, but still lost ground relative to the series leader given it was Alex Palou who was victorious.
With seven races down and 10 to go, Power is eighth in the standings at 101 points behind Palou, with 50 on offer for a win and a handful of bonus points available at each event for pole position and leading laps.
The Queenslander built his second series-winning campaign on remarkable consistency, content to bank points rather than chase headline results.
On the tight streets of Detroit, however, he was in the thick of the action, particularly in the final 10 laps.
Power copped a knock from Scott Dixon as he tried to round up Palou at a late restart, losing second place before reclaiming it five laps later with a daring move on Felix Rosenqvist at the especially narrow Turn 4.
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“I mean, they were pretty measured moves,” said the Team Penske driver.
“I was never going to do something that I didn’t feel was going to be pulled off. I’ve been around too long to try that.
“But, we’re in the situation to be aggressive; that’s why we start on blacks [tyre strategy].
“We’re too far back to try to play conservative. We’ve got to attack every chance.
“That’s why I’m trying to go as hard as I can right now.”
Power’s #12 Chevrolet was lifted up on two wheels by the contact with Dixon.
Talking through the incident, he said, “For me, it was just trying my absolute best to get Palou in a clean way. I wasn’t going to do any sort of dive bomb.
“Obviously Palou had the most to lose because he’s leading by a chunk, but there’s a few guys in there that don’t have as much to lose.
“I was one of them. I’m thinking in my head, ‘I’ve got to try to get this guy, if I can, to limit the damage.’”
The 42-year-old made his way to the podium from seventh on the grid, earning 40 points for the finish plus another for leading 14 laps.
He did so on the somewhat unpopular strategy of starting on the primary, ‘black’ tyres.
“[It was] Good strategy,” said Power.
“I mean, starting on the blacks, everything played out as we thought. I guess we were worried when the yellow came – everyone packs up – but then we got a yellow again, so that kind of helped us.
“We had 10 laps to push hard. I got Palou on the restart. Then they went off, he got me back. Yeah, I couldn’t get him. I tried everything.
“I think my one chance was when Dixon got into me a little bit, I was trying to switch back and get a run, get him into [Turn] 4. Apart from that, the next restart was in third so I didn’t have another shot at him.
“Very good job. Man, you’re never looking back on seconds as a bad day. Although the guy I was needing to close points to was the guy that won. We limited the damage.”
The IndyCar season continues at Road America on June 16-18 (local time).
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