Power finished just seventh in the standings last year, with his best race results being second placings in Detroit and the Sunday Iowa encounter.
Team Penske was also dethroned by Chip Ganassi Racing, with Alex Palou dominating the championship and Scott Dixon making it a one-two as they scored eight victories between them.
While Josef Newgarden won the Indianapolis 500 for the first time, and four races in total, plus Scott McLaughlin’s victory at Barber, it was still a somewhat lacklustre campaign for Penske.
Its IndyCar team is arguably under even greater pressure considering stablemate Ryan Blaney won the 2023 NASCAR Cup Series and the sportscar programme has delivered wins in both the 2024 IMSA and World Endurance Championship season-openers, including the blue riband 24 Hours of Daytona.
“I’m certainly very motivated to have a strong year after going winless,” said Power after Friday practice at this weekend’s St Petersburg IndyCar season-opener.
“I was really pissed off about that, so, putting a lot of emphasis on that.
“Team Penske, man, they’ve been right on it the last couple of years. Two NASCAR titles, IndyCar title, Indy 500, 24 Hours of Daytona…
“It’s expected of that team, it’s expected, you must perform. They’ve got the resources, and you are given the car each week.
“I’ve had my head down. I haven’t really been thinking about anything else but competing at a very high level this year.
“I’ve worked hard, and I’m sure the other boys are in similar situations, and there’s a lot of people in the field that are in contract years and trying to prove points.
“It will be a very tough IndyCar season, which is just great.”
There were, of course, mitigating circumstances for Power at home in 2023.
Wife Liz nearly died after contracting a staph infection which required spinal surgery, and the Toowoomba native contemplated quitting racing.
Thankfully, she was healthy enough to attend some races from the midpoint of that season and is now in relatively good health, although she will need antibiotics for the rest of her life.
Aside from being freed of the fear that his son may lose his mother – the woman whom the IndyCar veteran credited with giving him the confidence to win a second series title at long last – he has also been able to commit to a proper pre-season again.
“[I am] way more prepared; way, way more than I was last year,” said the 43-year-old.
“I’m fitter, have more miles, and just ahead of the game in many ways.
“Mentally better because you’re not thinking of your family.
“It’s tough when your mind is somewhere else. My mind is right in the game, right in the game.”
Power will start eighth in Race 1 of the season at St Petersburg.
Car #12 looked quicker than that, but he reported catching traffic in Round 2 of Qualifying.
Nevertheless, the 2014 St Petersburg winner is not dismayed by his starting berth.
“I think the 60 [Felix Rosenqvist] was backing Scott [Dixon] up so he had to back up and so I had to finish that second lap just to be eighth and then started my third lap on him, so kind of hurting, so I aborted it,” he explained.
“Still, top 12 and P8, we can definitely race from there.
“The car has been really good all weekend and, man, you have to dig deep in these qualifying sessions. We will see what we can do tomorrow.
“I am very, very determined to have a good year and a good race, so it’s a good start.
“Anytime you are top 10 in this series, it’s pretty good, or top 12. We would have loved to get in the top six, but it’s so tight.”
The Warmup starts on Sunday at 09:10 ET/Monday at 00:10 AEDT, followed by the 100-lap Race at 12:15 ET/03:15 AEDT.
Discussion about this post