Will Power believes he finally found a way to match team-mate Josef Newgarden’s astonishing Iowa speed, albeit too late in the IndyCar double-header weekend.
Team Penske had the quickest cars around the 0.894-mile oval, but Newgarden still managed to make his team-mates, one of which is also a two-time IndyCar champion, look second-rate.
The Tennessean has won all four oval races so far in 2023, and eight of the last 10 dating back into 2021, a figure which would have been even higher if a mechanical failure did not pitch him into the wall in last year’s second race at Iowa.
Power, on the other hand, struggled at times during the most recent event in ‘Corn Country’, finishing just on the lead lap in fifth in Race 1 then second in Race 2.
The Queenslander said, “[It was a] good weekend; two poles, second [place]. I felt like I had the car to really challenge at the end there.
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“We were lucky to get the yellow; probably should have pitted a couple of laps earlier, it probably would have put us in contention.
“Struggled in the first stint massively; like, massively, massively loose.
“Once we fixed that, we were really strong again, it was really good. Yeah, good day.”
Power revealed ahead of the Iowa weekend that he had adjusted his own oval driving style before this year’s Indianapolis 500 after being dissatisfied with his performances in Texas and during testing at The Brickyard.
On Newgarden’s Iowa dominance, he said, “I obviously look at it very closely.
“I felt like we actually finally had it once we made those adjustments to run with him.
“We came into pits with him, but I had to wait for [Marcus] Ericsson to pit. It was just bad timing on our part to not pit a couple of laps early.
“Obviously, risks with that, but not much. Here you’ve got a two-lap window to make a yellow.
“Just ovals in general, he has won every single oval that he has finished for a long time now.”
As the 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner noted, it might have been him who was first to the chequered flag in Race 2 if not for being held longer when Ericsson pitted just ahead of him during the final pit stop cycle.
Power thinks that stopping slightly earlier would have not only avoided that situation, but also potentially created an undercut relative to Newgarden.
“I was watching my mirror because I saw them set up, and I knew that he would be coming, so I sat there watching,” recounted the #12 Chevrolet pilot.
“There was confusion on the radio but I was, like, not going to have one of these [unsafe releases].
“It sucks because you just watched almost three or four seconds tick by; a chunk of time.
“Like, [Newgarden] came out, and I could hardly see him. I came in the pits right on him, on Josef.
“Yeah, that’s the gamble. I just thought we were in a position to take a big risk and pit way early because we’re not really in the championship; just go for a win.
“But I’m not on the stand, so I don’t know the situation. I don’t think anyone had pitted at that point, but that would have given us clear in and out and the undercut.”
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou leads the series by 80 points over second-placed Newgarden, with Power seventh.
Next up is the Nashville street race on the weekend of Sunday, August 6.
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