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The Team Penske driver started eighth having missed the Fast Six in part due to lucking out on track evolution during Round 2 of Qualifying.
He was dead last once he was turned around at the very first corner of the race by Theo Pourchaire and that was just the start of his problems.
Power incurred a penalty under the Caution that ensued for emergency service in a closed pit lane after suffering rear wing damage, although being sent to the back of the field was hardly a punishment at that point.
It was when he was relegated from third to sixth during the third Caution for failing to pack up, then there was more drama upon the restart at Turn 3.
Power and Rinus VeeKay, who overtook either side of Romain Grosjean, ran into each other and the Queenslander would controversially be deemed at fault for avoidable contact, meaning Car #12 was sent to the back of the field for the restart.
Adding insult more so than injury, he later received a drive-through penalty for full service in a closed pit.
He then ended up on the non-preferred alternate tyres for a long, 42-lap run home (including two more Cautions) and struggled initially.
However, he somehow made a net gain over that final stint and, in finishing sixth, was the only driver in the top 17 to take the chequered flag on ‘greens’.
“That’s a good day,” declared Power.
“It was very tough, really. All sorts of stuff going on. Felt like Nashville.
“That’s, I mean, you’ve got everything in there. Rain, everything.
“Happy to get back to sixth, and go from there, and see what we could do.
“That is a good points day, man. I knew when it was that sort of race, [Scott] Dixon was going to win it somehow. We just wanted to salvage something.”
After all of that, Power remains third in the series standings at only a slightly enlarged deficit of 31 points to top spot, which has been taken over by Dixon at the expense of his Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Alex Palou.
Power’s Penske team-mate Scott McLaughlin dropped from sixth to eighth in the standings after crashing while running second in Detroit and ultimately finishing a lap down in 20th.
The New Zealander also incurred one of the 12 penalties dished out during the race, for avoidable contact with Sting Ray Robb which caused the seventh of eight Cautions.
“Just driver error there on that incident in the tyres,” he admitted.
“We were in fantastic position up to that point.
“I hate it for my Gallagher Chevy team and for our partners, and I’m gutted that it cost us a shot at a win.
“We’ll press on to Road America, one of my favorite race tracks in the world.”
IndyCar races at Road America next weekend (June 7-9, local time).
