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IndyCar
INDYCAR: Power Coping With Title Disappointment
A few days after his latest bid for a championship ended up against the wall, Power didn’t sound as sad as he did shocked about losing control.
Power, right, and his engineer David Faustino, left, got the No. 12 Verizon Wireless car back in the setup window during the race, but other circumstances kept them from claiming the title. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)
Will Power isn’t on suicide watch and wife Elizabeth hasn’t hidden all the sharp objects in their Charlotte home. “No, nothing like that. It’s disappointing for sure, but that’s racing,” he said Wednesday night.
A few days after his latest bid for a championship ended up against the wall at Auto Club Speedway, Power didn’t sound as sad as he did shocked about losing control while trying to pass Ryan Hunter-Reay on Lap 55 of the MAVTV 500.
Starting 13th, WP had dropped back to 21st to get a read on his chassis – which had gone from perfect at Wednesday’s test to pathetic in Friday’s final practice.
“It was the best feeling car I’d ever driven on an oval at the test but we went the wrong way on Friday and it was awful,” said Power, who held a 17-point lead going into the season finale. “But David (Faustino, his engineer) put it back to where it was and early on I knew we had that good car back under us.
“So I was just chilling out, not taking any risks and then I started passing people because it felt good.”
Power’s team agreed that overtaking Hunter-Reay was the best course of action at that point in the race.
“Tim (Cindric) came on the radio and said I was the fastest car on the track and I was running three miles an hour faster than Ryan,” continued the 30-year-old Aussie. “I sat there in his dirty air for a couple laps and then we decided it would be a good idea to get by.
“So I started running lower and my car had been under-steering but then I hit that seam in the track and it started to spin. It wasn’t a snap, it was almost slow motion, almost like a wheel had come off.
“And it was a big surprise.”
Power said he’d avoided that seam all week.
“I never ran down on that second line seam until the race -- I ran over and under it,” he said. “I almost wish I would have crashed on Wednesday like Ryan did and maybe been more wary of it.”
The three-time bridesmaid’s night wasn’t over, nor was the drama. Team Penske re-built the Verizon car in record time and Will went out and made 11 more laps to force his rival to finish fifth instead of sixth.
Then he went into his motorhome to watch the rest of the 500-miler and see if RHR could close the deal, which he did but not until everyone’s heart was pounding.
“It was wild at the end but Ryan did a good job,” said Power, who graciously congratulated RHR afterwards.
So the driver with more wins (14) and pole positions (21) than anyone else in the past three years has to spend another winter wondering what if and counting the weeks until the first race.
“I’ve looked at it a thousand different ways,” he said. “But the bottom line is that I made my own bed and I’ll deal with it.”
Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.
A few days after his latest bid for a championship ended up against the wall at Auto Club Speedway, Power didn’t sound as sad as he did shocked about losing control while trying to pass Ryan Hunter-Reay on Lap 55 of the MAVTV 500.
Starting 13th, WP had dropped back to 21st to get a read on his chassis – which had gone from perfect at Wednesday’s test to pathetic in Friday’s final practice.
“It was the best feeling car I’d ever driven on an oval at the test but we went the wrong way on Friday and it was awful,” said Power, who held a 17-point lead going into the season finale. “But David (Faustino, his engineer) put it back to where it was and early on I knew we had that good car back under us.
“So I was just chilling out, not taking any risks and then I started passing people because it felt good.”
Power’s team agreed that overtaking Hunter-Reay was the best course of action at that point in the race.
“Tim (Cindric) came on the radio and said I was the fastest car on the track and I was running three miles an hour faster than Ryan,” continued the 30-year-old Aussie. “I sat there in his dirty air for a couple laps and then we decided it would be a good idea to get by.
“So I started running lower and my car had been under-steering but then I hit that seam in the track and it started to spin. It wasn’t a snap, it was almost slow motion, almost like a wheel had come off.
“And it was a big surprise.”
Power said he’d avoided that seam all week.
“I never ran down on that second line seam until the race -- I ran over and under it,” he said. “I almost wish I would have crashed on Wednesday like Ryan did and maybe been more wary of it.”
The three-time bridesmaid’s night wasn’t over, nor was the drama. Team Penske re-built the Verizon car in record time and Will went out and made 11 more laps to force his rival to finish fifth instead of sixth.
Then he went into his motorhome to watch the rest of the 500-miler and see if RHR could close the deal, which he did but not until everyone’s heart was pounding.
“It was wild at the end but Ryan did a good job,” said Power, who graciously congratulated RHR afterwards.
So the driver with more wins (14) and pole positions (21) than anyone else in the past three years has to spend another winter wondering what if and counting the weeks until the first race.
“I’ve looked at it a thousand different ways,” he said. “But the bottom line is that I made my own bed and I’ll deal with it.”
Robin Miller brings 40 years of experience to his role as SPEED.com's senior open-wheel reporter, and serves as a frequent contributor to SPEED Center and Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain.
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