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IndyCar
INDYCAR: The Power Of Negative Thinking
Marshall Pruett delves inside the motivations and makeup of IndyCar’s two title contenders, starting with Team Penske's Will Power.
Team Penske's Will Power reaches his ultimate potential by some rather extraordinary mental means. (Photo: LAT)
(SPEED’s Marshall Pruett goes beyond the racetrack to delve inside the motivations and makeup of IndyCar’s two title contenders, starting with championship-leading driver Will Power.)
Watch Team Penske’s Will Power on a pole-winning lap, or leaping out of his Chevy-powered Indy car after a hard-fought victory and he looks like every other elite athlete.
And whether it’s pumping his fist in the air after crossing the start/finish line or delivering a spirited post-race interview, there are assumptions that come with Power’s behavior.
Flush with endorphins, teeming with emotions, it’s only natural to expect IndyCar’s fastest driver to be filled with self-confidence, and it just might be there for a fleeting moment, but not long after he’s sprayed the champagne Power returns to a familiar, albeit surprising place.
“I really, honestly think I'm going to get my ass kicked next time out,” said the winner of 14 IndyCar races since 2010. “It must be subconsciously in my mind. I don't want to lose, ever. EVER. But I’m telling you, every winter, I look at the next season and I’m absolutely convinced I’ll never win another race again. I don’t know what it is inside me that goes that way—that goes in that direction. But it’s real. It’s absolutely real.”
Power’s innate negativity—at least towards his talent and potential—ranks among the oddest inner conflicts in all of motor racing.
Few, if any, in the series are capable of matching Power’s speed or success; his winning percentage since 2009 exceeds that of 2009-2010-2011 IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti over the same period of time, but down deep, the 31-year-old Aussie genuinely believes that each trip to Victory Lane might be his last.
Call it a mind game he plays on himself or a bizarre form of motivation, but between races, you’d be hard-pressed to move Power off the glass-half-empty outlook that drives him.
In any other sport, Power’s dour view on his future would be remedied with a dynamic coach and an incredibly supportive cast. Pep talks and inspiring quotes would likely follow, but not in this case.
With Penske Racing president Tim Cindric overseeing his No. 12 Verizon Wireless car and his friend David Faustino engineering the car, Power has his own personal black cloud to douse any flare-ups of positivity.
“We were laughing about that,” Power admitted. “It's such a weird, weird combination. It’s just like you get in the car and 100 percent do our job, think of nothing else. Just think of doing the job, that's it. So the only time it’s not negative is in that thinking process of going through the race.”
Cindric took umbrage with being painted as a negative character, and drew a distinction between his personal outlook on life, his role in the No. 12 team and Power's take on the world
“I would say they're different,” he said. “And there's a fine line, and I talk about it all the time, between pessimism and realism. And in Will’s case, I would call it pessimism. I would call it... I tell him all the time what he does for a living is he eats, sleeps, worries and drives race cars. That's what he does. And he does a lot of all of those things. But those are the four things that he spends most of his life doing. Eating, sleeping, worrying, and driving a racecar. And for me, my personality, at least the way I view it, is different. I'm not a pessimist. I am one that believes that good things in life happen to me and I'm not that way. I'm perceived that way, I think, because in my position I've always had to be prepared for the worst.
“Leading the organization or being the guy on the radio that's ultimately responsible for how the race plays out… I've been there when the driver doesn't come back. All those different scenarios. Just because you're preparing for crisis management doesn't mean you believe it's going to happen.”
Cindric’s rather humorous take on Power’s four primary concerns in life carries more than just a hint of truth. Playing the role of amateur (and wholly unqualified) psychiatrist, Power exhibits all the traits of someone with OCD—at least in relation to motor racing.
Watch Team Penske’s Will Power on a pole-winning lap, or leaping out of his Chevy-powered Indy car after a hard-fought victory and he looks like every other elite athlete.
And whether it’s pumping his fist in the air after crossing the start/finish line or delivering a spirited post-race interview, there are assumptions that come with Power’s behavior.
Flush with endorphins, teeming with emotions, it’s only natural to expect IndyCar’s fastest driver to be filled with self-confidence, and it just might be there for a fleeting moment, but not long after he’s sprayed the champagne Power returns to a familiar, albeit surprising place.
“I really, honestly think I'm going to get my ass kicked next time out,” said the winner of 14 IndyCar races since 2010. “It must be subconsciously in my mind. I don't want to lose, ever. EVER. But I’m telling you, every winter, I look at the next season and I’m absolutely convinced I’ll never win another race again. I don’t know what it is inside me that goes that way—that goes in that direction. But it’s real. It’s absolutely real.”
Power’s innate negativity—at least towards his talent and potential—ranks among the oddest inner conflicts in all of motor racing.
Few, if any, in the series are capable of matching Power’s speed or success; his winning percentage since 2009 exceeds that of 2009-2010-2011 IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti over the same period of time, but down deep, the 31-year-old Aussie genuinely believes that each trip to Victory Lane might be his last.
Call it a mind game he plays on himself or a bizarre form of motivation, but between races, you’d be hard-pressed to move Power off the glass-half-empty outlook that drives him.
In any other sport, Power’s dour view on his future would be remedied with a dynamic coach and an incredibly supportive cast. Pep talks and inspiring quotes would likely follow, but not in this case.
With Penske Racing president Tim Cindric overseeing his No. 12 Verizon Wireless car and his friend David Faustino engineering the car, Power has his own personal black cloud to douse any flare-ups of positivity.
“We were laughing about that,” Power admitted. “It's such a weird, weird combination. It’s just like you get in the car and 100 percent do our job, think of nothing else. Just think of doing the job, that's it. So the only time it’s not negative is in that thinking process of going through the race.”
Cindric took umbrage with being painted as a negative character, and drew a distinction between his personal outlook on life, his role in the No. 12 team and Power's take on the world
“I would say they're different,” he said. “And there's a fine line, and I talk about it all the time, between pessimism and realism. And in Will’s case, I would call it pessimism. I would call it... I tell him all the time what he does for a living is he eats, sleeps, worries and drives race cars. That's what he does. And he does a lot of all of those things. But those are the four things that he spends most of his life doing. Eating, sleeping, worrying, and driving a racecar. And for me, my personality, at least the way I view it, is different. I'm not a pessimist. I am one that believes that good things in life happen to me and I'm not that way. I'm perceived that way, I think, because in my position I've always had to be prepared for the worst.
“Leading the organization or being the guy on the radio that's ultimately responsible for how the race plays out… I've been there when the driver doesn't come back. All those different scenarios. Just because you're preparing for crisis management doesn't mean you believe it's going to happen.”
Cindric’s rather humorous take on Power’s four primary concerns in life carries more than just a hint of truth. Playing the role of amateur (and wholly unqualified) psychiatrist, Power exhibits all the traits of someone with OCD—at least in relation to motor racing.
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