POWER: A Busy Off-Season

IndyCar

POWER: A Busy Off-Season

I've had a lot of changes happen recently in my life-almost all of them positive-and I can't wait to go racing again.

Will Power | Posted February 04, 2011 Troutman, NC

Power, left, had an amazing first full-season of racing with Team Penske in 2010. With teammates Helio Castroneves, middle, and Ryan Briscoe, right, the trio are aiming for a championship in 2011. (LAT)

Welcome to my first Voices of SPEED column for 2011!

A lot has gone on over the past month or two for me, so let's catch up on the many changes that have taken place. First, I got married in Maui in December to my girlfriend, Elizabeth. The wedding was a lot of fun and to be honest, I never really thought of weddings as something that you'd consider as a fun event. To me, it was just great to have my whole family together, and Elizabeth had her entire family there. We also had a lot of our IndyCar family with us to celebrate.

My teammate Ryan Briscoe was there, Tim Cindric was there and our engineers were there, and my old teammate Alex Tagliani also came over. My sponsor Verizon Wireless made an incredibly nice gesture by sending Elizabeth and I to go on a helicopter tour of the island as a part of our honeymoon, which really added to the excitement of it all. We flew over a few volcanoes and in one of the craters we saw some lava flowing, so that was close enough for the two of us.

We also saw how the lava had gone down into a local community. There was still one house that was standing amongst all the lava, and the tour guide said the owner continues to live inside it... That's a brave man.

Will's marriage to Elizabeth Cannon in December was a fitting end to an amazing year for the Aussie. (Penske Racing)

We also saw how after 700,000 years, water had carved these massive canyons flowing through the valleys, so it gave us an amazing look at how the Hawaiian islands are so affected by the forces of nature. Compared to suburban life, you get to appreciate how hostile the environment around you can become. My home town of Toowoomba has also been hit pretty hard with all of the flooding you might have read about or seen on TV. I'd like to thank everyone who has called or emailed to offer their support.

My parent's business has been OK, but my cousin's house, for example, was directly in the path of the flood waters. It got all the way up to his second floor and will need to be completely rebuilt. Just about everyone in that part of Queensland was touched by it; even if it was just a little bit of water, I think everybody had to bail some water out of their home or business.

My Best Man in my wedding flies Black Hawk helicopters for the Australian military, and he was directly involved in the emergency response. He told me the people in the areas that were hit the hardest only had 10 seconds notice before a huge wall of water washed houses, cars and people away. It's a really sad story for everyone and it will be a while before the region has fully recovered and people are able to return to their normal lives.

In addition to getting married and what happened back home, I've been really focused in on my training and preparation for the upcoming IZOD IndyCar season. We'll test in early March and then again later in the month at the official series test at Barber Motorsports Park in Alabama, but in the meantime, I've been in the gym trying to take my fitness and strength to a whole new level. I'm really itching to get back in the car. It's not that I hate sitting around-working out has been highly productive, but I'd race constantly if the IndyCar calendar allowed me to do so.

Compared to the amount of fitness I achieved in 2009-before my accident at Sonoma-I think I might have been down just a touch last year. I've started adding more muscle mass, which will help because the Dallara/Hondas are so physical to drive. Being a part-time driver for Team Penske in 2009 allowed me to be in the gym constantly, and with 17 races last year, scheduling was tougher, but I've made adjustments that will now allow me to surpass what I did in the gym two years ago.

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Will Power

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