Will Power gave it all he had in his No. 12 Verizon 5G Team Penske entry. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
LEXINGTON, Ohio – No matter if it is a two-time and defending NTT INDYCAR Series champion or a rookie racer, racing in this open wheel division is a challenge.
In the case of Will Power, every race in the 2023 season is a dogfight for positions, wins and championship spots. Ranked eighth in the championship standings, Power has been seeking his first victory of the year.
With a 2020 win at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, the 43-year-old racer had a decent crack at another triumph with a seventh place starting position. However, the Team Penske racer recognized how the Hondas, namely Alex Palou and Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing, were forces to be reckoned with on Sunday.
From the start of the race, Power clearly had the best Chevrolet in the field of 27 drivers, consistently running inside the top five throughout the 80-lap race. Similarly, the No. 12 Verizon 5G Dallara Chevrolet pit crew reeled off two quick pit stops.
Overall, Power had a clean, efficient race nary of any mistakes. Despite the clean, consistent effort, the Australian was unable to mount any formidable challenges against the Ganassi duo of Palou and Dixon.
Crossing the stripe with a third-place result, Power observed how the 2023 championship is Palou’s to lose with eight races remaining.
Power recognized the incredible pace and dominance displayed by Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing. (Photo: Wayne Riegle | The Podium Finish)
“I don’t think anybody’s going to challenge Palou right now,” Power said. “There’s going to be a fight for second place in the championship.”
Interestingly, Power did not know where he was running throughout the 80-lap race. Although he was not aware, he was in contention for a strong podium finish at the 2.258-mile, 13-turn road course.
“You need to know if you’re fighting hard for a podium or not,” he said. “Or you can be conservative if you know. Sometimes, they tell me. Sometimes, you know because of where you start and how things are played out.
“It was a bit of an interesting race. We had some guys on three (pit) stops. It was a good day. It was a good, typical, hard competitive INDYCAR race.”
It was a hard fought podium for Power given the summery conditions this past Sunday. For anybody who has doubts about drivers being athletes, Power and his peers prove that they have to be up to the task especially when the going gets tough in these high speed machines.
“Even though it was hot, I never seem to suffer physically these days,” Power said. “I think it’s because I’m just so attuned to it because I’ve been racing for so many years. It’s just, I rarely feel pain in the car. I probably feel it, but just tune it out.”
By far, Power hopes that he and his peers have a better time getting by lapped traffic in future races. (Photo: Logan Skidan | The Podium Finish)
Aside from having more pace to battle against Palou and Dixon, Power would like to see something done with the lapped traffic. Ultimately, those running a lap or more behind impeded with the progress of those vying for maximum points, a problem that Dixon and Power observed following last Sunday’s race.
“I think that’s actually the problem is it takes a lot of people to police,” he said. “If there’s a blue flag rule and the first guy passes and then you’ve got to have a command blue for everyone, but I think if everyone just understood, if you get the blue flag, you have to let the driver go within the lap.
“That I think is their issue is the amount of people in race control that would have to police that. It becomes… I think that’s the thing. It becomes a bit difficult, but we’re at the stage where this competition is so tough maybe we have to add some people to do that.”
