Elkhart Lake, WI - during the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. (Photo by ... [+]
Ending a long dry spell, Will Power won Sunday’s IndyCar XPEL Grand Prix at Road America, marking the 43-year-old Australian’s first win since the Detroit Grand Prix on June 5, 2022. With Josef Newgarden—winner of the Indy 500 last month—earning second and Scott McLaughlin bringing in third, it was a Team Penske/Chevrolet domination at the famed Wisconsin circuit.
“Yeah, to come back like that at Indy, then 1-2-3 today. Really, I feel like we're performing at our highest level right now,” Power said in a post-race interview. “That includes Chevy. Chevy's done a great job with the engine. I think we struggled a little bit last year compared to Honda. They went away, did their homework. So did we. Together we have a very strong combination.”
Power’s win was his 42nd on the series, which put him in a fourth-place tie with Michael Andretti for overall series race wins (the two still trail A.J. Foyt, Scott Dixon, and Mario Andretti). “That was the next one I wanted to get. That was the one I'd been wanting for a while,” Power remarked. “To surpass Michael, big fan of Michael's as a kid. Watched him win a lot of races. The Andretti family, such a big deal, such legends of this sport. Anytime your name is around those guys, it's a big deal. Cool to be equal with Michael.”
More importantly, the win gave Power enough points to elevate him to series points leader. “I want multiple wins this year,” said Power. “I think that's what it will take to win the championship. We have the car for it. We have the engine for it. You know how this championship goes: very tough group, no bad driver in this field. You have to put it together very well if you want to win.”
XPEL Grand Prix at Road America
Newgarden was racing a backup car following a hard crash at the end of yesterday’s qualifying on a primarily wet track. He was quick to downplay its effect on the race results or whether the results would have been different in his primary chassis. “It wasn't a car issue, I can tell you that. I think at Team Penske, certainly me, I'm not ever concerned if we have to build up a new car. We have great consistency across the board. This team I think is the best as far as putting another car on track, and it's going to be the exact same thing,” he explained. “We switch cars quite a bit. It's the same product every time we put it on the track. That speaks volumes to the level of the team, the savvy-ness, the execution of the people. It's just really solid. There was no concern about that. I don't think that would have made a difference today.”
After the race, third-place finisher McLaughlin was reminded that this was the first Team Penske podium sweep since Sonoma in 2017. “Yeah, ultimately when the cycle finished, last stop, it was all sort of bringing it home for the team in some ways, yeah, as Josef said. I thought we were really quick in parts. Had a great start, led a lot of laps. I think the strategy didn't fall our way in terms of the overcut was strong. We knew it was going to be strong, but it was really strong today.”
Later this month, the NTT IndyCar Series will travel to Weathertech Raceway in California for the Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey, which will be held on June 23.
