Power reverses the slide with Thermal comeback drive

Will Power’s season got off to a terrible start when he was taken out on the first lap at St. Petersburg and left Florida buried sitting 26th — next to last — in the championship with the No. 12 Team Penske Chevy.

The 44-year-old’s fortunes were looking just as dismal after the entire Penske team missed the target during qualifying for The Thermal Club IndyCar Grand Prix last weekend. But despite starting 21st at a road course that doesn’t lend itself towards easy passing, Power used all 65 laps to scythe through the field and get his season back on track with a mighty run to sixth during a hot day with no caution periods.

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“Yeah, that’s a big day for the Verizon Chevy team considering it was full green,” Power said. “They didn’t get any lucky yellows or anything. That was pure pace there. The guys had a great strategy and we had great speed. I was really patient and methodical getting through the field. I think we’re all pretty disappointed with qualifying. I thought we certainly should’ve been in at least the top 10. That’s racing.”

Following St. Petersburg’s 26th with a sixth at Thermal has shot Power up to 14th in the Drivers’ championship, and he’ll need another strong run at the next races in Long Beach and Barber Motorsports Park to jump deep inside the top 10.

“That’s a good day,” he said. “You look on those days, and that’s the sort of thing that will help you win a championship there. We had an extra set of (faster alternate tires as a result of being knocked out in the first qualifying round) there. It helped, yes. Big time. It was kind of cool because at St. Pete, you didn’t have that luxury because the (alternate tire) was so soft, you couldn’t even use it in the race.

“But in this race, the (alternate) was the preferred tire. It was just, man, you had one lap to do it (in qualifying). Made a mistake starting the lap. The tire wasn’t quite in and I was disappointed with that because I’d been very fast in practice, running in the top six most of the time. But, you know, this is IndyCar, anything can happen. Keep your head on and keep rolling.”