Power targeting a Team Penske turnaround at Road America

The most heartwarming result of the 2024 IndyCar season came at Road America, the site of this weekend’s IndyCar Series race, when Team Penske’s Will Power earned his first win since going through hell with his wife Liz in 2023.

The sheer joy and relief on display when they embraced in victory lane spoke volumes about what they’d endured as she battled a life-threatening health condition in the season that followed Power’s 2022 championship win.

That result last June added fuel to Power’s season, and he went on to hold second in the championship until the final race when an issue with his seat belts forced him to stop twice for repairs. Although he’d fall to fourth in the final standings as a result of the seatbelt problems, there was no question as to how strongly he’d performed all season for Penske.

The trend continued into 2025 when, despite being crashed out at the first race of the season, Power has been Penske’s top championship performer and led the team home at five out of the seven races through Detroit.

IndyCar’s all-time pole position king added another to his tally last weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway — the 71st — and was holding second in the race until a tire failure fired the No. 12 car into the wall.

Power’s misfortune at WWTR was by no means the last for Team Penske, as teammate Josef Newgarden suffered a frightening crash that ended his race and Scott McLaughlin retired with a mechanical failure at the back of his car.

Factor in the brutal results for McLaughlin and Newgarden at the Indianapolis 500 and disappointing results for them at Detroit, and WWTR’s outcomes only made matters worse. Putting the recent adversity behind them and starting fresh at Road America would be welcome.

“We were all excited about St Louis,” Power told RACER. “We're all very good there. It was obviously disappointing to everyone on the team to have three DNFs, but the thing is that we were competitive, we were fast. We were definitely all going to have a shot at challenging for the win, just unfortunate circumstances that played out there.

“Everyone's still in good spirits, but it's just been a messy season. I had been very consistent. This one was certainly a hit to me. I didn't need that. It was really unfortunate to get a tire failure, but you move on pretty quick. Looking forward to Road America, and that's all you can do.”

Power is one of the longest-tenured Penske employees, and over the years, spanning the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar titles and 2018 Indy 500 win, he’s become more than just a driver.

The Australian’s been a powerful and enduring engine inside the organization, pushing hard to achieve better results and, in times of difficulty, to keep things light.

“I don't think anyone's in bad spirits,” he said. “We all just can't wait to get the next race to see what we can do. For the last race, because we were all starting the front, I said, ‘Let's make a plan, work together here, get the best result for all of us. And everyone, all the engineers and drivers, are willing to do that. It’s quite positive within the team.

“Of course you’re a bit disappointed after this weekend, but we're already moving on. I've been around a long time, and understand you can't dwell on these things.

“You have these ups and downs, and it can switch pretty quickly, so you have to keep everybody in tune with that and staying positive. We’ve got all the ingredients. It's not hopeless or like we haven't got the performance. The performance is all there. I feel like we're the best team on pit lane. We just haven't won a race yet. But we're working hard to change that.”

Whether it’s a repeat win or one of his Penske teammates, Power heads to Wisconsin with confidence that one of them could be celebrating on Sunday afternoon.

“It was very nice to just drive into victory lane again last year, that feeling, having your family there, and I'm looking at our performance and know that we can do it again if everything works out,” he said.

“I'm doing my homework, studying everything I can because you cannot assume you're going to be good there. That's when you absolutely get beat. I know we have the potential, but you can never rest or think it will just happen again because you did it the year before.

“Every year, every race is different. Everyone's gone and worked much harder for that specific track, so you’ve got to be ready, to adjust quickly. And last year it was a non-hybrid race. So we've added the hybrid and that’s new for everyone at Road America. But nobody’s confidence has been lost. We’re going there to win, man, just like we always do. We’ve had some unfortunate results lately, but things aren’t bad in any way. This team, I’m telling you, can get the job done.”