MADISON, Ill. — He’s been saying as much since preseason media days in January, but Will Power emphatically proved the point Saturday evening: The two-time IndyCar champion and all-time series pole leader still has speed.
After a 2024 campaign where the Team Penske driver failed to procure an IndyCar pole for the first time since 2008, Power snapped a 29-race pole-less streak at World Wide Technology Raceway on Saturday to secure his 71st out-front start of his IndyCar career, extending a series record he grabbed three years ago from American racing legend Mario Andretti (67 poles).
The pole also marked the 700th pole for Team Penske’s global racing program in its 50-plus year history.
“It will be nice to see nothing in front of me for the first time in a while,” Power said with a chuckle in the news conference, flanked by his wife Liz and son Beau sitting off to the side, beaming. “It has been a while. I mean, I’ve been on the front row a few times, but it’s nice to get a pole always. One (championship) point, and you get to lead the field to green.
“I’m going to enjoy it for an hour or so and then get back to practice.”
Saturday’s result marks Power’s fifth pole at WWTR in IndyCar’s 10 events since returning to the track in 2017. He’s won once, and not in a race he started from pole, in 2018. He’s joined on the front row by the polesitter each of the last two years Team Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin, with the pair’s other teammate Josef Newgarden, the winner of four of the last five races at the track, starting fifth.
Sitting fifth in the championship entering this weekend with five top-6 results and five times the top Team Penske finisher this season, Power said earlier this week oftentimes the difference between him and his first win this year had been his lack of execution in qualifying and a couple bouts of bad luck. Starting out front in a race where track position means quite a bit will be key, even for a cooler nighttime race Sunday night with better chances of a second lane to work its way in, Power said.
“I really do believe (I have a lot of speed). I feel that,” Power said. “I’ve obviously done this for a long time. I know the craft very well, and it’s very nice to get pole. Obviously it’s just two laps, and you’ve got to execute in the race.
“I think it’s good to be in the top 3 or 4 here. I think once you start falling back, it gets hard to get back up there. Sometimes it’s not good to lead and burn that fuel because this is on the cusp of a four-stop race, and you can eliminate one stop (by saving fuel). So it will be interesting to see how that sorta plays out throughout the field.”
Though he told IndyStar earlier this week he doesn’t expect to know the fate of his future in the sport for some time — his latest multi-year contract with Team Penske ends after this season, and he remains without an extension or a retooled deal for 2026 — Saturday’s pole performance only continues to build his case that he’s deserving of another deal, Power said, after racking up as many wins and as many podiums as any driver in the field in 2024.
“Any time you’re P1 in any session, it’s just little bits of credit,” Power said. “One race win would be a huge chunk of credit. You just have to keep doing that. That’s just the nature of this series.
“It’s very competitive right now. Teams are looking for top-level drivers. It’s come down to that: people who can execute week in and week out. You’ve got to keep putting runs on the board.”
IndyCar qualifying results at World Wide Technology Raceway
1. Will Power, 180.329 mph
2. Scott McLaughlin, 179.783 mph
3. Pato O’Ward, 179.190 mph
4. David Malukas, 179.079 mph
5. Josef Newgarden, 178.910 mph
6. Marcus Armstrong, 178.754 mph
7. Felix Rosenqvist, 178.696 mph
8. Colton Herta, 178.511 mph
9. Alex Palou, 178.381 mph
10. Kyle Kirkwood, 178.229 mph
11. Scott Dixon, 178.014 mph
12. Alexander Rossi, 177.996 mph
13. Marcus Ericsson, 177.405 mph
14. Christian Lundgaard, 176.868 mph
15. Conor Daly, 176.807 mph
16. Callum Ilott, 176.758 mph
17. Devlin DeFrancesco, 176.288 mph
18. Rinus VeeKay, 176.224 mph
19. Santino Ferrucci, 175.963 mph
20. Nolan Siegel, 175.779 mph
21. Louis Foster, 174.907 mph
22. Graham Rahal, 174.687 mph
23. Sting Ray Robb, 174.474 mph
24. Robert Shwartzman, 174.265 mph
25. Christian Rasmussen, 174.170 mph
26. Kyffin Simpson, 173.035 mph
27. Jacob Abel, 171.424 mph
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: ‘Nothing in front of me’: Will Power won his IndyCar-best pole despite near-2-year drought
Reporting by Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
