Chris Owens/IndyCar
Will Power, driver of the No.12 Verizon Chevrolet, finished the race in the second position in the Iowa Corn 300 at Iowa Speedway. This is Power’s third straight podium finish in a row, adding to his wins in the Second Dual in Detroit at Belle Isle Race park and Road America.
“It was good.” Power quoted. “Took us all day to get to the front basically. Kind of went really long on the first stint, lost quite a lot of positions there. Then slowly made our way back. We needed long stints to get back to the front because our car was really good over a long distance. “Yeah, I’m not sure we would have had anything for Newgarden. He was on his own on another planet. Really happy with second, though. Really, really happy. We’ve never run well here. We finally found a setup that’s not bad.”
The Australian driver said the track was really good during the race. He stated at the beginning their tires degraded but at the end there was a lot of wide open racing. He also thinks even with the new aero kits on the cars they can still take on a lot of downforce.
“It was so much fun at the beginning when you were sliding around,” Power added. “At the end you were just stuck. But it was still fun racing. It’s a great track. You know, it’s all about getting the formula right. I think it was really good racing today with what we had. A lot of fun.”
To obtain his second place finish and make the podium he had to pass his teammate and current points leader Simon Pagenuad to put himself to position at the end.
“Kind of in the previous stint, really degraded the front tires,” Power added. “ I was aware of that. For the first 15, 20 laps of that stint without losing too much ground. Found a couple good lines, looked after them. Scott I think went after Newgarden pretty hard. Degraded his tires. Simon didn’t seem that good over a long stint and we were. Gave me an opportunity to get both those guys. It was great. I was stoked. It was great. I was stoked. Always good racing guys like Dixon, because he gives you room.”
The 2014 IndyCar Champion stated during the race once fellow competitor and eventual race winner Josef Newgarden got the lead he checked out to another planet, having a 12 second lead over the rest of the field.
“I think the team did a phenomenal job,” Power said. “They obviously hit the setup dead on. This track, if the car is not working, you can really struggle. They just nailed it absolutely. Full credit. They’re a top-class team. Obviously not with the budgets that Penske and Ganassi have. They generally do a really good job with their resources. Full credit to them.”
Before the race Power made the prediction that Newgarden was going to win the race based on practice and qualifying. He also gives him full credit for coming back from his injuries to a physical track without testing that is a feat and that his win was very very good.
“I think considering his hand and all that, man, when we were running wide open at the beginning of stints, it was physically difficult,” Power added. ”He was having to grip that wheel. Full credit to him.”
With the solid finish, the Toowoomba, Australia native has gained some momentum in the points standings as they continue to race for the Asto Cup. Currently, Power sits in third in the point standing.
“Yeah, I agree,” Power said. “It’s funny, I don’t know why, if you get a big points lead in the middle of the year, somehow you know you aren’t going to have that coming down toward the end. Scott is right. You’re bound to have a bad day, you’re going to. It’s just what the other guys do on that day when you do have a bad day. “Hopefully it’s a day we’re winning when he’s having a bad day, you knock off a lot of points. 70 points, the last race can swing 70 points. He has a bad race, a DNF, an engine problem or something. Got to keep chipping away, keep chipping away each week.”
