Photo Credit: Kreistina Blinova
For the second year in a row, Will Power, driver of the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet for Team Penske, won the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway. The win marked the 32nd time Power was victorious in the Verizon IndyCar Series. He also broke a tie for ninth on the all-time wins list with Paul Tracy and Dario Franchitti.
Power started the race in the fifth position, staying within the top-five throughout much of the race. He was able to slowly work his way to the front, beating out his teammate, Josef Newgarden, to win the race.
“Yeah, I mean, once Josef got to me, the only place he was going to be able to pass was into (turn) 3, so very aggressive with blocking and making sure he did not get up the inside. He got up the inside, it was over,” Power added.
“Yeah, but what a crazy day for us. I mean, we had a really strong car. We were getting back to the front, and then suddenly, boom, the wing broke. Lucky I didn’t hit the wall. Went a lap down, and then just was thinking, be smart, just anything can happen. You get your lap back and get through the field, and that’s exactly what we did. So very, very good day.”
Along with the 32nd career win, Power is the first driver to win back-to back races at Pocono. Rick Mears has won three times at Pocono, while A.J. Foyt has won four races, but nobody has won back-to-back. Power said it meant a lot to him to hold that record.
“I love racing on ovals,” Power said. “Every oval win I get, I really, really enjoy because we don’t have many of them. Yeah, to come back and win it again in a very different way this year, it was a crazy race, exciting to me, but yeah, feels fantastic to go back-to-back.”
Power, who sits fifth in points, still has an outside shot at winning the championship. Power says he is ready to battle it out for the title with teammate Newgarden who is currently the leader in the points standings.
“Yeah, absolutely, absolutely,” Power said. “Absolutely. When you think about the finish to last year, which was basically if you’re three DNFs in a row if you include a non-finish at a double-points race, it’s like the worst finish you can have, so really determined to finish on a high this year, really determined. I don’t want to have that again. It was frustrating the way we finished last year, so I’m going for it.”
