Winning wasn’t on the mind of Will Power going into the second leg of IndyCar’s doubleheader at Iowa Speedway, but it happened anyways.
And it’s fair to understand why after scrubbing the wall on the second lap of his qualifying run meant he started 22nd, with passing proving especially difficult on the repaved 0.894-mile oval that only had limited racing room.
Add to the fact that in 18 previous starts, he never converted any of his seven poles into wins, with four-runner-ups his best result at the high-speed short track.
In one of the unlikeliest of ways, though, Power was able to pull off the victory - his second of the season and first on an oval in nearly five years (Pocono, 2019).
“It's funny because I was trying to win this for so long,” said Power, driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Chevrolet. “Even last year I finished second.
“I think I finished second a few times before the repave, trying really hard to win. I didn't really think I'd win today.
“You know how life goes, it just happens like that. Been trying to win this one for a long time. Stoked to tick that box. I've won a lot of races at a lot of tracks. When you tick a box at a track you haven't won on, it feels pretty good.”
Power held serve down in 19th position for the majority of the first stint prior to the first pit stop cycle. Yet he managed to overcut on the entire field and elevated himself into the lead when a perfectly-timed caution came out on lap 101.
He then pitted under yellow on lap 106 and came out in second place, directly behind race leader Alex Palou.
From there, Power stalked the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda before pulling off another overcut after pitting on lap 205 and taking the lead after a 0.888s combined advantage on pit lane.
Despite lapped coming up on lapped traffic and Palou pressuring, Power was able secure the 43rd win of his career, breaking a tie with Michael Andretti for fourth all-time.
“I had a very good car,” Power said. “My plan from the beginning was to sit back and save a lot of fuel, just get the best possible number using the speed, lifting.
“In that gap, I prayed for a yellow because I knew there would be out-laps. That would be when people would be prone to mistakes. That's exactly what happened.
“Even if it didn't, we were just going to jump people by staying out. They come in. You're just faster. Jump a few people to a sequence, as well. Either way we were going to go forward. But that was the big one, getting that yellow.
“I felt like we had a better car than Alex. Sat back, saved fuel again. Went long. Jumped him over in that sequence. Good in out-laps. Amazing stops as usual by my guys. They're the best in pit lane.
“Don't have to take my word for it. Just look at the times every time. I'm lucky with that.”
With the win, Power now moves into second in the championship standings, 35 points behind Palou (379-344).
One thing that Power did touch on was the unique racing style that took shape at the track, with passing uncharacteristically difficult compared to races before the repave, which saw high tire wear. The first race on Saturday night featured 100 on-track passes for position over 250 laps, with Sunday’s having only 95 over the same race length.
And that made it challenging when coming up on the lapped traffic – that he never ended up getting by – with 40 laps to go all the way through the checkered flag. But he held on to the finish, to win by 0.39s.
“That was a tough balance,” Power said. “Like, I was basically backing the corner up and just getting on the throttle really early.
“Every time I would come out of the corner, it was a big run. He would close up there, which you couldn't really do anything. It's usually when someone gets a big run on you.
“Trying to keep backing up. Five to go, a bunch of cars battling and started really to back up. This is going to be interesting, but I did my best. I was keeping an eye on him and just trying to keep that gap to get big exits.”
