Will Power has explained how a "strange" issue with his seat belt in the IndyCar Series finale at Nashville Superspeedway caused his hopes of a third title to quickly evaporate.
The 43-year-old Team Penske driver was the only remaining challenger to championship leader Alex Palou once the race got under way, and needed to overturn a 33-point deficit to deny his Chip Ganassi Racing rival.
However Power's slender hopes in the 206-lap race were ended abruptly on lap 12 when he reported the loose belt issue. He fell five laps down by the time it was resolved, and finished the race in 24th position after a recurrence of the problem left him eight laps in arrears.
Palou secured the title despite finishing a lap down in 11th, while victory for Colton Herta and a fifth place finish for Scott McLaughlin moved both above Power in the final standings.
Explaining the seat belt dramas that derailed his race, Power said: “Actually just popped.
“Like ‘pop’, like a failure. It didn’t just come loose, it just popped off. I was in the middle of a battle and I felt it off, like ‘Ah, that’s off, I have to pit’.
“Then did it again later in the race, so it’s a faulty seatbelt or faulty clasp, whatever it is.
“Pretty bad situation really, because I didn’t even think about, 'man if I hit the wall, what happens here. If it’s just popping off from a little bit of pressure from my body, I might get thrown out of the car'.
“That didn’t cross my mind after we’d plugged it in, but after it did the second time, [I knew] there’s something wrong with it.”
When asked if he had ever encountered something like that before, Power responded, “Never. No, strange one.”
Despite the disappointing end to his season that dropped Power from second to fourth in the standings, he was pleased with his season as a whole.
“Yeah, very satisfying,” Power said. “Three race wins, one on an oval, won on a couple of road courses. I had a dominant win, too, which I’ve been waiting to start at the front of the grid.
“I feel like my race pace is always very good on the road and street courses, it’s just a matter of getting to the front and using it.
“Just a good year for the whole team. Obviously, we would love to win the championship.
“We all had the potential, just you know, Palou is very good. He’s very measured.
“He’s a tough guy to beat. If you beat him in the championship, you’ve done a good job.”
