Will Power stayed in the IndyCar championship race with a strong win on Sunday at Portland International Raceway.
Power began the race in second place next to polesitter Santino Ferrucci — the first A.J. Foyt Racing driver to start from pole in a decade — but a partnership between Team Penske and the Foyt team allowed Power and Ferrucci to plan their start.
Power was 66 points behind championship leader Alex Palou at the beginning of the race. He promised to be aggressive and drive like three-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen. The 43-year-old Australian was serious about it, moving ahead of Ferrucci as they approached the first turn.
“Santino and I talked about the start, he was a very good teammate,” Power said.
Palou, who started third, finished about 10 seconds behind Power in second place. Power led 101 of the 110 laps and won for the third time this season. Palou questioned whether his Chip Ganassi Racing team was too cautious with their strategy.
“It was tough work there trying to catch Will,” Palou said. “I’m not uncomfortable. I think we’ve got a lot of work to do, but I love adversity and the opportunity we have in front of us.”
Power now trails Palou, the defending Portland winner who is aiming for his third championship in four seasons, by 54 points with three races left.
“If he had finished ahead of us, it would be over. This just kept it alive,” Power said about the significance of his win. “It’s going to be the same for the rest of the year. You’ve got no choice but to be ahead of him.”
Power’s teammate Josef Newgarden finished third, followed by Colton Herta of Andretti Global, Marcus Armstrong of Chip Ganassi Racing, and Marcus Ericsson of Andretti. Scott McLaughlin of Penske was seventh, and Ferrucci, who was looking for his first career win, ended up in eighth place.
