Power, of positive thinking, wins Indy
INDIANAPOLIS — Will Power hated racing on ovals. He wasn’t a fan of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and figured he would never win the Indianapolis 500.
That kind of attitude doesn’t fly when you drive for Roger Penske.
Power had to change his thinking and his performance on oval tracks. He learned to respect the speedway. And the 37-year-old Power is now a winner of one of the biggest races in the world.
“I’ve slowly changed to be a more positive person. It’s hard when you’re very negative,” said Power, who pulled away in the final moments to win the 102nd running of the Indy 500. “You’ve got to have determination. That’s what I had. You work hard at something, it comes to you. It eventually comes to you. (Indy) was the last box to tick, to be considered as a very successful driver.”
The different approach landed Power in the most storied winner’s circle in history Sunday when he gave Penske a 17th victory in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Power actually swept the month of May at Indy after winning on the road course two weeks ago and his 34 wins tied him with Al Unser Jr. for eighth on Indycar’s all-time list.
Power is also the winningest Indycar driver in Penske history (31). He is the first Australian victor in 102 editions of the race, and joined countryman Daniel Ricciardo as winners on the biggest day of the year in motorsports. Ricciardo won Formula One’s Monaco Grand Prix earlier Sunday.
Power celebrated the checkered flag by screaming into his radio: “Show me
respect, (expletive)!” When he got to the winner’s circle, he screamed some more. Some two hours after the race, he was exhausted.
“I just screamed like I’ve never screamed before. It was just amazing. The last two laps, the last lap, seeing the white flag, the checkered, I mean, you can’t explain it,” Power said. “It’s what I needed so badly, what I wanted so badly, and it came true. Anyone here knows how that would feel. You want something so much, it comes through to you through hard work and determination.”
Penske arrived in Indy with four fast Chevrolets, and the engine builder was determined to snap Honda’s two-race Indy 500 winning streak. The Chevys were the fastest cars in the field, and Team Penske had four equal chances to win with 2016 champion Simon Pagenaud, reigning champion Josef Newgarden and three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves in addition to Power.
“We had four great cars. That’s what you have to have here. You have to have four bullets, whatever it takes,” Penske said.
Power was the only bullet Penske needed as many top drivers made costly mistakes. James Hinchcliffe, a championship contender, failed to make the race at all. Castroneves, Tony Kanaan, Sebastien Bourdais and Danica Patrick were among those who crashed in single-car spins. Defending race winner Takuma Sato was also knocked out when he ran into the back of a slower car.
Ed Carpenter was second in a Chevy. Patrick was completing the “Danica Double” after wrecking out at the Daytona 500. She decided long ago that the race that made her famous would be her last, and while she called the outcome disappointing, she also expressed appreciation for all that Indianapolis had given her.
“Yeah, it’s an entire career,” she said, “but what really launched it was this. It’s both of them. I had a lot of good fortune here and did still have some this month. It just didn’t come today.”