USA TODAY International Edition
Power prevails at Pocono, closes gap on Pagenaud in IndyCar points race,
LONG POND, PA. Roger Penske wore a satisfied grin in Pocono Raceway’s victory lane. This was shaping up to be quite a championship endgame, and he employed the top two pieces.
Will Power’s fourth victory in the last six Verizon IndyCar Series races — in conjunction with teammate Simon Pagenaud’s crash with 42 laps left in the ABC Supply 500 — had more than halved Pagenaud’s lead in the championship standings with two races and a resumption Saturday of the race at Texas Motor Speedway remaining.
Pagenaud entered with a 58point lead on Power and left ahead by 20 after finishing 18th.
“Once he got on the momentum and saw he could catch ( Pagenaud), I think he put his mind to it,” Penske said.
Outwardly, this appears to be a contest between the unflappable Frenchman and the Australian who seems at his best when he is flapping very hard.
“It’s going to be interesting to see how it plays out,” third- place finisher Ryan Hunter- Reay said. “Simon is a big- picture thinker. He’s a very calculated driver. And Will has the got the bit be- tween his teeth and hair on fire.”
Finally feeling fit — Power missed the first race of the season with what was diagnosed as a concussion but later deemed the aftereffects of an inner ear infection — and fully focused have helped ignite Power’s run.
His statistics over the last six races — his two non- wins were runner- up finishes — suggest a manic dash in keeping with a driver whose emotions and performances were in the past subject to spikes and plateaus, with wonderful and sometimes correspondingly devastating results. He absorbed painful runner- up finishes from 2010 to 2012 when his hard- charging style put him in position for championships, then left him short.
Power says he’s changed. “I just think the older you get, the more you let the race happen,” he said. “You don’t try to force it. If you’ve got it, you’ve got it. If you don’t, you settle for where you’re at. That’s what I was doing. You just have to play the game right.”
Power did that Monday, advancing meticulously from his starting position of eighth to lead six times for 55 laps and hold off a probing Mikhail Aleshin in the final 35. He capitalized on swift pit stops and a swift car and won for the 29th time in his IndyCar career. There was little sizzle, but sizzle wasn’t required. If he continues to play the game right, Pagenaud will need to recover quickly from an 18th- place finish Monday.
“He’s really focused, and I think when you think about missing the first race and coming on as strong as he is right now, he’s going to give Simon a good run,” Penske said of Power. “But these guys are pros. We’ve got to finish this race in Texas. That’s going to be key. I’ve got to get that one with these guys up front and have a good finish there so we can go into the last two races with a good points lead and then they can fight it out at the end.”
Power will restart the Texas race fourth, Pagenaud 15th.
Pagenaud left the infield care center after being evaluated and released still projecting confidence but also a cognizance that this was going to be more difficult than suggested by the 124point, 11- spot lead he built on Power through seven races.
“It’s certainly not the way I wanted to see it happen today, but it happens,” Pagenaud said. “This is my first racing mistake of the year.”
Penske surmised, “Pagenaud on cold tires, probably he was trying too hard.”
Power didn’t make the same mistake.