POWER UP AT POCONO
Will Power’s win in rain-shortened race is his 3rd in 4 years
If Sunday’s ABC Supply 500 was the final NTT IndyCar Series at Pocono Raceway, Will Power may be the one who misses the Monroe County track the most. Power won for the third time in four years at Pocono on Sunday in a race shortened to 128 of the scheduled 200 laps by a thunderstorm.
The race was marred by a major crash that took out five cars on the first lap, including the one driven by Andretti Autosport driver Alexander Rossi, who entered the race second in the points standings.
The accident, which began when Takuma Sato tried to wedge his way between two drivers on Turn 2, redflagged the race for 45 minutes and sent
all five drivers to the medical center. Four of the five — Sato, Rossi, James Hinchcliffe and Ryan Hunter-Reay — were immediately cleared.
Rookie Felix Rosenqvist, whose car went airborne and skimmed the top of the wall for several seconds, was taken to the trauma center at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest for further evaluation and later released.
Power, who got his first win of the season and the 32nd of his career, led 31 laps. With dark clouds looming to the northwest, he took the lead from Scott Dixon on Lap 115.
The Penske team member also made it 13 consecutive years on the circuit with at least one victory.
“It’s a big relief because it has been one of those years that really hasn’t flowed very well for me,” he said. “I’ve been quick, I’ve been there, but a few errors on my part and a few things haven’t fallen my way. But I am absolutely over the moon to finally win a race this season. The guys working on the car have worked their butts off and we’ve just had bad runs. So this is awesome.”
Chip Ganassi Racing driver Dixon finished second and Power’s Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud was third after leading a race-high 64 laps.
“I was very determined today, especially knowing I had the car to do it,” Power said. “I kind of sat back and tried to save fuel a lot and got shuffled back. We were able to move forward pretty quickly and got back up with these guys. The car was very fast and when the
spotter said the rain is coming, I just turned the fuel up and went as hard as I could. I was able to find a gap and go.”
Dixon, the defending series champ and the winner of the 2013 race at Pocono, said: “Will was extremely strong today and it was good to see him get another victory. Had we gone back out even with the headlights, Will was going to take the race.”
Nazareth’s Marco Andretti finished 15th in the race.
Pagenaud said the Penske cars were the strongest on Sunday and his car could have been a factor had the race gone the distance.
“Did I think we could have done better?” Pagenaud said. “Yes, and we would have tried. We had the car to do so. Who knows what would have happened? But I think we could have challenged. At the end of the day, it’s still not a bad day.”
As for the first-lap accident that ultimately doomed the race from going the full 200 laps with rain in the forecast, Power said of Sato: “You just can’t do that.”
“There are seams down the back there and you’ll see the cars move around a lot,” he added.
“Maybe that’s what happened. But when you’re threewide, it’s tough going down there being so close. I don’t know what happened but it really sucked to see the yellow flag again on Turn 2 of the first lap.
“I feel bad for the guys taken out, especially those in the championship hunt like Rossi. You have to respect these places in every situation. You can’t screw around much.”
Praise for Pocono: With a decision looming soon on whether or not Pocono will be on the 2020 IndyCar schedule, the top three finishers offered their support for the track even though the first lap crash drew a reaction Robert Wickens and Sage Karam, who were both involved in crashes at Pocono. They tweeted that IndyCar shouldn’t return.
“The crowds are up 15 percent every time we come back and it’s a good track for racing,” Power said. “I really hope we come back, I do. These guys here do a great job and it’s hard to find good ovals these days.” Dixon said:
“Honestly, I feel bad for Pocono. They have a group of people here who work extremely hard. The crowd today at the start of the race was fantastic. It was getting some good momentum. The weather and some mistakes on the track that have happened could happen anywhere. It kind of gets a bad taste in that scenario. The drivers in a lot of situations could do a lot to help, so honestly, I hope we come back because it’s a tough place, but so rewarding to win here.”
Keith Groller can be reached at 610-820-6740 or at kgroller@mcall.com