Power Back In Winners Circle
DETROIT — Will Power might not be back in IndyCar’s championship battle, but he should feel better about his season.
Power finally won a race, ending a 19-race drought over the past 13 months, capturing the nightcap to the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit. The win was the 25th of Power’s career, moving him into a tie with Rodger Ward for 14th place all-time.
Power passed Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud on the restart on Lap 53, and while that only was for fifth place, the other cars in front of them still had to pit for fuel.
Pagenaud made a late charge for the lead, but he couldn’t catch Power. The final margin was 0.9203 seconds, a distance of a few car lengths, but Power wasn’t going to be caught.
“(The pass) wasn’t a big risk because (I) was on the outside,” he said. “Had I tried to go on the inside it would have been a much bigger risk, (and) I wasn’t willing to take that with Simon because he’s the championship leader.
“So, if I was going to do it, I had to do it on the outside and cleanly. There was a space, and I went for it.”
Power missed the season-opening race in St. Petersburg, Fla., due to
the effects of an inner ear illness. He spun under pressure from rookie Alexander Rossi in last month’s Indianapolis Motor Speedway road race, then was penalized in the Indianapolis 500 for an unsafe lane change on pit road.
In Saturday’s first race here, his right rear wheel came off coming to the green flag on a restart. He even took criticism from teammate Juan Pablo Montoya for an aggressive move.
“I think it just gives the whole crew some confidence,” Power said of the win. “I think we have all kind of been stumbling a little bit, the whole group of us.
“It’s been a tough start to the year, missed the first race and just had a few mishaps. Now we are there.”
Said Pagenaud of Power’s critical pass: “There was no point in colliding and trying too hard.”
Finishing second allowed Pagenaud to extend his series lead to 80 points, with Scott Dixon moving ahead of Helio Castroneves into second place. Dixon finished fifth with Castroneves, caught by the way the caution flags fell, finishing 14th.
In eight races this season, Pagenaud has won three times and finished second in three other races.
“Big picture,” he said of his approach to the battle with Power. “Championship.”
Dixon deserved to finish ahead of Castroneves after the Brazilian’s car hit his coming to the green flag. Behind them, was a mess.
Charlie Kimball in the 11th starting spot appeared to react to congestion ahead of him. As he moved to the left, Carlos Munoz was left to move left, too, which is where James Hinchcliffe’s car was. Munoz hit Hinchcliffe, pushing the Indianapolis 500 winner into the outside wall.
Hinchcliffe was furious, initially blasting the 500’s runner-up by saying Munoz would have to us some of that Indy money to repair his car. Later, Hinchcliffe took to Twitter to apologize after seeing the video.
“Wasn’t his fault,” Hinchcliffe wrote of Munoz. “He was forced into me. Lost my temper, I know better. Sorry guys.”
Series rookie Max Chilton also was taken out in the crash. He ran into the back of Hinchcliffe’s car on the left side of the track. Takuma Sato had his car’s front wing damaged in the incident.
Ryan Hunter-Reay finished third in this race with Saturday’s race winner, Sebastien Bourdais, finishing eighth. Bourdais was poised to sweep the weekend until a caution came for Jack Hawksworth’s stalled car.
Josef Newgarden (fourth) joined the top five. Conor Daly, who finished second in Saturday’s race, finished sixth.
