Power wins in Portland, keeps IndyCar title hopes alive

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Power wins in Portland, keeps IndyCar title hopes alive

Will Power ******** in the IndyCar championship hunt with a wire-to-wire victory at Portland International Raceway.

Power started second alongside polesitter Santino Ferrucci — the first A.J. Foyt Racing driver to lead the field to green in a decade — but an alliance between Team Penske and the Foyt organisation allowed Power and Ferrucci to make a plan for the start.

Sixty-six points behind championship leader Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing at the start of the race, Power vowed to be aggressive at the start and drive like three-time Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen. The 43-year-old *********** was serious about it, too, as he slid ahead of Ferrucci entering the first turn.

Palou, who started third, finished just under 10 seconds back in second as Power won for the third time this season.

“It was tough work there trying to catch Will,” Palou said.

Power now trails Palou, who was the defending Portland winner and is seeking a third championship in four seasons, by 54 points with three races remaining.

“Nice job, guys,” Power radioed his crew.

“This makes things a little interesting.”

Power teammate Josef Newgarden finished third, while three-time Supercars champion Scott McLaughlin of Penske was seventh.

Power has raced Nashville Superspeedway, site of the season finale, once before and has one victory in six previous starts at the Milwaukee Mile. He’ll seek to chip into Palou’s lead even more in IndyCar’s return to the Wisconsin State Fair Park for next weekend’s doubleheader.

Unlike Palou, who has never won on an oval or even raced at the two remaining venues on the schedule, Power has 10 career victories on ovals.

“I really, really love this series, feel lucky to be part of it and see if we can get a championship,” Power said.

“We’ve been very, very good on ovals. Very solid. Obviously, it is two ovals we haven’t raced for a long time, so it’s anyone’s game. We’ll do our best and take the ****** to Alex.”

Power has 44 career victories, fourth in IndyCar history.

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