THERMAL, Calif. — For the two-time champion Will Power, a 21-year veteran of the IndyCar Series with 44 wins, 69 pole positions and 303 races’ worth of experience, a sixth-place finish isn’t typically much to write home about. But for Team Penske’s veteran driver, who opened the 2025 IndyCar Series season on the Streets of St. Petersburg with a first-lap wreck and a 26th-place finish, it was an encouraging comeback.
“Oh yeah, it’s a big day considering it was full green, so you didn’t get any sort of lucky yellows or anything,” Power told Frontstretch. “It was just pure pace there and the guys hit a great strategy and we used our speed getting through the field and I was really patient, methodical, getting through the field.”
Solid day for the No. 12 team. We had great strategy, stayed patient, and used our speed to work through the field. That extra set of reds made all the difference. Proud of the effort from everyone today.#INDYCAR #ThermalGP #WillToWin pic.twitter.com/nXTwU2lCR1
— Will Power (@12WillPower) March 23, 2025
And get through the field, Power certainly did, rallying 15 spots from a dispiriting 21st place starting spot to a final result of sixth. It was a starting spot he hadn’t necessarily expected either, based on his Saturday practice efforts, with all three Team Penske entries missing the Fast 12.
“We’re all pretty disappointed with qualifying,” he said. “I thought we, we certainly should have been in the, at least in the top 10, but, that’s racing and it’s a good day, man.
“I was disappointed with that because I had been very fast in practice, sort of running in the top six most of the time, but this is IndyCar, anything can happen, so just keep your head on and keep rolling.”
And that’s exactly what Power did, picking his way through the field in a race that ran green throughout; the first such occasion since the penultimate race of the COVID season of 2020 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – a race coincidentally won by none other than Will Power. One advantage of a disappointing qualifying effort was an additional set of reds to use during the race.
“[The extra reds] helped, yes, big time. It was kind of cool because at Saint Pete, you didn’t have that luxury because the tire, the red, was the green and it was so soft that you couldn’t even use it in the race but, for this race, the red was the preferred tire.”
But despite the encouraging nature of the race, Power sits in 15th place in the overall standings, a whopping 89 markers off the pace. But with 15 races still to run, Power knows better than most that much can change.
“You look back on those days, that’s the sort of thing that can help you win a championship there,” Power said.
And after a horrible start on the Streets of St Petersburg, it was at the very least a step in the right direction.
Danny starts his 12th year with Frontstretch in 2018, writing the Tuesday signature column 5 Points To Ponder. An English transplant living in San Francisco, by way of New York City, he’s had an award-winning marketing career with some of the biggest companies sponsoring sports. Working with racers all over the country, his freelance writing has even reached outside the world of racing to include movie screenplays.