PORTLAND, Ore. — Will Power remained in the IndyCar championship hunt with a dominating victory Sunday at Portland International Raceway.
Power started second alongside pole-sitter 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 organization allowed Power and Ferrucci to make a plan for the start.
Sixty-six points behind championship leader Alex Palou at the beginning of the race, Power vowed to be aggressive at the start and drive like three-time reigning Formula 1 champion Max Verstappen. The 43-year-old Australian was serious about it, too, as he slid ahead of Ferrucci entering the first turn.
“Santino and I talked about the start, he was a very good teammate,” Power said.
Palou, who started third, finished just less than 10 seconds back in second as Power led 101 of the 110 laps to win for the third time this season. Palou wondered if his Chip Ganassi Racing team was too conservative with its strategy.