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During 2010, 2011 and 2012, Will Power consistently snatched despair from the jaws of victory at the end of the IndyCar Series championship that he dominated.
I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wondering if the driver of the #12 Chevrolet for the mighty Team Penske was cursed.
Any IndyCar fan knows of the legendary Andretti Curse at Indianapolis 500, where no one from one of the greatest American racing families has tasted success since Mario won in 1969, and following generations have found themselves dogged by the most extraordinary and unexplainable bad luck.
Some of the same seemed to be affecting Power.
Year after year, we were sure this was it. I mean, he’d gotten so many monkeys off his back – a maiden superspeedway win and a first win on a small oval – while continuing to dominate the street and road courses that are now the staple of IndyCar racing. There were days when it seemed like Power’s first IndyCar Series title was just around the corner or just a matter of time, and days when it appeared he would never shake the ape.
Finally, after a tumultuous season that showed both Power’s dominance and his maddening ability to throw away commanding points and race leads – think penalties, especially the controversial blocking call that took him out of contention at Pocono, and on-track errors, like a spin at Sonoma last week after dominating the opening stanza of the race – we can say what we’ve been waiting to say for years.
Australia’s Will Power is an IndyCar Series champion, and he becomes the first of our countrymen to win a major international motorsports series since the legendary Allan Jones won the Formula One World Championship in 1980.
The season finale, 500 miles under lights on the two-mile Auto Club Speedway in Southern California, was one of the most uncomfortable and tense races I’ve ever watched. The edge of my couch hated me!
As nervous as I was, I can only imagine how Power felt in the car for 200 laps at high speed, where every second is a chance for something to go wrong. Given his bad luck in championship-clinching circumstances in the past, he must’ve been going crazy.
Even when Power’s main championship rival, and Team Penske comrade Helio Castroneves was flagged for a pit road violation with about 30 laps to run, I wasn’t confident. After all, the Brazilian was only a lap down, and in striking distance if Power did something like, say, stick it into the wall.
The Australia remained cool and calm, and crossed the line well behind race winner Tony Kanaan – who led home a 1-2 for Target Chip Ganassi, the popular Brazilian beating out New Zealand’s Scott Dixon – but, importantly, ahead of Castroneves, which handed him the title.
What relief there was in the Power camp, and that was certainly replicated in my lounge room after the most tense 500-mile race I’ve ever lived through. After so many years of seeing Will come up short, I didn’t really believe the championship was his until he crossed the line. Nor did he, I’m sure.
Later, during his interview, Power said he cried in his helmet as he crossed the line – it was probably in relief as much as exultation. To have come so close so only to be denied on multiple occasions previously, and considering the adversity he’s driven through in 2014, this was a championship win for the ages, and it pretty much confirmed what most pundits and fans have known for years: that Will Power is the fastest guy in IndyCar.
Sure, people had said that before, but he’s validated his speed in the best way possible: with a championship.
So often Power managed to beat himself. Not anymore. His run to the championship featured a stirring victory at on the bullring oval at Milwaukee and a nice recovery drive after a spin at Sonoma, and on Saturday night when his rivals, Castroneves and the Frenchman Simon Pagenaud, faltered Power kept a level head and drove a smart race.
He didn’t try for what wasn’t there, made no banzai passes, instead putting together a conservative, cautious drive: another sign of him maturing in front of our eyes. It could’ve gone horribly wrong after his gaffe at Sonoma, but it didn’t.
The sky is the limit for Power, now. The all-time record for Team Penske IndyCar wins is well in reach for the Australian, and there’s a small matter of an Indianapolis 500 crown, too. The Borg Warner Trophy would sit nicely alongside the Astor Cup – the impressive trophy given to IndyCar Series champions, one that features the likeness of every American open-wheel champion since 1909 – on Power’s mantelpiece.
Congratulations, Will! You drove like a champion this year, and the Astor Cup is just reward! Here’s hoping for two in a row!
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