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| House Of Penske's Will Power celebrates matching a 29 year old record for NTT P1 Pole Awards earned in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES career. Will Power and his team matched Mario Andretti's mark of 67 Pole Positions earned. Image Credit: Will Power via FB/META |
House Of Penske's Will Power Matches Mario Andretti's Record Established In
1993 At Michigan International Speedway
BOOM - Will Power ties Mario Andretti with 67 Pole positions earned in his career - amazing - Mario's last P1 Pole and Will's record equalling P1 Pole were both set on Oval Course Race Tracks.
Will Power earned the 67th pole position of his storied INDYCAR SERIES
career – tying the legendary Mario Andretti for the all-time series record
that was set lastly in 1993 at the Michigan International Speedway's
Marlboro 500 – and captured the NTT P1 Award on Friday afternoon for
the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at
World Wide Technology Raceway while adding to his slim season championship
points lead over Scott Dixon.
Power’s pole wasn’t a surprise, given he already led the series with three
poles entering this event and paced practice earlier today at 180.539. Power
also won the NTT P1 Award for this race last year at 180.618.
Still, there was nothing routine about his qualifying run in the shadow of
the famous Gateway Arch in St. Louis.
Power tried to keep the throttle pedal to the floor in Turns 3 and 4 during
his last lap on the tricky oval, and he realized midway through that he
needed to downshift to complete the corner without contact. Still, Power
deftly kept the car off the SAFER Barrier and delivered the coveted 67th
pole.
"I’m still shaking," Power said. "There was nothing left on the table –
let’s put it that way. The second lap, I was loose in (Turns) 1-2 and then
tried to go again as much as I could in (Turns) 3-4."
Power will earn an extra point for the NTT P1 Award, which could come in handy
since he leads six-time series champion Scott Dixon by just six points with
three races remaining.
Fellow championship contender Marcus Ericsson will join Power on the front
row after his qualifying run of 182.070 in the No. 8 Bryant Honda. Ericsson
is third in points, 12 behind Power.
NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference - Friday, August 19, 2022
Will Power | Marcus Ericsson
ZOOM Call Video Press Conference
THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. Wrapping up pole qualifying. Now the
a reigning Indy 500 champion who almost picked up career pole number one,
Marcus Ericsson (indiscernible).
MARCUS ERICSSON: -- of course, you want to get that first pole. Will did a
very impressive run in the end. We'll just have to try to get the win tomorrow
instead.
THE MODERATOR: Knowing it was Will Power, did you think you still had a shot?
MARCUS ERICSSON: I thought my run was really good, so I thought I had a shot.
If there's one guy you don't want to go after you when you're standing on
provisional pole, it's definitely Will Power.
Either way, I'm really happy we're on the front row, the car felt so good. The
team did a really good effort today to give me such a qualifying car.
THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.
Q. As this season title race is winding down, in oval qualifying, being in a
legitimate title race, does that feel any different than it might have
(indiscernible).
MARCUS ERICSSON: (Indiscernible) -- that's sort of the mindset I've had all
the time. Now going down to the last three, I think I'll do everything I
possibly can to try and win this championship.
I knew today in qualifying it was really important because of the way this
track races. It's not always easy to overtake. I was very focused going in.
Yeah, I try and do like I've done all year and not change things up. But it
is, like you say, in oval qualifying, it's something special. You have those
two laps, high speeds, no margin for error. It is quite special to do it. It's
a lot of adrenaline that runs through your body.
It's pretty unique, but I really enjoy it. I think it's really fun.
Q. Are we still with three races left too early to feel like you have to run
your race off of what people are doing, covering certain drivers? Do you feel
you're still able to run your own race?
MARCUS ERICSSON: I think if it was one or two cars fighting for it with three
to go, you could start racing that guy. But now we are five or even seven cars
fighting for the championship. It's not really possible to cover six other
cars.
We need to focus on ourselves tomorrow. We need to try and win the race
because we're going to be in a position to fight for that, so that's going to
be the goal.
But we know it's tough competition out there. We need to race our race. I
think that's important.
Q. If you look all the way back to the inside of row four, that is the points
race. Everybody up there are the guys you're battling. To know the proverbial
cream has risen to the top in qualifying really makes it look like it's going
to be tough to win this thing. How do you look at that?
MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, I think it shows how competitive this series is. Like
you said, all the top guys are up there tomorrow. It's going to be tough. It's
going to be tough to battle it out, try and beat the guy next to me here. It's
going to be very tough.
But we're going to give it our best shot. I think we have three cars up there
so we know we have a good package as well. Just try to do our best, race our
race, see what we got.
THE MODERATOR: The guy next to you just happened to pick up career pole 67,
Will Power. This is his fourth pole here, fourth of the season. A little
history perspective: last time we saw an INDYCAR SERIES driver, Will, pick up
67, when Mario did, you go all the way back to August 1st, 1993. It's a mark
that has stood for some time.
Watching you celebrate this thing, the smile...
WILL POWER: Yeah, something I've had my eye on for a while. I think when I got
to 60, I was like, This could be possible. Yep, it's definitely a big box to
tick.
But, yeah, now focusing forward on the race. That's really the big thing on my
mind, is having a good day. Yeah, everyone's at the front, so it's just going
to be...
It's pretty typical of INDYCAR, right? It's just going to go down to the last
race. The way I see it, even on points right now, it's that close, it can just
flip. It's going to be about who can finish ahead of who. Simple as that.
THE MODERATOR: Questions.
Q. Will, there's been times you and I have talked, back when you were at 60,
61 poles, you said, I don't know if I'll be able to get there. Did you
honestly feel that way? Now that you've reached your goal, is it just a huge
sense of relief?
WILL POWER: When I got the double pole at Iowa, that's when it became really
realistic. The year before I had one pole. I think the year before that I had
three. It was getting increasingly harder to get pole position. I was kind of
thinking, This is going to be pretty hard to beat.
But the double pole at Iowa was real key. Yep, great team, great engine, great
crew. That's what I've had. I've been lucky.
Q. (No microphone.)
WILL POWER: No, I'm not feeling any relief because I'm so focused on the race
and the championship. I can think about that later and feel good about it.
Right now it's just so important to have a good car in the race and race well,
yeah, have a solid day.
Q. Marcus, how excited are you to come to St. Louis to compete in a race that
means so much here in the city?
MARCUS ERICSSON: Yeah, I mean, we've been here a few years now. It's always
been a great race, great atmosphere here with the fans.
I always enjoyed coming here from my first year in 2019. I think it's a track
that sort of suited my style straightaway. For the ovals, coming from European
racing, where you don't do any ovals, I think this is really the first track I
got my head around. Been pretty strong here the last few years.
Going into this weekend, I knew that the ovals this year has been something
that I've been really strong on, so I was really looking forward to this one.
Qualifying on the front row shows we have a strong package for these type of
tracks.
Q. And Will?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I think this is a really good event for us. It's promoted
really well. Always get a big crowd. They do a really good job of presenting
it.
It races well also. Can be a bit mixed up with fuel races and so on. Yeah,
it's one of my favorite tracks, favorite ovals. I really enjoy it. I enjoy it
a lot.
THE MODERATOR: Marcus, congratulations. Have a great race tomorrow.
More questions for Will Power.
Q. You've won the pole at Portland, coming up next. Can 68 happen there?
WILL POWER: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, next two races after this, next two
qualifying sessions, have to be very good qualifying sessions. Yeah, that
totally is going to be the goal.
But, yeah, not even thinking about that right now. Just thinking about
tonight.
Q. How do you expect the second lane to run?
WILL POWER: Yeah, I'm really hoping that the second lane brings that in. I'm
hoping that second lane practice brings the lane in.
I think it will be a bit better than Texas because it hasn't got the coating.
Maybe it's not enough cars. But, yeah, we'll see. Man, the race would be so
good if we could do that, people actually run there in the first 20 laps. It
will just be a completely different race to what it was.
Hoping it works.
Q. How much of it is confidence driven, when drivers see guys going up, versus
rubbering up the track up there?
WILL POWER: Exactly that. They see people running reasonably fast on the
outside lane, if that happens to be the case in the practice, it will give
people confidence to go there and know it's rubbered in. When they come into
practice, yeah, hopefully it works.
Q. How much of this race becomes a fuel conservation race as opposed to
others?
WILL POWER: Yeah, the second lane, it's actually got more grip up there
because it's not polished. It just needs rubber. I think if we can get it in a
bit, when the 30 minutes is up, everyone else comes out, people actually go up
there.
Yeah, the fuel race, if there is some yellows at the beginning, people will
try to make it on a three-stop. That's when it becomes a bit of a fuel stop.
It really depends on when the yellows for that, otherwise it's a four-stopper.
Q. (No microphone.)
WILL POWER: Not something I take note of or even look at those things.
Q. If you go all the way to the inside of four, that is the points race. The
top six guys are all up there battling. What does that really say about this
points race that you've got everybody right up there at the top of the grid?
WILL POWER: Yeah, it just shows no one's letting up, no one will until the
end.
Yep, pretty tight battle to the end. It will be very interesting to see how it
unfolds. All you can do is just do your best. Do your best. Can't control some
things, so see what happens.
Q. Now that you've tied Mario, which you wanted to do, what do you want to do
next?
WILL POWER: I need to tie Michael in wins. That's one win away.
Q. Need to tie Helio in 500s.
WILL POWER: I can almost guarantee that is not going to happen before I'm
done. That's a pretty good run if you could do that.
THE MODERATOR: Congratulations, Will. Thank you. Enjoy the rest of the night.
[FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports]
Two-time series champion and 2022 title contender Josef Newgarden will
start third after his run of 181.629 in the No. 3 PPG Team Penske
Chevrolet. Newgarden, who has won the last two INDYCAR SERIES races at
World Wide Technology Raceway, is fourth in points, 22 behind Power.
Scott McLaughlin ensured the asymmetrical, 1.25-mile oval was a Penske
playground with all three cars in the first two rows of the starting grid,
as he qualified fourth at 181.406 in the No. 3 Odyssey Battery Team Penske
Chevrolet.
Chip Ganassi Racing also had a strong day, putting three cars in the top
six. Reigning series champion Alex Palou qualified fifth at 181.289 in the
No. 10 American Legion Honda, while six-time series champion Dixon will
start sixth after a qualifying run of 180.954 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip
Ganassi Racing Honda.
Saturday’s live coverage of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by
Axalta and Valvoline will begin at 6 p.m. ET. (USA Network, Peacock Premium
and the INDYCAR Radio Network).
POST Will Power Review Of The Rain Interrupted Bommarito Automotive Group
500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline:
Race Rundown: Will Power and the No. 12 Verizon 5G Chevrolet team dominated
the first half of Saturday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide
Technology Raceway before finishing in the sixth position. History was made
on Friday afternoon as Power became the second driver in NTT INDYCAR SERIES
history with 67 pole positions, tying Mario Andretti for the all-time lead.
Power led the field for most of the first 130 laps, relinquishing it only
during pit cycles. With most of the field on varying pit strategies – trying
to make it to the checkered flag with only three trips to pit lane, along
with the threat of rain – Power and race strategist Ron Ruzewski elected to
continue with the strategy that bought them down pit lane less. He would
drop to the back of the top five as those teams that elected to pit for
tires were able to make their way past. A two-hour rain delay gave Power and
the Verizon 5G Chevy team an opportunity to plan on making their way back to
the front when racing resumed with 37 laps to go. Unfortunately, a battle
with lapped traffic over the final laps caused him to drop to sixth at the
checkered flag. Power maintains the lead in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES
championship standings with only two races remaining at Portland
International Raceway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Power’s Thoughts:
"Once again, it was a good day with P6 in the Verizon 5G Chevy.
Obviously, we wanted more. We made a mistake and didn’t take that yellow.
That’s INDYCAR. It’s never straight-forward. You expect that in the
championship. It might come back to us in the next two in a different way.
That’s how it is. We’ve got some good tracks coming up. Like I predicted,
it will be a tough battle all the way to the end. I’ve been around a long
time and know how these things go. The best thing about today is that we
finished in the top-six, so that’s still pretty good."
... notes from
The EDJE
TAGS:
House Of Penske, Marcus Ericsson, Mario Andretti, Marlboro 500, Michigan
International Speedway, Bommarito Automotive Group 500, Axalta,
Valvoline, World Wide Technology Raceway, 67 Pole Positions, 1993, 2022.
The EDJE
