LONG POND, Pa. -- Will Power's aim is clear, and the Team Penske driver is in a position at the outset of the ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway on Aug. 23 to make a run at his goal of repeating as the Verizon IndyCar Series champion.
Power qualified third at 220.398 mph in the No. 1 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet for the 200-lap race on the 2.5-mile triangular oval -- behind teammates Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud. Power is fifth in the championship standings -- one spot/one point behind Castroneves -- entering the penultimate race of the season.
The finale -- worth double base points -- is Aug. 30 at Sonoma Raceway, where Power has won three of the past five races on the 2.38-mile, 12-turn road course and finished second in 2012. He's earned the Verizon P1 Award four of the past five years.
"It's very obvious to me what I have to do to win the championship. I have to win the next two races or be super strong here and win at Sonoma. I don't have to be looking over my shoulder but looking forward," Power said. "I'd love to go into Sonoma with a really good chance of winning the championship."
Teammate Juan Pablo Montoya, who qualified a season-low 19th, leads the title chase by nine points over Graham Rahal of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Scott Dixon, who won the 2013 race at Pocono and is a two-time winner at Sonoma Raceway, is third in the standings.
"It's really open. If any of the five guys out the championship (chase) wins this race, it puts them in a great position to win the championship obviously with double points in the next one," Power said.
Power has a field-high five earned poles this season and won one race. He has two top-10 finishes in the past five races.
"I'd rate my season a six out of 10," he said. "It's just been abnormal things happening, and that happens. I'm really hoping these two races play in my favor."
Team Penske tops field in final practice
The top two qualifiers also recorded the fastest laps in the 30-minute post-qualifying practice.
Results
Castroneves topped the field with a best lap of 220.227 mph in the No. 3 Shell V-Power Team Penske Chevrolet and Pagenaud posted a lap of 220.147 mph in the No. 22 Penske Truck Rental Chevrolet.
Josef Newgarden, who qualified fourth in the No. 67 Hartman Oil CFH Racing Chevrolet, was third fast at 219.625 mph and Tony Kanaan was fifth (219.593 mph) in the No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet.
Of note
Pippa Mann qualified 17th in the No. 18 Dale Coyne Racing Honda -- a career best. ... When Bobby Rahal won at Pocono in 1988, it marked the one and only Indy car win for the Judd engine. ... Pagenaud qualified on the front row for all three 500-mile races this season. ... Schmidt Peterson Motorsports driver James Hinchcliffe, who underwent a second and final surgery related to injuries sustained in a May 18 crash in practice on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval, said the team is looking at potential offseason dates for testing that would allow him to get back in the No. 5 Honda. ... Verizon IndyCar Series driver Sage Karam of nearby Nazareth, Pa., was accompanied to a media availability by his 6-year-old Goldendoodle Max, who was wearing a blue T-shirt with the No. 8. "I figured I'd bring him out. He's a cool dog. He's having fun," Karam said.