Will Power

DETROIT – Will Power’s Sunday started with frustration, but by day’s end the Australian found redemption at Race 2 of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans, ending a 19-race Verizon IndyCar Series winless streak.

Power won today’s 70-lap race on the 2.35-mile temporary street course by 0.9203 of a second over Team Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud.

CLICK HERE: Chevrolet Dual in Detroit Race 2 box score

Following Saturday’s first race of the doubleheader weekend, when a loose wheel ended his day in 20th place, Power started this morning’s qualifying looking to make amends. After watching Pagenaud (No. 22 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Chevrolet) post the fastest lap of Group 1 of qualifying in a Raceway at Belle Isle Park record 1 minute, 14.0379 seconds (114.266 mph), Power posted a faster lap in the No. 12   Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet – only to see his two top laps revoked by a qualifying interference penalty.

The punishment relegated Power to an eighth-place starting spot, while Pagenaud won his fourth Verizon P1 Award of the season and second of the weekend.

“It’s frustrating, man,” a frustrated Power said after qualifying. “I mean, we were so fast.”

But while frustrations for Power were temporary, those of other drivers continued into the race this afternoon. James Hinchcliffe (No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda) and Max Chilton (No. 8 Gallagher Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet) were collected in a first-lap incident in Turn 1, and did not return to the race. The incident was a compound blow for both drivers, who each saw their races end early on Saturday in separate incidents.

Following the restart on Lap 4, teams sought a strategy that would get them to the front at the end of the race, just as Sebastien Bourdais’ No. 11 Team Hydroxycut – KVSH Racing Chevrolet crew played to perfection in Race 1 to earn the victory. Bourdais and others pitted as early as Lap 12 in attempts to recreate the magic, but the Frenchman wound up having to pit from the lead on Lap 59, ending his chances for a repeat and finishing eighth.

The second caution of the day came on Lap 35 when Juan Pablo Montoya made contact with the wall in Turn 8. Montoya’s damaged No. 2 Verizon Chevrolet came to a stop in Turn 10 and the Team Penske pilot finished 20th.

Three-time Belle Isle winner Helio Castroneves (No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske Chevrolet) passed Pagenaud for the lead on Lap 41 and appeared primed to take his first win since the second Belle Isle race in 2014.

But a third caution for Jack Hawksworth’s No. 41 ABC Supply Honda stopped on course on Lap 50 caught Castroneves on track while Pagenaud, Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay (No. 28 DHL Andretti Autosport Honda) had pitted a lap earlier, just prior to the caution. Forced to pit under the yellow, Castroneves lost valuable track position and came home 14th.

Pagenaud and Power were fifth and sixth on the Lap 52 restart, but with the four cars ahead of them needing to pit once more, their battle was essentially for the lead. Pagenaud tried to hold off his Team Penske teammate, but the Australian was able to maneuver around the outside at Turn 3 and make the pass stick,

When those ahead of Power made their final stops, all the driver of the No. 12 had to do was hit his marks and cruise to victory, which he did for the 26th time in his Indy car career.

“It’s very satisfying. Very satisfying,” said a much happier Power after the race. “Been a tough season, I would say. Been a weekend where we’re knocking on the door.”

Power was also happy to be the one of four Team Penske drivers to win at Chevrolet’s de facto home track, since team owner Roger Penske’s organization operates the race on the Raceway at Belle Isle Park.

“Roger, this morning, very keen, said one of us needs to win, and for Chevrolet,” Power said. “Believe me, I’m very happy to be the one.”

Power’s win was his first since the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis in May 2015 and ties him with Rodger Ward for 14th on the all-time victory list. Pagenaud earned his sixth podium of the season, extending his points lead to 80 over Scott Dixon, who finished fifth.

“It was a great day,” said Pagenaud, joined by his puppy, Norman, in the post-race press conference. “I think most importantly it was great for Team Penske. We got a 1-2. On the HP car, we were strong all weekend, led a lot of the race.

“We were really strong on long runs, not so strong on cold tires. The restarts made it difficult for us. Will was really good and aggressive. He made a good pass on us. There was no point colliding or trying too hard. Good job on him.”

The third-place finish marked Hunter-Reay’s first podium since the season opener at St. Petersburg.

“It was our first day in quite a while where nothing went wrong,” Hunter-Reay said, “so that was nice. We had good pace, but it wasn’t enough to close up and make a run for Simon or Will. It was nice to finish third after the heartbreak of Indy, to have a solid run today.”

The Verizon IndyCar Series now shifts gears and heads to Texas Motor Speedway for the Firestone 600 on the 1.,455-mile oval. Same-day qualifying coverage airs at 6 p.m. ET Friday on NBCSN, with live race coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET Saturday on NBCSN. Radio coverage of the 248-lap race can also be found on the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.


Pos

SP

Car

Driver

C/A/E/T

Lap

Laps Down

Time Down

Pit Stops

Elapsed Time

Avg Speed

Pts

Running/Reason Out

1

8

12

Power, Will

D/C/C/F

70

0

--.----

3

01:42:22.2672

96.414

51

Running

2

1

22

Pagenaud, Simon

D/C/C/F

70

0

0.9203

3

01:42:23.1875

96.399

44

Running

3

2

28

Hunter-Reay, Ryan

D/H/H/F

70

0

1.4711

3

01:42:23.7383

96.391

36

Running

4

17

21

Newgarden, Josef

D/C/C/F

70

0

2.4602

2

01:42:24.7274

96.375

32

Running

5

4

9

Dixon, Scott

D/C/C/F

70

0

3.1575

3

01:42:25.4247

96.364

30

Running

6

21

18

Daly, Conor

D/H/H/F

70

0

7.1263

3

01:42:29.3935

96.302

28

Running

7

6

10

Kanaan, Tony

D/C/C/F

70

0

11.3012

4

01:42:33.5684

96.237

26

Running

8

12

11

Bourdais, Sebastien

D/C/C/F

70

0

12.9361

4

01:42:35.2033

96.211

25

Running

9

22

27

Andretti, Marco

D/H/H/F

70

0

26.4201

5

01:42:48.6873

96.001

22

Running

10

16

14

Sato, Takuma

D/H/H/F

70

0

27.7105

5

01:42:49.9777

95.981

20

Running

11

7

15

Rahal, Graham

D/H/H/F

70

0

28.0410

5

01:42:50.3082

95.976

20

Running

12

18

98

Rossi, Alexander (R)

D/H/H/F

70

0

28.5507

5

01:42:50.8179

95.968

19

Running

13

15

19

Chaves, Gabby

D/H/H/F

70

0

29.2530

4

01:42:51.5202

95.957

17

Running

14

3

3

Castroneves, Helio

D/C/C/F

70

0

29.6631

3

01:42:51.9303

95.951

17

Running

15

13

26

Munoz, Carlos

D/H/H/F

70

0

30.4879

4

01:42:52.7551

95.938

15

Running

16

11

83

Kimball, Charlie

D/C/C/F

70

0

30.6922

4

01:42:52.9594

95.935

14

Running

17

5

7

Aleshin, Mikhail

D/H/H/F

70

0

1:10.5229

5

01:43:32.7901

95.319

13

Running

18

20

20

Pigot, Spencer (R)

D/C/C/F

67

3

-

5

01:43:20.0744

91.421

12

Running

19

9

41

Hawksworth, Jack

D/H/H/F

48

22

-

4

01:12:04.1956

93.909

11

Mechanical

20

10

2

Montoya, Juan Pablo

D/C/C/F

33

37

-

3

00:47:38.7081

97.659

10

Contact

21

14

5

Hinchcliffe, James

D/H/H/F

0

70

-

0

00:00:01.4771

0.000

9

Contact

22

19

8

Chilton, Max (R)

D/C/C/F

0

70

-

0

00:00:02.2121

0.000

8

Contact

Lead Change Summary

Leader Summary

On Lap

Car

Leader

Car

Driver

Laps Led

1

22

Pagenaud, Simon

22

Pagenaud, Simon

40

41

3

Castroneves, Helio

12

Power, Will

10

51

11

Bourdais, Sebastien

3

Castroneves, Helio

10

59

15

Rahal, Graham

11

Bourdais, Sebastien

8

60

98

Rossi, Alexander

15

Rahal, Graham

1

61

12

Power, Will

98

Rossi, Alexander

1

Caution Summary

No Duration Total Reason for Caution

  1. 1 to 3 3 Contact: Car 5, 8, and 14 in Turn 1

  2. 35 to 38 4 Contact: Car 2 in Turn 10

  3. 50 to 51 2 Off Course: Car 41 on Backstretch

Penalty Summary

Car Reason Lap Penalty

14 Entered a Closed Pit 4 Restart at the Back of

27 Entered a Closed Pit 4 Restart at the Back of

3 Avoidable Contact 4 Yield Position

7 Blocking 15 Yield Position

Lead Change Summary

Leader Summary

On Lap

Car

Leader

Car

Driver

Laps Led

1

22

Pagenaud, Simon

22

Pagenaud, Simon

40

41

3

Castroneves, Helio

12

Power, Will

10

51

11

Bourdais, Sebastien

3

Castroneves, Helio

10

59

15

Rahal, Graham

11

Bourdais, Sebastien

8

60

98

Rossi, Alexander

15

Rahal, Graham

1

61

12

Power, Will

98

Rossi, Alexander

1

Caution Summary

No Duration Total Reason for Caution

  1. 1 to 3 3 Contact: Car 5, 8, and 14 in Turn 1

  2. 35 to 38 4 Contact: Car 2 in Turn 10

  3. 50 to 51 2 Off Course: Car 41 on Backstretch

Penalty Summary

Car Reason Lap Penalty

14 Entered a Closed Pit 4 Restart at the Back of

27 Entered a Closed Pit 4 Restart at the Back of

3 Avoidable Contact 4 Yield Position

7 Blocking 15 Yield Position

(C)hassis: D=Dallara | (A)erokit: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (E)ngine: C=Chevy, H=Honda | (T)ire: F=Firestone

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