LEXINGTON, Ohio — Will Power wasn’t aware until this week that he’ll be making his 200th career Indy car start in Sunday’s Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio.
What the 37-year-old Australian doesn’t need to be apprised of is it’s a race he’s never won. And the last two years have been particularly memorable for the wrong reason: He was leading and overtaken by Team Penske teammates and eventual winners Josef Newgarden and Simon Pagenaud.
Seated in between Newgarden and Pagenaud during a media availability on Friday at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Power amusingly suggested he wouldn’t be so easy to pass this time around.
“I'll be very aware of not getting passed if I'm leading,” he said with a modest, wry grin. “If someone wants to pass me, it's going to be aggressive, maybe a crash this time.”
The four-time runner-up and three-time pole winner at Mid-Ohio qualified second in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet on Saturday. His lap of 1 minute, 4.8939 seconds (125.263 mph) in the Firestone Fast Six was bettered only by Verizon P1 Award winner Alexander Rossi. It marked the fifth time Power has qualified second this season.
“I'm sick of starting on the front row and not being on pole,” said Power, who does have a pair of Verizon P1 Awards (INDYCAR Grand Prix and Iowa Speedway) in 2018. “Probably a record for the season.”
The 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion’s next win will be No. 35, which would move him past one Unser (Al Jr.) and into a tie with another (Bobby) for seventh on the career chart.
Power realized a lifelong dream in winning May’s 102nd Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil, but he arrives at this race a distant fifth in points, 93 behind four-time series champion Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon and Newgarden have each won three races this season. Newgarden is second in points, 62 behind the leader.
Power is chasing Dixon in more ways than one. Dixon is making his 300th career start on Sunday and the 38-year-old New Zealander’s 44 career wins rank third on the all-time list.
“Dixon has been around long enough to do 300 (starts),” Power said. “I guess he's 10 wins ahead of me. I have like a hundred races to get 10 wins.”
Pagenaud, whose 2016 Mid-Ohio win was a springboard triumph toward the series title, has a lengthy history with Power. They were Champ Car World Series teammates in 2007 with Walker Racing before being reunited when Team Penske hired Pagenaud in 2015.
If anyone notices how Power has changed over the years, it’s Pagenaud.
“Some gray hair maybe,” he said, prompting the teammates to chuckle, “and a (Indy) 500 (win). Quite a lot of things have changed. We've both grown throughout the last 10, 12 years.
“We all evolve. I think as drivers we always try to evolve into a better one. Then as we get to know each other, there's also the person behind it.”
Pagenaud also makes reference to Power’s quirky, dry sense of humor.
“The more you know him, the more you tend to like him,” the 34-year-old Frenchman said. “I've liked being his teammate for many, many reasons.
“Now at this point in our careers, it's even better because I think we get to enjoy what we do even more because we have some sense of security. But, yes, we still want to win. That’s pretty cool.”
Since earning his series title, Pagenaud has emphasized that winning the Indianapolis 500 is his No. 1 priority. Power used to say that, too.
Now Power is introduced everywhere as an Indy 500 winner. And that never gets old.
“I tell ya, every time I hear that, it brings a smile to my face,” he said.
Live coverage of the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio begins at 3 p.m. ET Sunday on CNBC and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network. An encore telecast airs at 6:30 p.m. on NBCSN.