LEEDS, Ala. -- Loquacious in other settings, Will Power prefers minimal conversation while he’s at work in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske car. It’s settling and allows the two-time IZOD IndyCar Series championship runner-up to focus on the road ahead.

And it’s been productive, which is why the defending Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama race winner, enjoys the working relationship with race strategist Tim Cindric.

“I just need the information I need,” Power says. “It’s still important for someone to tell you what you need to know and you react from whether to be conservative or not, when to be aggressive and all those details. I just like the accurate information I need. I don’t need anyone telling me, ‘You’re doing a good job.’ ’’

Cindric, Penske Racing’s president, moved to the No. 12 car’s pit stand at Toronto in July in an effort to potentially push Power past 2011 series championship protagonist Dario Franchitti. The move included John Erickson to be Helio Castroneves’ strategist. Team owner Roger Penske continues to be the race strategist for the No. 2 IZOD car of Ryan Briscoe.  

“Having another year with the same crew and then having worked with Tim for the second half of the year I think will be a really strong combination,” says Power, who started from the pole and finished seventh in the season-opening Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on March 25.

“The whole thing is keeping your guy calm and giving him confidence and giving you just the information you need on the radio, and Tim’s very good with that and with strategy. Very accurate and brief.”

Cindric had worked with Castroneves since 2001 – a span that included three Indianapolis 500 victories -- and also has been the strategist for the likes of Indy car drivers Bobby Rahal and Max Papis and NASCAR’s Kurt Busch at Daytona.

“My job is more than the strategy part of it because just anybody who follows racing could know if you’re going to come in or not come in (to pit),” Cindric says. “It’s trying to know you your driver. I’ve had the opportunity to work with different drivers, different nationalities. Trying to get to know these guys and their personalities, my job is if they’re emotional to go the other way. If they’re lackadaisical for whatever reason, I try to make them understand the scope of the situation. It comes down to being a coach at the same time.

“As the leader of that group, what you’re trying to instill is confidence and focus. Will is a guy who just needs to understand what’s happening in the game, and he usually knows what play to run because he’s one of the best drivers I’ve ever worked with as far as studying before he arrives and understanding what happened last year and historically.

“He only needs certain pieces of information to determine what he’s going to do next. That, to me, is where the experience is different. It comes down to that person having the confidence. If they don’t have that confidence, I instill that. I’m fortunate to know how it is to work with a driver for the first time who’s never met you and know anything about you. It takes a while to develop that rapport.

“Fortunately with Will, I was able to develop that early on.”