MADISON, Ill. — Will Power won the pole Saturday at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway for Sunday night’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500.
Power’s pole-winning speed was a two-lap average of 180.329 miles an hour around the 1.25-mile short oval in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. He was the only driver to top the 180-mph mark for two laps.
Teammate Scott McLaughlin was second in the No. 3 Chevrolet with a two-lap average of 179.783 mph.
For Power, it was his first pole since Iowa in 2023. It was his fifth P1 Award at Gateway and a record-extending 71st career IndyCar pole.
It was the 700th all-time pole in any series for Team Penske.
From a competitive standpoint, it comes at an important time for Power. He is fifth in the championship, 136 points behind the leader Alex Palou after seven races on the 17-race schedule.
Palou, who has a 90-point lead over Pato O’Ward in the IndyCar standings, qualified ninth.
Power believes a victory Sunday night could help him mount a charge over the final 10 races of the season.
Power is hitting a stretch of the season that favors him including Gateway Sunday night, Road America next weekend, Mid-Ohio on July 6 and the Sukop IndyCar Race Weekend at Iowa on July 12 and 13.
“I think we had the capability to do it in the first half of the season,” Power said Saturday evening. “It just hasn’t played out, whether it’s through qualifying or strategy in the race. St. Pete was just unfortunate for me. Those things happen. But the rest have been very strong races.
“I think to win a race; you’ve got to start at the very front. That’s not absolutely true, but it certainly helps. That’s where I feel we’ve lacked for the first half of the season.”
As for fortuitous, Power is in the final year of his contract at Team Penske. Team owner Roger Penske has told the driver a decision will be made at the end of the season. David Malukas of A.J. Foyt Racing is strongly under consideration, so Power realizes he has to produce with race victories and championship contention to get one more contract to remain with Team Penske.
If that doesn’t happen, Power wants to put himself in the best possible position to sign with another top IndyCar Series team.
“Anytime you’re P1, in any session, it’s just little bits of credit,” Power said. “Yeah, one race win would be one chunk of credit. You just have to keep doing that.
“It’s just the nature of this series. It’s very competitive right now. Teams are looking for top-level drivers. It’s come down to that. People that can execute week in and week out. You’ve got to keep putting runs on the board.”
When asked if he knew anything more about his future, Power said, “Nothing has changed. Same scenario. I don’t think anyone will know until after the season.”
McLaughlin’s second-fastest two-lap average gave Team Penske a lockout of the front row and proved that Chevrolet power remains strong.
O’Ward, who enters Sunday night’s race 90 points behind Palou, qualified third at 179.190 mph in the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren. Malukas qualified fourth at 179.079 mph in the No. 4 Chevrolet and Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden rounded out a top five Chevrolet sweep at 178.190 mph over two laps in the No. 2 Chevrolet.
“Look, it’s been strong basically every oval,” McLaughlin said. “I think we were quite strong on the high-speed tracks, on high-speed — top-speed. The Honda has been good in other areas as well. A big emphasis on our oval program being strong there.
“Yeah, it’s nice the hard work that they put in behind the scenes. Definitely still more work to do regardless. It always is in IndyCar. They’ve done a really good job with the package they’ve brought to ovals this year.”
Palou’s two-lap average of 178.381 mph in the No. 10 DHL Honda for Chip Ganassi Racing gave the IndyCar Series points leader a top 10 starting position, but he realizes his short oval game still needs improvement.
“Yeah, not great,” Palou said. “I knew that we were not fighting for pole probably, but I thought we had enough speed to be like top five. I made a small mistake in Turn 1 and 2 on the first lap.
“It was just not enough.
“I think when it comes to race, it’s very different. We saw how many overtakes we had and how much action we had during the race last couple of years, especially last year. I think it’s going to be even more tomorrow during the night just because of the amount of grip we’re going to get so racing should be good.
“I’m not really worried about our race pace. I think we can move up front I don’t know how much but I think we should be fighting for the podium.”
Palou believes when Power has the speed to start up front, he becomes a major threat to win the race.
“He’s dangerous when he starts up front he tends to finish up front so I mean yeah obviously it’s super cool because it’s the person that has more poles in IndyCar history,” Palou said. “He still does it at any given day.”
Finally, with 71 poles that continues to extend his NTT IndyCar Series record, Power was asked if he would like to extend it to the point where it may never be under assault from another driver? A record that could last 40-50 years.
“Yeah, of course,” Power said. “Just keep adding to it. It would be nice to get to 80 (laughter). I’ve had eight in a year, so it’s not impossible. Obviously tough these days.
“Every time you get one, I mean, it’s bloody amazing. Especially at this point in my career, anytime I get a P1 in any of these sessions like qualifying or the race, it’s a big deal.
“Big deal.
“I love it.”
