IndyCar: Will Power proved doubters wrong in 2018

Before the 2018 IndyCar season, Will Power had not been Team Penske’s top driver since he won the 2014 championship. There was doubt as to whether he could ever return to that level, but he proved his doubters wrong.

Will Power did not win his second career IndyCar championship in the 2018 season. But what he did do could perhaps bode far better for him as his career in the sport continues to progress.

Entering the 2018 season, which was the 11th season (14th including Champ Car) and 10th full season (12th including Champ Car) of Power’s IndyCar career, he had not been Team Penske’s top driver since he earned his first career championship in the 2014 season.

Power’s championship in 2014 came following a “down” season in the 2013 season during which he finished in fourth place in the championship standings. But he was well out of championship contention heading into the 2013 season finale, which allowed him to relax and win several races to close out the season, including the season finale.

Power has never been much of a consistent driver. He is usually either running at the front, or he is usually out of the race. This is best exemplified by the fact that he won 14 races from the 2010 season through the 2012 season and lost his lead in the championship standings in the season finales of all three seasons as a result of contact.

Consistency issues, once again, hindered Power from being a legitimate championship contender heading into this year’s season finale at Sonoma Raceway. In the first 16 races of the 17-race season, he recorded three victories and seven podium finishes, but he had just three other finishes of higher than 18th place.

But despite his consistency issues, Power has always been fast. If not for five-time champion Scott Dixon, the 37-year-old Australian could very well be considered the best driver of this era.

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In the 2015 season, Juan Pablo Montoya was in his second season driving for Team Penske. He led the championship standings after every race but the final race before losing the tiebreaker to Dixon. Power finished one position behind the Colombian in third place in the standings.

In the 2016 season, Simon Pagenaud was in his second season driving for Team Penske. He dominated the entire season and there was hardly a doubt that he would be crowned champion for the first time in his career heading into the season finale. Power finished just one position behind him in second place in the championship standings, but he finished 127 points behind him (659 to 532).

In the 2017 season, Josef Newgarden was in his first season driving for Team Penske. He more than doubled his career win total from three to seven en route to securing his first career championship. Pagenaud finished in second place in the championship standings.

Power ended up finishing in fifth place in the championship standings in the 2017 season, which was fourth among the four Team Penske drivers, as Helio Castroneves finished in fourth. Consistency issues had a very negative impact on Power’s position in the standings once again, as he recorded 10 top six finishes but no other top 12 finishes throughout the 17-race season.

There was no doubt about the fact that Power entered the season as the Team Penske driver who had had the least amount of recent success. While Castroneves did not return to the team in 2018, Newgarden and Pagenaud, who had combined to win the last two championships, did.

Discussions regarding whether or not Power still had what it takes to be an elite IndyCar driver started to brew, and he needed a statement season to stop them.

Another knock against Power was the fact that he entered the 2018 season having failed to win the Indianapolis 500 in each of his nine attempts as a Team Penske driver. In fact, in only one of those nine Indy 500 races did he finished in a position higher than the position in which he started the race. He had not done so since he started in ninth place and finished in fifth in 2009.

With Team Penske being Team Penske, it is not a stretch to say that Indy 500 victories mean more than IndyCar championships to them. Power had not yet delivered the former heading into the 2018 season.

As stated, it’s no secret that Power’s inconsistency prevented him from being a serious championship contender down the stretch this past season. But he was able to have the speed that he always seems to have at pretty much every track into results that make 2018 season arguably the most significant season in his career.

No, Power didn’t win the championship this year. But he did win the Indy 500 fir the first time in his career, and he did so by the largest winning margin (3.159 seconds) since Montoya won the 2000 Indy 500 by 7.184 seconds.

Power also finished the season as the highest Team Penske driver in the championship standings for the first time since he won the championship back in the 2014 season. He finished in third place while Newgarden finished in fifth and Pagenaud finished in sixth.

The 2018 season was the season that Power needed to silence all doubters who believed, even if only slightly, that his career may be starting to decline. He made a huge statement, and that is the fact that he still has more than what it takes to be an elite IndyCar driver.

Will Will Power get back to being a serious championship contender in the 2019 IndyCar after what was his best season relative to Team Penske’s other drivers since he won the 2014 championship and arguably the most significant season in his IndyCar career?