IndyCar: Will Power aiming to tie Indy 500 record in 2019

By Asher Fair | May 21, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - MAY 27: Will Power, the current leader of the IndyCar championship standings (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

Will Power is aiming to tie an Indy 500 record in this year’s running of IndyCar’s most prestigious race, although another driver could end up breaking it.

Team Penske’s Will Power has a chance to tie an Indianapolis 500 record in this year’s running of the race, as he has led at least one lap in each of the last six Indy 500 races going back to the 2013 IndyCar season.

Power led 16 laps of the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana in 2013 en route to a 19th place finish after starting in sixth. In the 2014 Indy 500, he led 22 laps after starting in third en route to an eighth place finish.

After starting the 2015 Indy 500 in second place, Power led 23 laps and went on to finish the race in second. He led eight laps in the 2016 Indy 500 after starting in sixth, and he went on to finish in 10th.

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Before he crashed on lap 184 of the 2017 Indy 500, Power led two laps of the race after starting in ninth place. He earned the first Indy 500 victory of his career after leading 59 laps in last year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”.

If Power leads any laps in this year’s Indy 500, he will have led at least one lap in the race in each of the last seven seasons, which would tie the all-time record.

This record is held by Tony Kanaan, who led at least one lap in each of the seven Indy 500 races that were held from 2002 through 2008. However, even if Power manages to lead one lap in this year’s Indy 500, he may not actually tie the record.

This is the case because of the fact that Kanaan is on his second seven-year streak of leading at least one lap in the Indy 500, as he has led at least one lap of each of the seven Indy 500 races that have been contested since 2012.

If Kanaan leads at least one lap in this year’s Indy 500, his streak of leading at least one lap in the Indy 500 would grow to eight consecutive races, which would prevent Power from tying that record this year whether or not he leads this Sunday’s race. Power is set to start this race in sixth place while Kanaan is set to start in 16th.

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Will Will Power tie the Indy 500 record for most consecutive Indy 500 races led in the 103rd running of the race this Sunday, May 26? This will depend on not only whether or not he leads the race but whether or not Tony Kanaan does as well. This race is the sixth of 17 races on the 2019 IndyCar schedule, and it is set to be broadcast live on NBC from Indianapolis Motor Speedway at 11:00 a.m. ET. It is scheduled to begin at around 12:30 p.m. ET.