IndyCar: Will Power's win drought not as alarming as it seems

After a disastrous Honda Indy Toronto, a lot has been made of Will Power’s IndyCar win drought. But this win drought is not as alarming or disastrous as it seems.

Will Power’s Honda Indy Toronto ended right where it started — in the turn eight tire barrier of the 11-turn, 1.786-mile (2.874-kilometer) temporary street circuit on the streets of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

His 2019 IndyCar season had been a struggle already, and this race produced arguably his worst performance of the year with him causing both of the race’s full-course caution flag periods en route to an 18th place finish.

Additionally, it extended his win drought to 13 races.

A lot has been made of the fact that the Team Penske driver has not yet won a race this season, as his most recent victory came at Gateway Motorsports Park (now World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway) late last August.

More from IndyCar

However, this win drought is really not as alarming as it seems.

First of all, Power has been dealt with his fair share of misfortune this season, yet he still sits in fifth place in the championship standings.

A fifth place finish would tie his lowest finish in his 10 seasons as a full-time driver for Team Penske, but fifth place is fifth place; the fact that it would tie his lowest finish just speaks to how great of a driver he is, not how bad of a season he has had.

It’s not like he’s having a horrendous year and sitting in 15th place in the championship standings and doing what he did in Toronto on a weekly basis with no chance of finishing in the top five or on the podium. In fact, it’s been just the opposite.

Secondly, while Power has been the winningest driver of this decade with 31 victories going back to the start of the 2010 season, his first season driving for Team Penske on a full-time basis, lengthy win droughts are actually nothing new to him.

In the last seven years alone, he has gone on two win droughts that lasted for over one year. His active win drought is still more than one month away from turning into a yearlong win drought.

After winning his third consecutive race in the fourth race of the 2012 season on the streets of Sao Paulo, Brazil in late April, Power did not win a race throughout the rest of the season. He still managed to finish in second place in the championship standings and likely would have won the championship had he not wrecked in the season finale at Auto Club Speedway.

Power’s 2013 season is the season that people keep comparing his 2019 season to because of how rocky his start was. He finally got back to victory lane in late August of 2013 at Sonoma Raceway, ending a career-long 24-race win drought.

His victory in this race began a stint of five races during which he earned three victories that propelled him to a fourth place finish in the championship standings after he spent much of the season outside of the top 10. It is worth noting that at no point in the 2019 season has he been outside of the top eight in the standings, much less the top 10.

This five-race stint also got him over the hump of “choking” championships away in season finales, which he did not only in the 2012 season but in the 2010 and 2011 seasons as well. He proved that by winning the 2013 season finale despite the fact that he was not in championship contention and then going on to win the 2014 championship, the first of his career.

Then after winning the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in May of 2015, Power did not get back to victory lane until June of 2016 when he won the second of two races at the Raceway on Belle Isle to end a 17-race win drought.

Next. Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark

Will Power is in the midst of what could become his third IndyCar win drought of over one year in the last seven years. But even after dealing with his previous lengthy win droughts, he is still the winningest driver of this decade by eight victories over second place Scott Dixon (23 victories), and even with his struggles so far this season, he has still shown that he has the speed it takes to win races.

In no way is his active win drought as alarming as it seems, even after his disastrous performance in the Honda Indy Toronto.

IndyCar: Will Power’s win drought not as alarming as it seems

By Asher Fair | Jul 15, 2019

After a disastrous Honda Indy Toronto, a lot has been made of Will Power’s IndyCar win drought. But this win drought is not as alarming or disastrous as it seems.