IndyCar: One question each title contender must answer

IndyCar contenders: Will Power – Can he complete his resurgence?

If you would have asked in the summer of 2010 when Will Power was going to be going for his second championship, 99% of IndyCar fans would have said 2011.

But Power went on to blow championship leads in the season finales — all single points-paying season finales, no less — in 2010, 2011, and 2012. He finally secured his first title in 2014, but he hasn’t won the Astor Cup since, nor has he truly come close.

And after finishing in ninth place in last year’s championship standings, ending a perfect run of top five finishes as a Team Penske driver, he was effectively written off.

But Power changed his approach heading into 2022, and his consistency has paid off. Unlike the last few years, third place cars result in third place days, not 16th place days, and the points have added up.

Despite accounting for just one of Team Penske’s series-best nine wins, he has put himself in position to win a second title he should have earned a decade ago.

If not for Scott Dixon, Power would be considered this generation’s greatest driver by a mile, and despite what has been billed as the most competitive championship battle ever, he owns a lead bigger than any lead he blew in the 2010, 2011, or 2012 season finales.