Will Power's No Good, Very Bad Weekend Ends in First-Lap Crash
Already, the IndyCar veteran, two-time season champion, and Indianapolis 500 winner is in limbo a bit without a contract extension like his two Team Penske mates. He has heard in his 17th season with the elite organization all the gossip about David Malukas drawing a bead on his seat. Then hoping this weekend for an impressive start to this critical 20th season, he found no solace. During practice Saturday, his car grazed the wall and his crew changed the engine before qualifying – on his 44th birthday, no less. Power, a nine-time St. Petersburg polesitter, wound up with a distasteful 13th-place starting slot.
Power's race day lasted only a few minutes, halted by a first-lap crash in Turn 3. He tapped Nolan Siegel from behind, and rookie Louis Foster was collected in the accident.
With Siegel's new team principal Tony Kanaan looking on with a combination of dismay and disgust, the second-year Arrow McLaren driver (who also drove in 2024 for Dale Coyne Racing and Juncos Hollinger Racing) took the disappointment in stride.
'I got hit from behind, and there's not a lot I can do,' Siegel said. 'The day's done before it started. It sucks. We were all really excited for this [race]. I hate it for everyone on this car. It's such a bummer to start the season this way, when we were so excited about what we had this weekend. We executed really well this weekend. It sucks to not get the result you deserve.'
Rookie Foster, the 2024 Indy NXT champion, said that 'everyone was checking up' and chalked it up the incident to 'one of those things, I guess.'
No one was injured, but Power was obviously disappointed after being cleared and released from the on-site medical center and took some of the blame for the incident.
'Just really close racing there in the middle of the pack and we got checked up super quick,' he said. 'Got into the back of the 6 car which was my fault and obviously not intentional. Normally that corner opens up a bit there, so I need to go back and look at that. Not much I could do after that contact with the 45 car behind me. Just hate to start the season this way. We've been strong starters the last few years with the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Looking forward to Thermal and the points race there.'
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